James K. Joseph officially began his service with FEMA Region V on November 12, 2017 and was sworn in to Federal service in Washington, DC on Monday, November 13th. Prior to accepting his FEMA appointment, Mr. Joseph was a member of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s cabinet to which the governor appointed him on February 1, 2015, to serve both as Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and as Deputy State Homeland Security Advisor. In these roles, Joseph oversaw Illinois’ disaster preparedness and response, nuclear safety and homeland security programs, as well as the agency’s 200 plus employees and a budget of nearly $500 million. He also served on numerous national organizations, including: Co-Chairman of the National Homeland Security Consortium, Executive Board of the National Emergency Management Association and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security State and Local Intelligence Executive Council. Joseph has over 15 years of senior leadership experience in both the private and public sectors. Prior to joining the Rauner administration, Joseph served as the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for DuPage County, Ill. (Illinois’ second largest county) where he oversaw three county departments. Joseph also founded his own company called Center for Security Intelligence, where he provided consulting services in security operations, workplace violence prevention and emergency management to both government and corporate clients. Prior to owning his own business, Joseph was the Vice President of Security and Fraud Risk for HSBC - North America, the world’s third largest bank. There, he created and implemented security protocols for North American operations serving nearly 70,000 employees, in addition to global security policies utilized in over 70 countries. Joseph has served in municipal government as well, both as Chairman of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, and the Chairman Pro-Tem of the Planning and Zoning Commission in Carol Stream, Ill.