Biographies

Peter Gaynor is the Director of the Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) + Office of Homeland Security (since March 2008). Providence is Rhode Island's capital city with a population of approximately 175,000 residents. On 27 October 2010, the Providence Emergency Management Agency was first municipality in the United States to receive accreditation from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). Prior to his assignment as the Director of PEMA, he served for approximately 26 years as an enlisted Marine and Infantry Officer in the United States Marine Corps. During his tour in the Marines he was assigned to Security Company, Marine Barracks 8TH & I, Presidential Retreat Camp David; Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC), Plans, Policy & Operations (PP&O) and to I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) (Forward), Fallujah, Iraq. He holds a Bachelor degree in History from Rhode Island College and a Masters degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in Newport. He resides in Jamestown, RI. He is the only Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) assigned as a municipal emergency manager within the State of RI.

Peter Marinucci was hired in December 1990 as Emergency Management Coordinator by the Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) + Office of Homeland Security and became PEMA Deputy Director in March 1995. He was responsible for the transformation of the Agency from Civil Defense into an all response approach in tune with FEMA. In 1997 he enrolled the City of Providence into the Domestic Preparedness Program ensuring federal funds to train hundreds of public safety personnel in the City and in the Greater Providence area on Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) response. As a result, PEMA qualified to hold the first major WMD Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) full-scale exercise in Southern New England in Providence in September 1999. Prior to his employment with the City, he owned and managed a construction business in Rhode Island. Peter resides in Providence with his family.

Josh O'Neill is the Recovery Coordinator for Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) + Office of Homeland Security. In his role as Recovery Coordinator he has been working with City Departments to file project requests through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for reimbursement for the costs of damage to infrastructure and costs associated with employee overtime in response to the Historic March 2010 floods. He is also coordinating the 2011 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update for the City of Providence. Prior to coming to Rhode Island, he worked for a regional planning agency in southern Vermont, assisting communities with long range land use planning and technical assistance for zoning and subdivision regulations. He also assisted communities with writing and implementing emergency operations plans (EOP) and hazard mitigation plans as part of his work with Vermont Emergency Management Agency (VEM). He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and a Masters degree in Public Administration (MPA) also from the University of New Hampshire. He is the only Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) in the City of Providence.

Felicia Porawski is the Preparedness Coordinator for the City of Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) + Office of Homeland Security. She is tasked with public education outreach and is in charge of training and managing PEMA's Emergency Response Volunteers. Felicia is also on the State of Rhode Island's All Hazard Incident Management Team (AHIMT) as a Planning Section Chief. Prior to her position at PEMA, Felicia worked as a Police/Fire 911 Dispatcher while studying to get her Masters Degree in Emergency Management from Massachusetts Maritime Academy. She also holds a Bachelors degree of Science in Marine Safety and Environmental Protection from Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where she gained extensive experience in oil spill response working at both the Bouchard 120 Buzzards Bay Oil Spill of 2003 and the Athos 1 Delaware River Oil Spill 2004. In addition, Felicia has over 10 years experience in the marine field including; being named the first female assistant harbormaster in Massachusetts for the town of Marion and being a certified boating safety instructor for the State of Massachusetts. Felicia currently resides in Freetown, Massachusetts.

Derek Lemire is a Regional Catastrophic Planner assigned to Providence Emergency Management Agency through the Regional Catastrophic Grant Program. He has been assigned to PEMA since March of 2010. Prior to this assignment he was the deputy director of emergency management as well as holding the rank of District Chief in the fire department in Giles County, Tennessee. During his tenure as Deputy EMA Director he responded to and managed numerous manmade and natural disasters that included multiple devastating tornado touchdowns and also formed the first Hazardous Materials Response team in the county's history. Derek holds a bachelors degree from Bryant College (now known as Bryant University) in accounting and business management. Derek was also deployed as a combat medical specialist and assigned to the 3/10th SFG while enlisted in the US Army and attained the rank of E-5 (SGT). Current projects underway for him include the Long-term Recovery Annex for the region as well as the Critical Infrastructure planning for the City of Providence. He resides in Lincoln, RI with his family.