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David I. Maurstad

David I. Maurstad
Resilience

Assistant Administrator, Federal Insurance Directorate

David Maurstad serves as FEMA’s Assistant Administrator of the Federal Insurance Directorate and the senior executive of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). He is also the accountable executive for advancing NFIP legislative reform and Enduring NFIP, FEMA’s initiative to coordinate NFIP transformation efforts across its headquarters and 10 regions.

A veteran emergency manager and staunch advocate of building a more resilient nation, David is one of the leading voices in the conversation on how to best prepare all communities against the threat of climate change in order to equitably reduce disaster suffering. 

David has over 35 years of experience in public service and the insurance industry, which provides  unique expertise in communicating disaster risk, closing the insurance gap, and advancing mitigation actions against all natural hazards. As the senior executive of the NFIP, he also leads the largest single-peril insurance operation in the world, providing more than $1.3 trillion in flood coverage to more than 4.7 million U.S. policyholders. 

Among his top priorities in this capacity is ensuring the program’s long-term fiscal sustainability. In 2016, he initiated the use of traditional reinsurance to transfer risk from the NFIP to the private market, and two years later, expanded FEMA’s reinsurance program to include the Insurance-Linked Securities market. Thanks to the success of this game-changing approach, David has continued to secure placements in both markets every year since to help bolster the NFIP’s historical method for paying claims and more effectively manage U.S. flood risk.

David also oversaw the implementation of the NFIP’s new rating methodology, ensuring for the first time in the history of the program that premiums now reflect the cost to insure a single property’s unique flood risk and its cost to rebuild. his transformational change put an end to low-value properties subsidizing newer, high-value ones. It also positions the program for the future by making it adaptable to the challenges posed by more intense climate conditions.

During his tenure with FEMA, David has held leadership positions for hundreds of disaster operations, including Hurricanes Katrina, Matthew, Irma, Maria, Michael, and Ian, as well as Tropical Storm Harvey. He also served in support roles for numerous tornados, wildfires, and other severe weather events. Additionally, he brings deep knowledge of risk management from his extensive private sector experience as a former agent/broker of a family-owned insurance agency and local government as a former Nebraska mayor, state senator, and lieutenant governor. 

David earned his MBA from the University of Nebraska. He’s a former board member of the National Academy of Science, Water, & Technology, and was a senior federal official during the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Mr. Maurstad is a recipient of the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award, which recognizes the top 1% of exemplary career federal leaders who have overseen successful federal initiatives with a sweeping impact.