Berl D. Jones, Jr. has been a member of the Federal Government’s Senior Executive Service since 2008. He is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) with more than thirty-five years of experience in emergency management at the local, state, federal and voluntary agency levels. Before joining FEMA in 2002, he was a Senior Program Manager for AOL-Time Warner. Prior to that, he was the American National Red Cross’ Liaison to FEMA Region II and a Disaster Specialist for the American Red Cross in Greater New York. Berl served as the Division Director for the FEMA Headquarters' Individual Assistance Programs until his assignment to the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (MWEOC) in 2010.
As the Executive Administrator for the MWEOC, Berl provides executive leadership to effectively implement and support emergency management and national programs. He advises the Assistant Administrator of National Continuity Programs on the operation of the MWEOC, including the oversight of the multi-year strategic plan, multi-million-dollar operating budget, and coordination with numerous federal, state and local departments and agencies.
Berl brings extensive national emergency management experience to his position in FEMA. He has worked and supported numerous disaster operations, national level exercises and events, including hurricanes Hugo, Andrew, Marilyn, Katrina, Rita, Sandy, the 1993 Midwest Floods, the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, the TWA Flight 800 explosion, Space Shuttle Columbia, Haitian Earthquake, the September 11, 2001 operations and the COVID-19 response.
Berl holds a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from New York University and a Bachelor of Science in Community Health from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is a Gold Life member of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company. As did many, his responsibilities as a firefighter brought him to the Pentagon and to the World Trade Center the week of September 11, 2001. Berl is a native New Yorker and currently resides in Northern Virginia with his family.