Executive Director, Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership
Pat Williams became the Executive Director of the Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership (CEPP) on January 1, 2015. CEPP is a nonprofit organization that promotes joint emergency planning between Colorado’s public, private and philanthropic sectors. In this capacity, Pat works with Emergency Managers and Private Sector companies around the State to find gaps in Colorado’s emergency planning efforts. She then hosts trainings, workshops and exercises to help fill those gaps. Since she took over in 2015, CEPP has facilitated 30 workshops and trainings around the state on a variety of topics: Business Facility Preparedness, Chemical Safety, Cyber Security, Active Shooter Preparedness, and Behavioral Health Resources available in a disaster.
Prior to CEPP, she worked for the City and County of Denver in the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security as the Emergency Management Planner and Deputy Director. In those roles, she led Denver’s efforts in coordinating emergency preparedness and response capabilities. She was responsible for reviewing, analyzing and drafting the City’s emergency management plans and for building relationships with numerous private and public agencies to build resiliency throughout the City. She is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience in Emergency Management, Homeland Security, Crisis Planning and Management, Intelligence, and Strategic Communications.
Pat currently is a member of the Colorado Emergency Planning Committee (CEPC), the Colorado Homeland Security Advisory Board, is the Vice President of the National Association of Sara Title III Program Officials (NASTTPO) and leads Colorado’s Private Sector Subcommittee which reports to the Governor’s Director of Public Safety. Before joining Denver’s staff, she served in the US Navy in the Intelligence Community for 26 years and was appointed as the Commanding Officer for four different Intelligence Commands before retiring as a Captain in 2011.
She earned her B.A. in International Relations from Tulane University and her M.A. in Homeland Security from the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver.