Pamela Williams

Pamela Williams serves as the Assistant Administrator for the Grant Programs Directorate.

Pamela Williams previously served as IEM’s Director of Mitigation and Resilience. Ms. Williams also served as the Executive Director of the BuildStrong Coalition, a group of firefighters, emergency responders, insurers, engineers, architects, contractors and manufacturers, as well as consumer organizations, code specialists and many others committed to building a more resilient nation. Ms. Williams also served on the National Advisory Council for the FEMA in the Standards Setting & Accrediting position.

Prior to joining BuildStrong, she served as Counsel for the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management and has more than 20 years of federal agency and congressional experience. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Ms. Williams advised the Committee and Congressional leadership on Emergency Management, FEMA, the Stafford Act and disaster-related matters. Most notable, she was the principal drafter and successfully led negotiations with multiple committees, House leadership, the Senate, and the Administration, culminating in enactment of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018, P.L. 115-254.

Previously, Ms. Williams served as the Deputy Director of Congressional Affairs for FEMA, where she was responsible for directing and executing the Agency’s legislative program. Prior to joining the FEMA Congressional Affairs office, Ms. Williams served as the Associate Chief Counsel for Legislation and Policy for FEMA, where she managed the Agency’s response to the congressional, White House and departmental investigations. During this time, Ms. Williams served as an advisor to FEMA, DHS leadership, and the Administration on congressional actions, dispositions and recommended legislative activities. She was also detailed to the House Appropriations Committee, Homeland Security Subcommittee to work on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Office of Biometric Identity Management, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) portfolios.

Ms. Williams holds a J.D. from the University of Denver, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Baylor University. After growing up in Central Texas, Pam now lives with her two children, Camilla (12) and Gabriel (8), along the Potomac River in Virginia.