Brian Baker

Brian Baker is an expert in preparedness, response, disaster recovery and homeland security. With close to two decades of public service and public safety leadership, he has served in a variety of senior level management positions for public, private, and non-governmental organizations. Brian has extensive experience in organizational leadership, program management, public health, planning and policy development, strategic planning, and large national security event coordination. He has broad real-time, in-the-field practice directing and managing complex, multi-faced initiatives and tasks with noteworthy skills in problem-solving, decision-making, and critical analysis. During times of crisis, Brian has guided teams of staff through nationally and locally declared disasters and emergency events.

Before joining Hagerty, Brian served as the Executive Deputy Director and Interim Director of the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DC HSEMA). In this role, he led a team of over 100 full time employees, managed a $200 million annually in local and federal grant funds, served on prominent policy groups, oversaw the DC fusion center, and served as the Consequence Management Chair for more than 25 National Special Security Events (NSSEs), including four presidential inaugurations and two papal visits. Before becoming Executive Deputy Director, Brian served as the Homeland Security Advisor, the State Administrative Office for grants and federal funding and State Coordinating Officer for the District. Overall, he was responsible for emergency planning, preparedness, response, and recovery for the City, including operations for a 24-hour emergency operations center and the Washington Regional Threat Analysis Center.

Other roles that Brian held at DC HSEMA include the Chief of Staff, Assistant Director for Preparedness, and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Manager for numerous activations, including multiple presidential disaster declarations and NSSEs. Prior to rejoining DC HSEMA in 2012, Brian was a director for SAIC supporting the preparedness, response and recovery business lines.

A seasoned communicator, speaker, facilitator, and evaluator, Brian is sought after as a board member, senior advisor, subject matter expert, and speaker to various emergency management industry-related activities, associations, programs, panels, consortiums, and committees. Brian currently serves as Hagerty’s Vice President, where he acts as one of Hagerty’s public facing leaders and plays a leading role in Hagerty’s business development and growth efforts.