Mr. Thomas joined the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in January of 2018. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sector designing, implementing, and managing complex and effective homeland security grant, training, exercise, and technical assistance programs.

As the former Director of National Preparedness Programs within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Grants and Training (G&T), he was responsible for oversight and management of all of the Department’s multi-modal transportation security grant programs. Prior to assuming that role, Mr. Thomas managed a variety of critical training, technical assistance and information technology programs, as well as state and urban area homeland security grants throughout the eastern third of the United States. 

In the private sector, Mr. Thomas continued to focus on developing sound homeland security policies, procedures and programs at the Federal, State and local level. Most recently, he served as Vice President for Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience at PotomacWave Consulting, and prior to that, directed the homeland security business unit of ABS Consulting. In addition, Mr. Thomas previously served as a Vice Chair of the Regional and Infrastructure Resilience Committee at The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP) and is a Past President of the Security Analysis and Risk Management Association (SARMA). He also provided input to the development of the original and current iterations of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) and the National Preparedness Framework (NPF).

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Mr. Thomas has a BA in Political Science from Texas Christian University and a master’s degree in Public Management from the University of Maryland at College Park.