Jordan Nelms

jnelms@wittassociates.com

Client Executive

Washington DC

Jordan Nelms is a Client Executive at James Lee Witt Associates (JLWA). During his tenure at JLWA, Mr. Nelms has been responsible in emergency preparedness consulting to numerous JLWA clients and the development of various emergency management plans and programs. Of note, Mr Nelms conducted municipal outreach for the Southern Delaware Valley Region to create a Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, as well as an Emergency Preparedness Review on the Davie Commons Development for the City of Weston, FL.  He further interacted with 40 municipal emergency management coordinators in Camden and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey to identify potential mitigation action items that could be used to apply for FEMA Pre-Disaster and Hazard Mitigation Grants.

Prior to joining JLWA, Mr. Nelms worked in Pinellas County, Florida's Emergency Operations Center.  In this position, he was responsible for developing and authoring the County's ESF#15 Volunteers and Donations Standard Operating Guidelines Annex to the County's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.  Additionally, he coordinated with the United Wayof Tampa Bay to create a framework for the management of Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), affiliated and spontaneous volunteers in recovery operations following an emergency event.  Mr. Nelms further developed the concept for Pinellas County's Volunteer Strike Force, a group of well trained disaster recovery volunteers that assist the County in a wide range recovery functions.

While attending graduate school at the University of South Florida, Mr. Nelms participated in a joint research project with the University's Center for Biological Defense, and Johns Hopkins University's Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response Center (PACER).  As part of this program, he developed the methodology for a study on the creation of Informal Disaster Recovery Networks in Southeastern Florida following the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons.  Mr. Nelms also conducted interviews of numerous government and non-profit agencies on their roles in related disaster recovery operations in the region.

Mr. Nelms holds numerous FEMA certifications, including the Professional Development Series (PDS) certificate, DHS's PER-230 Terrorism Response and PER-231 Suicide Bombing Prevention certificates, and is certified in Psychological First Aid for Terrorist Events by the University of Miami's Center for Disaster and Extreme Event Preparedness (DEEP). He is also certified to conduct Damage Assessments within the sate of Maryland.

Mr. Nelms holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from East Carolina University, two Graduate Certificates in Disaster Management and Homeland Security from the University of South Florida, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Johns Hopkins University.