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Karen Durham-Aguilera, SES, P.E.
Director of Task Force Hope
Karen Durham-Aguilera, SES, P.E., is the Director of Task Force Hope in Louisiana, part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division. She is responsible for overseeing the Corps’ $14.6 billion Hurricane & Storm Damage Risk Reduction System work in New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana, and the long-term planning of coastal restoration and hurricane damage reduction.
A member of the Senior Executive Service, Durham-Aguilera was most recently Director of Programs for the Corps’ Northwestern Division where she was responsible for $3.5 billion in civil works and military programs that included hydroelectric, navigation, flood damage reduction, and endangered species recovery projects, in an area that covered about 25 percent of the continental United States.
In 2005, Durham-Aguilera served as the Director of Reconstruction Programs, Project and Contracting office (PCO) in Baghdad, Iraq. She was responsible for planning, coordination, contracting acquisition and execution of nearly 3,200 projects spanning all construction sectors throughout Iraq with a workforce from all branches of the armed forces, multi-national civilians and Iraqi professionals.
A registered professional engineer in the state of Louisiana, Durham-Aguilera holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in civil (geotechnical) engineering, both from the University of Louisville. Prior to her assignment to the Northwestern Division, Durham-Aguilera served as Chief, Construction-Operations Division, at the Corps’ Sacramento District. After early career assignments in New Orleans, Louisiana, she served in numerous engineering positions in the United States and abroad, including project engineer, resident engineer and area engineer.
For several years, Durham-Aguilera served on the Army’s Career Board for Engineers and Scientists. Her recognitions include the Bronze Order of the DeFleury Medal, Joint Civilian Service, Meritorious Service, Superior Civilian Service Awards and Commander’s Awards. Durham-Aguilera was the Corps of Engineers’ 1990 Southwestern Division Engineer of the Year and 1993 Federal Engineer of the Year.
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