IEMA Links

Andrew Velasquez III

Andrew Velasquez III was appointed Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) on March 16, 2007. As director, Mr. Velasquez oversees Illinois' disaster preparedness and response, nuclear safety and homeland security programs, as well as the agency's 250+ employees and a budget of more than $470 million. Since November 2007, he also has served as the Illinois Homeland Security Advisor.

At IEMA, Mr. Velasquez has directed the response and recovery effort to 80 Illinois counties declared State disaster areas. These efforts were in response to emergencies that included major flooding events throughout the State, severe storms, ice storms and the tragic campus shooting event at Northern Illinois University (NIU). Most recently, Mr. Velasquez directed the disaster response and recovery efforts for the record mid west flooding that impacted multiple regions in Illinois. He has helped secure federal disaster declarations and assistance for people, businesses and local governments affected by these disasters and tragedies. Mr. Velasquez has served as the state coordinating officer and the governor's authorized representative for seven presidential disaster declarations.

Mr. Velasquez served as chairman of the response committee for the Governor's Campus Safety Task Force (CSTF). Established in response to the shooting incident at Virginia Tech, the response committee was charged with the mission of developing and implementing comprehensive, coordinated policies and training programs to deter, prevent and significantly enhance response to, and recovery from, major public safety incidents at all public and private higher education institutions in Illinois.

Mr. Velasquez is on the Board of Directors for the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), a partnership of the federal government and the eight states most affected by earthquakes in the central United States. He also is a member of the Regional Advisory Council for FEMA Region V, the Homeland Security Consortium for the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) and was most recently appointed as an Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) Commissioner representing NEMA on all matters related to EMAP accreditations.

Prior to becoming IEMA director, Mr. Velasquez was Executive Director of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC). Appointed on June 1, 2005, Mr. Velasquez was responsible for planning and executing the City's public safety initiatives to serve the city's 2.9 million residents. With an annual budget in excess of $91 million and approximately 2,200 City and contract employees, this critical responsibility included the dispatch of all emergency and non-emergency services, the management of a 24-hour City Operations Center to coordinate routine emergency and traffic services; and the oversight, development and execution of all City disaster and homeland security planning and operations.

Previous to serving as OEMC Executive Director, Mr. Velasquez served the Chicago Police Department in various capacities for ten years. He also served as a member of the U.S. Army for a total of six years.

A native Chicagoan from the Humboldt Park neighborhood and public school graduate, Andrew Velasquez III holds a Bachelor's degree and a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Illinois State University. He also received a Master of Business Administration in Management from Saint Xavier University.