Mr. Alex Amparo is the Assistant Administrator of the Recovery Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency where he is responsible for the timely delivery of emergency provisions to individuals and communities following presidentially declared major disasters and emergencies. His distinguished career in emergency management spans more than two decades at the State and Federal levels. Mr. Amparo entered the Senior Executive Service (SES) in 2011.
Prior to his appointment as Assistant Administrator in January of 2015, Mr. Amparo served four years as Deputy Assistant Administrator, directing federally mandated programs that disburse the largest share of federal disaster recovery funding to individuals and communities across the United States and its territories. Since Mr. Amparo’s appointment, the programs under his leadership have disbursed more than $25 billion in federal disaster aid across more than 250 major disasters and emergencies, including assistance to more than 600,000 individuals and households.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Mr. Amparo was instrumental in utilizing geospatial technology to deliver expedited rental assistance to survivors who were unable to access their damaged homes in New York and New Jersey as well as an innovative program that rapidly repaired dwellings to ensure displaced residents could return home as quickly as possible. Under his leadership during Sandy, FEMA established a visible presence in affected communities to meet one-on-one with survivors and help them register for disaster assistance. Since Hurricane Sandy, Mr. Amparo has spearheaded a pilot program to that allows FEMA to provide fixed-capped grants based on estimates for large infrastructure repair projects damaged as a result of disasters.
As Senior Advisor to the Office of Response and Recovery, Mr. Amparo championed FEMA’s pre-staged commodity policy that includes emergency provisions for vulnerable populations. He supported the realignment of responsibilities among the FEMA directorates; negotiated national partnerships, integrated response and recovery activities, and improved efficiency in the delivery of disaster services
Prior to his federal service, Mr. Amparo was the Director of Emergency Management at the Florida Commission on Community Service. He led the integration of Whole Community Partnerships during 60 state emergencies, including 22 major disasters declared by the President. Florida’s State Emergency Response Team expanded during his tenure, the result of his leadership and strong commitment to formalized agreements and creative partnerships. Mr. Amparo personally deployed to activated disasters in six states and territories through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. In 2008, Mr. Amparo received the Governor’s Award for exceptional leadership in the emergency management field, the highest honor awarded by the Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference.
Also during his years in Florida, Mr. Amparo was a senior staff member in the office of the late Governor Lawton Chiles; and at the Florida Division of Emergency Management, he gained Subject Matter Expertise in the Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant programs.
Mr. Amparo holds a Bachelor of Science in Multinational Business at Florida State University and a Master’s in Business Administration at California State University.
Mr. Amparo lives in Virginia with his wife Carmen and their three children, Amber, Lauren and Alex Junior.