Keith Turi is the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the FEMA Recovery Directorate. Keith was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the FEMA Recovery Directorate in October of 2015. He has been in the emergency management field at the federal, state, and private sector levels for more than 15 years.
In 2014, Keith became Director of the FEMA Recovery Analytics and Budget Division, a division he designed and launched, to provide full service analytical capabilities and budget oversight to the nation’s federal disaster recovery programs. The division Keith launched is improving operational efficiency and increasing positive outcomes for disaster survivors and communities.
From 2011 to 2013, Keith served as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Administrator for Recovery, helping to guide the implementation of Recovery programs during the response to dozens of disasters declared by the President, including Hurricane Sandy. His primary responsibilities included policy development, resource allocation, strategic planning, workforce development, internal communication, and change management.
Prior to that, Keith served as Senior Policy Advisor to the Office of Policy and Program Analysis. He coordinated and managed high priority policy activities designed to achieve the FEMA mission. His leadership and clear direction assisted his staff in developing new policy, concepts, and capabilities to support federal emergency management authorities, funding, and programs.
Before joining the Recovery Directorate, Keith served as the national program lead for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). HMGP is the nationwide post-disaster program that provides approximately $300 million in grants to states, tribes and local governments each year. Keith took charge of the HMGP implementation during recovery from Hurricane Katrina. As the FEMA liaison to the impacted states, Keith led the joint effort to find solutions to unprecedented implementation and policy challenges related to disaster recovery in the Gulf Coast.
Keith’s extensive emergency management background includes three years with the State of Massachusetts, working on emergency management and mitigation issues. In the private sector, he supported a range of federal, state, and local clients on mitigation and recovery-related contracts. Keith holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.