Jessica Lauren
Austin,TX
Summary
Seeking positions related to environmental compliance, public assistance, & grant management.
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
Work History
Program Delivery Manager
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
08.2020 - 05.2021
- Public Assistance (PA) Program Delivery Manager (PDMG) for the state of Ohio; streamlined grant funding project reviews according to current and changing policies and laws. Communicated operating procedures and other applicable Federal, State and local regulations to applicants in addition to managing stakeholder and applicant expectations during COVID-19 crisis.
- Evolving COVID-19 crisis required secondary role as Interagency Recovery Coordination Liaison for the state of Illinois supporting State Emergency Managers and Leadership.
- Generated grant funding requests for information, extensive statewide COVID-19 impact reports, data sheets, and excel trackers containing private, non-profit, NGO, and state resources.
- Organized and assessed eligible resources by concurrently weighing variables such as response time, need, capacity, access, and low income.
Environmental Specialist
FEMA
05.2019 - 12.2019
- Served as support for disasters DR-4434-CA & DR-4431-CA; Environmental and Historic Preservation Specialist in Public Assistance (EHP-PA).
- Served as regional technical specialist, providing advice and assistance to federal, state, or local entities for the development, execution, and monitoring of EHP policies, plans, and programs; completing EHP reports and reviews within Grants Manager.
- Provided EHP review of a wide range of projects according to all National Environmental Policy Act Laws and applicable Executive Orders.
- Worked independently in the field leading recovery scoping meetings and site inspections as the sole EHP representative for Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Colusa County in California.
- Worked with Mitigation Lead communicating best practices for 404/406 mitigation while taking into account California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- Educated non-EHP practitioners and first time applicants on environmental and historic preservation compliance laws and best practices in each stage of the grant process.
Environmental Specialist
FEMA
10.2018 - 05.2019
- Supported the state of Georgia in Hurricane Michael recovery for DR-4507-GA; provided in-person disaster recovery expertise to state applicants, US Department of Defense, and US Army Corp of Engineers regarding emergency work and mitigation.
- Trained local hires on project worksheet review.
- Debris Lead; drafted permits and advised the US Army Corps of Engineers regarding ongoing debris removal efforts.
- Conducted scoping meetings, site inspections, critical analysis and documentation of impacts to the environment via Records of Environmental Consideration.
- Ensured projects and applicant actions are compliant with environmental and historic preservation laws and executive orders, including but not limited to the National Environmental Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Executive Orders 11988 (Floodplains), 11990 (Wetlands), and 12898 (Environmental Justice).
- Directly assisted the EHP Historic Preservation Specialist by drafting Tier II SOI Historic reviews for their expedited, qualified concurrence.
Environmental Specialist
FEMA
10.2017 - 09.2018
- Performed project worksheet review which included completeness checks for sufficient scope of work and required documentation to ensure that all principles are applied regarding all environmental and historic policies (i.e., NEPA, etc).
- Synthesized information using all relevant EHP computer applications (i.e., ArcGIS, Grants Manager, Google Earth, EMIS, Risk Map 6, EHP GIS Tool).
- Developed written tools, review trackers, and research strategies for current and future FEMA program implementation.
- Interpreted EHP program policies, procedures, and regulations; provided technical and administrative advice as required to resolve problems and maintain continuity of work.
- Provided guidance to Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, non-governmental organizations, and private sector stakeholders performing disaster recovery work.
- Assisted the Regional Environmental Officer in the implementation of applicable federal EHP laws as they pertain to FEMA's disaster programs for recovery activities.
- Group Housing Team Lead; prepared Records of Environmental Consideration and issued site placement guidance as the sole point of contact supporting field site inspections in real time. These duties were assigned within the Group Housing team, which at the time supported the most critical mission of the entire DR-4332-TX disaster.
- As a team of 6, we completed the review of 274 group housing sites and 419 commercial housing sites.
- Solely responsible for maintaining and providing QA/QC of Commercial Site Tracker database in the Individual Assistance (IA) Group Housing Mission.
- Worked within a team supporting the Hazard Mitigation Lead in the review of over 3,478 site inspection reports (SIR) and additionally tasked to monitor and evaluate all team members’ reviews of SIRs, proof of findings, and data compiled from EHP compliance reviews.
- Provided technical advice and assistance to EHP staff regarding improvement of environmental programs.
- Formulated new review strategies, new processes for data input, and QA/QC processes; trained team in meetings and one-on-one, after which eliminating all SIR errors to our knowledge (previously, 20% of the team's reviews had to be corrected and re-reviewed).
- Cross-trained IA EHP staff in reviews of private and commercial sites and prepared a Standard Operating Guidance for further instruction.
- Individually tasked to perform final compliance determinations, serving as outreach spokesperson on congressional inquiries regarding housing work orders for both commercial and private sites and communicated findings to other agencies and departments. This often involved reconciling discrepancies between conflicting interagency data.
- Developed Programmatic 8 Step Decision Documents under Executive Order 11988 and 11990 for DR-4332-TX Disaster Recovery Centers.
- Technical advisor identifying errors while beta-testing a prototype Region 6 EHP GIS assessment tool.
- Independently developed Excel formulas to analyze data collected from federal, state, and local reports, successfully decreasing mass compliance review time from approximately 7 hours to 20 minutes.
- Participated in endangered species habitat consult with a 10(a)(1)(A) USFWS permitted Houston Toad monitor; analyzed debris and habitat for toad presence in Bastrop County.
- Assembled assessment tables and participated in final stages meeting for proposed group and commercial site development in support of the DR‐4332‐TX Direct Housing Mission.
- Participated in emergency response and long-term recovery operations of a Level 1 Disaster full time for 10 months.
EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
EXIT REALTY
02.2015 - 08.2015
- Executive assistant meeting all administrative demands for an office group consisting of five companies: EXIT Realty, Efinity Lending LLC, Castro & Baker LLP, Eagle Property Management, and LaSpina Law LLP
- Regular tasks were as follows: drafted and proofread outgoing correspondence on behalf of company executives, managed leasee complaints and maintenance requests, called prospective clients for real estate agents, assisted loan officer and receipted contracts, prepared documents for pre-trial and trial hearings, prepared all weekly reports, updated real estate listings and lease information, maintained records of insurance, office expenditures, and transactions, oversaw and ordered merchandise, supplies and repairs, and lastly coordinated various title, escrow, mortgage, and loan processes.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - International Relations, History
Texas State University
San Marcos, TXTrainings Completed
Skills
- Federal Project & Grant Management
- Interagency Coordination
- NEPA Review
- Project Development
- Alternative Solutions
- Database QA/QC
- Research & Review Strategy Expert
- Federal Policy Implementation
- Operational & Performance Efficiency Expert
- Applicant Recovery & Public Relations
- Onboarding Training and Development
Timeline
Program Delivery Manager
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
08.2020 - 05.2021
Environmental Specialist
FEMA
05.2019 - 12.2019
Environmental Specialist
FEMA
10.2018 - 05.2019
Environmental Specialist
FEMA
10.2017 - 09.2018
EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
EXIT REALTY
02.2015 - 08.2015
Bachelor of Arts - International Relations, History
Texas State University
Trainings Completed