Wendi Lemons
Penrose,CO
Summary
Dynamic, driven emergency management leader with a diverse all-hazards background across county and statewide operations, public safety, community resilience, and federal grants management. Proven builder of high-performing paid and volunteer teams who sets clear vision, strengthens culture, and delivers results.
Brings academic and field expertise across preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, continuity, and exercises, with stewardship of $55M+ in federal grant portfolios and rigorous compliance. Trusted intergovernmental partner who aligns local, state, and federal stakeholders to scale readiness and recovery. Ready to lead a geographically dispersed organization and grow impactful, innovative services in a transformational VP role.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Planning & Grants Manager
WSB Engineering (formerly Meshek & Associates)
07.2025 - Current
- Serve as senior client partner and liaison for a diverse multi-state portfolio, leading daily communications, issue resolution, and long-term relationship strategy to maintain retention and drive expansion.
- Conduct business development and capture efforts across state/local emergency management and resilience programs—including opportunity identification, qualification, and pursuit strategy,
- Project/budget oversight, and revenue integrity through invoicing and financial tracking.
- Represent organization in conferences/workshops to expand partnerships and translate market signals into pursuits.
- Drive pipeline growth through lead generation and follow-up, cultivating partnerships with agencies, primes, subs, and community stakeholders to generate repeatable, scalable work
- RFQ/RFP strategy, proposal writing, and negotiations.
- Direct $55M+ federal grants management lifecycle, ensuring compliance, reporting accuracy, and audit readiness.
- Monitor grant expenditures against budgets, ensuring funds were utilized appropriately and within scope of funded projects.
- Support planning and technical delivery for hazard mitigation, emergency operations, emergency response, and emergency action plans, ensuring plans are actionable, compliant, and aligned with community risk profiles.
- Provide project and budget management across multiple concurrent engagements, balancing scope, schedule, risk, and stakeholder expectations while ensuring high-quality outcomes.
Supervisor, Community Services Division
Florence Police Department
09.2021 - 07.2022
- Led and scaled community services operations within the Police Department, providing supervision and performance oversight for five non-commissioned community services teams and staff while ensuring consistent service delivery across high-visibility public programs.
- Designed and launched innovative, efficiency-driven programs to modernize community services delivery, improve responsiveness, and increase operating effectiveness through streamlined processes and clearer service standards.
- Cleared a backlog of over 300 calls for service in 6 months by implementing project management & tracking practices.
- Developed and managed annual budgets for community services, improving resource allocation and cost control while supporting new initiative rollout.
- Resolved public complaints with a focus on fairness, transparency, and risk mitigation, strengthening confidence in department operations.
- Led reputation and trust-building initiatives that improved public perception through visible service enhancements and community partnership engagement.
- Applied strong leadership talents and problem-solving skills to maintain team efficiency and organize workflows.
- Increased team productivity by implementing efficient workflows and setting clear expectations for staff members.
- Enhanced communication within the team by holding regular meetings and encouraging open dialogue among all members.
Director of Emergency Management & Floodplain Adm
Lincoln County, Ok
08.2015 - 09.2021
- Led countywide disaster management operations for Lincoln County, directing end-to-end preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery planning, and resilience operations across all hazards and ESF partners.
- Served as senior intergovernmental liaison and coordination lead, managing mutual aid agreements and multi-jurisdiction requests while aligning county operations with state and federal partners.
- Secured, administered, and fully accounted for public-safety grant funding, ensuring compliant use of funds, timely reporting, and measurable operational improvements for county agencies.
- Designed and executed countywide public information and risk-communication campaigns, tailoring messaging for diverse audiences to elevate preparedness, protective actions, and trust during blue-sky and disaster conditions.
- Directed the governance, updates, and full lifecycle management of key readiness plans, including the All-Hazards EOP, Hazard Mitigation Plan, and COOP, keeping them current with emerging risks, identified capability gaps, and all applicable compliance standards.
- Built and sustained high-functioning ESF and partner networks, strengthening pre-incident coordination, joint planning, and operational readiness across public safety, public health, infrastructure, and community organizations.
- Authored, led, and evaluated multi-agency disaster exercises, including full-scale and tabletop events within and beyond county boundaries; produced after-action insights to drive measurable capability improvements.
- Ensured countywide NIMS/ICS compliance, providing training, technical assistance, and corrective action support to agencies to standardize command, coordination, and operational protocols.
- Directed active incident response for complex, high-consequence events including wildfires, tornadoes, floods, HAZMAT incidents, aviation crashes, and other emergencies—coordinating ground and air resources, multi-agency assignments, and real-time situational operations.
- Led emergency planning and operational oversight for special events (festivals, concerts, public gatherings), integrating public safety, EMS, and contingency operations into event execution.
- Managed and developed a blended workforce of full-time and volunteer personnel, providing direct supervision, training, and performance oversight to maintain surge-ready capability.
- Served as county Incident Management lead for the COVID-19 response, coordinating first-responder protection protocols (including PPE readiness), sustaining county government COOP, and delivering timely public information across multiple channels.
- Tracked and reported COVID-related expenditures and administered a $1.6M response grant, ensuring compliance, documentation integrity, and optimized deployment of resources to community and responder needs.
- Developed high-performing teams by providing mentorship, guidance, and opportunities for professional growth.
Public Outreach & Preparedness Program Manager
Oklahoma Office Of Homeland Security
12.2012 - 08.2015
- Provided strategic oversight for Regional Homeland Security Advisory Councils across Oklahoma, guiding multi-jurisdiction planning, prioritization of regional capabilities, and coordination of preparedness investments.
- Supported State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) activations, assisting operational leadership with situational coordination, resource alignment, and interagency communications during elevated incidents and disaster response.
- Designed and delivered 6 statewide personal and workplace disaster-preparedness programs, briefing the public and civic organizations up to 3 times per week on all-hazards readiness, protective actions, and resilience practices; tailored content to diverse communities and risk profiles.
- Served as Oklahoma’s statewide coordinator for Citizen Corps, leading volunteer engagement, community preparedness initiatives, and partner alignment to strengthen local capability and surge support.
- Participated in vendor selection and management process for program initiatives.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Emergency & Disaster Management
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville, Alabama, AL08-2017
Master of Science - Emergency & Disaster Management
American Military University
Charles Town, WV11-2015
Skills
- Division Leadership
- Strategic Vision & Culture Building
- Stakeholder & Board Briefings
- Operational Excellence / Continuous Improvement
- All-Hazards Preparedness & Planning
- Hazard Mitigation Strategy & Implementation
- Disaster Response Leadership (NIMS/ICS)
- After-Action Reviews (AAR) & Improvement Plans (IP)
Certification
- FEMA: Certified Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP)
- IAEMA: Associate Emergency Manager (AEM) *CEM pending review
- U.S. Office of Homeland Security, Office of Infrastructure Protection: Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information Authorized User
Timeline
Senior Planning & Grants Manager
WSB Engineering (formerly Meshek & Associates)
07.2025 - Current
Supervisor, Community Services Division
Florence Police Department
09.2021 - 07.2022
Director of Emergency Management & Floodplain Adm
Lincoln County, Ok
08.2015 - 09.2021
Public Outreach & Preparedness Program Manager
Oklahoma Office Of Homeland Security
12.2012 - 08.2015
Bachelor of Science - Emergency & Disaster Management
Jacksonville State University
Master of Science - Emergency & Disaster Management
American Military University