HMDR Division Leadership

Stacy Wright, AICP, PMP, CFM is the Division Chair. Stacy is Senior Technical Manager with Atkins, N.A., working in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is honored to apprentice as Chair-Elect with Jim so we will have a bright future, and excited about expanding interaction within the Division. In her capacity as Chair-Elect, Stacy, who describes herself as “passionate about what we do and wanting more people to consider this field as a career,” leads the Division on the whole as well as National Planning Conference activities and FAICP nominations.

Molly Mowery, AICP is Executive Director for the non-profit organization Community Wildfire Planning Center and founder of Wildfire Planning International. For more than 15 years, Molly has been a pioneer in integrating wildfire hazard mitigation with land use planning practices. She developed the first wildland-urban interface planning course for FEMA, served as the lead author of the American Planning Association (APA) publication Planning the Wildland-Urban Interface, and drafted land use planning guidance for the National Research Council of Canada’s National Guide for Wildland-Urban interface Fires. Molly frequently presents on wildfire planning topics and provided the Norman Williams Distinguished Lecture in Land Use Planning and Law hosted by the Vermont Law School in 2021. As Chair-Elect, Molly leads the Division's Professional Development Committee

Chrissy Caggiano, AICP, PP is the Division Secretary-Treasurer. Christine is Technical Manager in Planning at Michael Baker International, specializing in hazard mitigation planning. She is based in Philadelphia. She previously volunteered with the Professional Development Committee. She  is interested in moving the Division towards an active network of professionals as our group grows and matures. She is also excited to bring our student members into the fold, and help them become forever-members, a task she may be able to help expedite as the new leader of the Communications Committee, which includes the newsletter among its responsibilities.

Jim Schwab, FAICP, is a founding member of the Division. Jim calls himself “allegedly retired” after many years as manager of the APA Hazards Planning Center, where he led numerous projects, many of which resulted in well-known PAS Reports on various aspects of hazards planning. Since 2017, he has worked as a part-time independent planning consultant (based in Chicago), public speaker, and adjunct assistant professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since 2008. In 2018, Jim was the recipient of ASFPM’s Goddard-White Award, its highest honor. He is also the author of a highly popular blog, “Home of the Brave,” on his personal website, www.jimschwab.com. Jim leads the Division's signature project, the production of a documentary video on the importance of planners and planning related to disasters, a subject discussed in a separate article in this newsletter.