A seasoned emergency management leader, Mr. Agostino brings over 39 years of disaster relief program experience to Tidal Basin. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for Administration for the New York State Office of Emergency Management (NYSOEM) recovery program. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing public assistance, hazard mitigation, and individual assistance programs for the state and its applicants, and its finance and budgeting operations.
He served as the Governor’s Authorized Representative for 57 declared disasters and emergencies, including the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster. Throughout his years of service, he functioned in administrative, financial, response, and recovery positions. This broad background in emergency management proved critical during several high-profile catastrophic events that required decisive decision-making and strong leadership.
As part of an innovative emergency management organization, he implemented programs that significantly improved the level and quality of service to the citizens of New York. For example, while at NYSOEM, John worked to tailor a program to address the needs of New York State and its applicants, creating a model for delivering well-trained advocates to assist local applicants through the FEMA grant application process. His foresight in creating this powerful public-private partnership benefited the State of New York through 16 federally declared disaster events and significantly increased outreach, applicant participation in the public assistance program, and hazard mitigation funding to harden facilities throughout the state against future disasters.
He currently works with states to improve their operations and administrative and planning functions. John is the author of the Disaster Recovery Today article titled, ‘Supplemental Funding Sources in Community Recovery.’
In 1987, John received the Federal Emergency Management Agency Director’s Highest Award for Outstanding Public Service to Emergency Management. He also received the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs Award as the Outstanding Management Employee of the year.
Achievements & Awards:
- FEMA Director’s Highest Award for Outstanding Public Service to Emergency Management
- New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs Outstanding Management Employee of the Year
Published Author
Education
- M.B.A., Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- B.A., Sociology, Siena College
Firm Role
Responsible for the delivery of all pre-disaster preparedness programs.
Disaster Experience
- State of New York: 4085-HM-NY, Hurricane Sandy, Hazard Mitigation Grant Program – 2013 – 2015
- New York State Department of Homeland Security, Fixed Asset Inventory Project, 2013 – 2014
- State of Alaska: 4050, 4054, 236, 237, 238-DR-AK
- Severe Winter Storms and Flooding, February 2012
- City of Duluth, Minnesota, August 2012 – October 2012
- State of Massachusetts: 1994-DR-MA, Tornadoes, June – July 2011
- Deputy Director for Administration – New York State Office of Emergency Management, 2005 – 2010
- Emergency Program Grants Manager – New York State Office of Emergency Management, 1990 -2005
- Finance Officer – New York State Office of Emergency Management, 1981 – 1989
Personal Affiliations
- Government Finance Officers Association
- National Emergency Management Association
- NEMA-FEMA National Public Assistance Steering Committee, FEMA Region II Representative, 2008-2010
Training
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) Training:
- Asbestos Awareness
- Lead Awareness
- Affected Person Lockout/Tagout
- Hazard Communication
- Confined Space Awareness Personal Protective Equipment
Additional Professional Training:
- Command and General Staff Specific Training
- Planning Section Chief
- Operations Section Chief
- Emergency Management Assistance Compact Training
- Xactimate Estimating Software
Coursework
Our Disaster Recovery Consultants continuously update their knowledge through FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute’s online classes. Agostino has completed 13 classes including the sampling of courses listed below. In addition, many of our consultants also augment their knowledge with other technical training.
- ICS 00100 Introduction to the Incident Command System
- ICS 00200 Single Resource and Initial Action Incidents
- ICS 00253 Coordinating Environmental and Historic Preservation Compliance
- ICS 00300 Advanced ICS
- ICS-00393 Introduction to Hazard Mitigation
- ICS 00400 Command and General Staff
- ICS 00402 ICS for Executive/Senior Officials
- ICS 00547 Introduction to Continuity of Operations
- ICS 00632 Introduction to Debris Operations
- ICS 00700 National Incident Management System
- ICS 00800 National Response Framework
- ICS 00801 Emergency Support Function (ESF) #1 – Transportation
- ICS 00803 Emergency Support Function (ESF) #3 – Public Works and Engineering
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