A.J. Mumm   I  2024

Past-Chair

Polk County Emergency Management Agency

In September 2004, the Polk County Emergency Management Commission appointed A.J. Mumm to lead the countywide agency responsible for preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural and man-made disasters.  He originally began his service with the Polk County Emergency Management Agency in January 1999 as a disaster mitigation planner and went on to join the State of Iowa’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division in July 2001 where he was eventually promoted to the position of Chief Planner.  He had also served as a Firefighter and EMT with the Ankeny (Iowa) Fire Department for more than 12 years.

Mumm, a graduate of Drake University (BA – Biology and Geography) and Iowa State University (Master of Community and Regional Planning), is also an alumnus of the 2005 Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute’s Transformational Leadership Program.  He has taught as an Adjunct Instructor at Drake University, Des Moines Area Community College, and currently teaches with the Texas A&M University’s Engineering Extension Service (TEEX). He has been published and regularly speaks on the topics of hazard analysis and risk assessment, critical asset protection, and comprehensive emergency planning. 

A.J. is a recipient of the 2008 Iowa State Association of Counties’ Individual Excellence Awards for Polk County’s response to the severe weather and flooding of 2008.  Mumm is a Past-President of the Iowa Emergency Management Association and serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Safeguard Iowa Partnership; a public-private partnership focused on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. He currently serves on the Iowa State Association of Counties Board of Directors.

Mumm has worked internationally as an advisor to the Republic of Kosovo.  This included several trips to the Balkans as part of the Iowa National Guard’s State Partnership Program.  He is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) through the International Association of Emergency Managers.  A native of Westside, Iowa, A.J. and his wife Sabetha live in Ankeny, Iowa.  They have two children and two dogs. 

Lacey Hogan  I  2024 Chair

Sparks Energy

Lacey joined Sparks Energy in October 2024 as the Client Relations Manager. Prior to that she worked for Alliant Energy from 2014 as a Resource Coordinator in Dispatch System Operations before joining Emergency Management as a Senior Emergency Preparedness and Response Specialist. In this role, she was responsible for the communication, coordination, and collaboration of internal and external resources to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from incidents impacting business and industry operations.  She planned, participated in, and evaluated the effectiveness of drills and exercises designed to enhance Alliant Energy's incident preparedness. She served as a liaison between Alliant Energy, the utility industry, and public partners (spanning from local to federal partners) and developed relationships that enhanced community resiliency, response, and recovery efforts.

In addition to serving as the Chair of the Safeguard Iowa Partnership, Lacey is a member of the Executive Committee Advisory Council for the Edison Electric Institute’s Midwest Mutual Assistance Group and serves as the Chair for the Wisconsin Mutual Assistance Group. She is a U.S. Air Force veteran.

Patrick Waymire  2024                              Vice-Chair

Iowa Department of Public Safety

Pat is currently the Assistant Director for the Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.  He has been a police officer with the Iowa Department of Public Safety for 26 years (1 ½ years as a Gaming Enforcement Officer with the Division of Criminal Investigation; 4 ½ years as an Iowa State Trooper with the Iowa State Patrol; 18 years as a Narcotics Special Agent with the Division of Narcotics Enforcement; and one year in the Professional Standards Bureau). 

Currently, he serves as Fusion Center Director and the Director of the Office to Combat Human Trafficking.  Throughout his career he has worked with numerous drug task forces, state and federal agencies, and the local/private sector. 

John Neldeberg  2024 Secretary/Treasurer

Truist

John Neldeberg  is currently Vice President, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Truist. He  has been in the Emergency Management, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning business since 1993 were he received his start working with the State of Iowa Emergency Management Division at the peak of the floods of 1993. His duties entailed assisting the state recover from one of the largest natural disasters the mid-west has ever experienced. Throughout his career he as worked with private industry, federal, state, local governments, and private non-profit organizations assisting them in disaster planning and preparations.                                                                           

His disaster assignments have included a month long tour in New York City after September 11th working in the NYC Emergency Operations Center and at Ground Zero. He traveled to Guam in July of 2002 to help disaster victims recover from a devastating Typhoon. In Iowa he responded to the devastating F5 Tornado that struck Parkersburg in May of 2008 and worked in the state and county operations centers during the Iowa Floods of 2008. He also supported the devastating Ames flooding in 2010.                           

 John has written, assisted, and conducted multiple emergency management exercises to test the adequacy of disaster plans. He has developed and conducted courses on emergency management, disaster planning, and damage assessment. He has been trained and has trained others in numerous areas of emergency management and disaster preparedness.                            

John is a Certified Business Continuity Professional, a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers, Disaster Recovery Institute, and past president of the Iowa Contingency Planners.

Sean Poston

GreatAmerica Financial Services

Sean is Director of Enterprise Security at GreatAmerica Financial Services, where he worked for 21 years. He is responsible for physical security, corporate incident management, and workplace safety. As a member of the Enterprise Security leadership team, he conducts tabletop exercises, risk assessment, and incident communication for both physical and information security capabilities. Sean received a B.A. in Marketing from the University of Northern Iowa.

Jeremy Sroka

Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management

Based in Johnston, IA at the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Response Division, Jeremy Sroka is currently the state Preparedness Bureau Chief. Prior to becoming the Bureau Chief, he was the state Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) Program Manager, Public-Private Partnership Program Lead and the Critical Infrastructure Protection Coordinator. Jeremy also worked for the Iowa National Guard in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Infrastructure Information Security Division.

He served in the Iowa National Guard and retired in 2015. Jeremy is a member of the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Government Coordinating Council and he serves on multiple national level critical infrastructure working groups. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Emergency and Disaster Management at Upper Iowa University. 

Doug Reed

Iowa Emergency Management Association (IEMA) 2nd VP

Doug is an Iowa Certified Emergency Manager and has served within the Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency since 2003 bringing a combined 25 years of experience in emergency services that includes emergency management, fire/rescue, emergency medical services, emergency communications, and law enforcement. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Army.

His EMA career began serving part-time as the EMS Coordinator and transitioning to a full-time Operations Officer for the agency focusing on coordination, management, and implementation of National Incident Management System standards. He was appointed Director on October 1, 2012. Doug has actively participated in and supervised the implementation of disaster response and recovery operations for (13) Presidential Major Disaster Declarations and Federal Emergency Declarations in Pottawattamie County and has also assisted in disaster and emergency response efforts throughout Iowa as a former Planning Section Chief and Incident Commander for the Iowa Type III Incident Management Team.

Doug is a past president of the Iowa Emergency Management Association (IEMA) and is currently serving as their 2nd Vice President, on the IEMA Legislative Committee, and as an IEMA legislative representative to the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC). He currently chairs the FEMA Region VII Administrator’s Regional Advisory Council (RAC), and leads or participates in several local, regional, and state committees and boards.

Robert Hedgepeth

BBS Architects | Engineers

Rob has been employed at BBS Architects | Engineers since 1990 and is a Partner in the firm.  He is a 1989 graduate of The University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.  While at the University of Iowa, he earned a commission as a U.S. Army officer from the Army ROTC program.  He spent over 30 years in the Iowa Army National Guard, retiring as a Colonel.  Rob’s responsibilities with the Guard included domestic response assignments as the Joint Operations Officer (J-3), and Commander of the 671st Troop Command.  He has been involved in the Guard’s tornado and flood responses and directed many Statewide Emergency Communications exercises with Federal, State, County, Local, and volunteer partners. 

Rob is a state-certified All-Hazards Communications Technician Trainer, COMT, and COML.  He holds Masters Degrees from American Military University and the U.S. Army War College. Rob has been a member of the Safeguard Iowa Partnership since 2014.

Greg Smith

Greg was selected as the Cedar Rapids Fire Chief In April, 2019 and is the 14th paid Fire Chief in the history of the department. He has been a firefighter with the City of Cedar Rapids since July 1994. He has previously served as an Assistant Fire Chief - Operations Division (2011-2019), Battalion Chief (2009-2011), Fire Captain (1999-2009), and Firefighter (1994-1999). As a Battalion Chief, he was the program manager for the Special Operations and Hazardous Materials Teams. During his career, Chief Smith served as the on-scene Incident Commander for a significant portion of the Flood of 2008 and two Sinclair property fires. He was a Planning Section Chief for the state team for the 2011 Missouri River Flood, RAGBRAI 2012 Cedar Rapids, and the 2016 National Governor’s Association Conference. He was also a Co-Incident Commander for the 2016 Flood.

Chief Smith earned his Bachelor of Science in Occupational Safety and Master of Public Administration from Iowa State University and achieved his Executive Fire Officer certification from the National Fire Academy. He is also a designated Chief Fire Officer through the Center for Public Safety Excellence and is a past member of the Iowa All-Hazards Incident Management Team.

John Halbrook

John is currently serving as the Director of Corporate Security and Resiliency for MidAmerican Energy Corporation where he oversees multiple programs and workflows.  Prior to his time with MidAmerican, John was the Program Coordinator at the Safeguard Iowa Partnership, and a Program Planner at the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.  John’s passion for emergency response and coordination stems from his time as a firefighter and paramedic in central Iowa where he worked as a both a volunteer and career first responder.

Ryan Purdy

West Des Moines Police Department

Ryan is a Sergeant with the West Des Moines Police Department, where he has worked for 18 years. Ryan is currently the supervisor for the Community Outreach Programs and Services Unit.  This unit provides training and resources to area businesses, schools, places of worship and private citizens in a wide variety of topics from bicycle safety to active shooter training and incident management.  The unit also provides all inner department training ranging from implicit bias to firearms and defensive tactics. Ryan additionally serves as an Executive Officer on the Suburban Emergency Response Team (S.E.R.T.). Ryan has served in multiple roles within SERT since 2009. Ryan received a bachelor’s degree in criminology from the University of Northern Iowa.

Safeguard Iowa Partnership Executive director