Continuity of Operations (COOP) and Emergency Planning in Government Training Workshop XXIV

With the latest series of natural disasters in Texas, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, has your organization realized it was not fully prepared to cope with a disaster? Is your preparation adequate to maintain continuity of your government functions? Learn from others including the Director of the Department of Agriculture National Finance Center who has proven leadership and success in implementing a successful COOP plan and continued mission essential functions during a hurricane that destroyed his facility.

Learn about New COOP Requirements, Federal Government Policy, Best & Proven Practices and what they mean for your organization. The Federal Government’s continuity requirements are currently being updated and this workshop will address new developments and how it will impact your organization. The New Administration will be depending upon Career and New Appointees to insure the continuity of government. There will be no excuses for lack of a workable COOP plan in the event of an emergency. Your agency leadership is dependant upon COOP personal.

Is your agency management currently satisfied with its COOP Planning and Policy?

Is your agency prepared for an incident and is it resilient?

Attend this proven Potomac Forum Training Workshop to improve or fine tune your agency COOP planning and policy.

Industry and Government Leaders Present Practical Solutions to Government Continuity of Operations Requirements. This is a “How To” workshop “with proven instructors and guest speakers. Rated as “Excellent” the previous 23 workshop sessions!

Quality Promise – Full Refund if Not Satisfied with the Quality of the Information Presented: Potomac Forum is so confident that each and every attendee will be pleased with the information presented and its value to the government that Potomac Forum will provide a FULL REFUND for any student that does not find the two day workshop of value to their organization.

Hear from government and industry experts leading Business Continuity Planning and Continuity of Operations Planning, Development, Testing and Implementation. This Instructor Team presents practical, real-life solutions required to establish or improve a Continuity Program within your Federal, State, Local, Tribal, or Private Sector organization. The key to success in moving your COOP program forward is gaining the foothold within your organization’s culture and business processes. You will hear from Federal Agency Leadership about their development of a COOP Program that has been recognized by DHS as best practice. Learn about impacts of current events that drive Telework, Resilience, Reconstitution and other key response and recovery strategies.

Learn how to Justify COOP Programs to Senior Management and Build Cooperation and Consensus at the “Front Line” levels. Instructors will simply and clearly answer the “what’s in it for me” question from the leadership level through, and right down to the individual implementers' level. This technique, though simple and easily tailored, is often the key to gain leadership’s buy-in and individual understanding of the complexities involving the many facets of COOP. You will see a simple concept that will allow you to capture, catalog, measure and report on existing Continuity Implementations that already exist within your organization.

This workshop will help advance your program with new strategies, methods and templates. Included in the course materials will be a disk with numerous Federal continuity references as well as several ready-to-use templates to advance your program. (Material is Updated to Include the Latest Guidance from NIST, DHS and Administration Initiatives.)

Consider this Workshop

If you have recently taken over an existing COOP Program and want to ensure that it is up to speed with the government and industry’s best practices
If you have a COOP Program that is just taking off
If you have an established COOP Program and need to find new areas to quickly and easily improve
If you are looking for ways to make your COOP Program execute effectively on a “bad day”
If you are new to the Federal COOP environment
If you are in top leadership and need to learn more about what you are “on the hook” for within COOP
If you are not satisfied with your current agency COOP Plan or Policy
If you have new Agency Leadership and want to be better prepared to discuss COOP
... then this is the session for you to deliver a practical and sustainable COOP Program that complies with government regulations, best practices and effective management.

... then this is the session for you to deliver a practical and sustainable COOP Program that complies with government regulations, best practices and effective management.

What You Will Learn:

Define all aspects of COOP
Develop an action plan for delivering your COOP Program that shows regular
How to effectively engage Telework within your COOP Program
How development of executable procedures first drives policy development later
Describe the activities involved in developing and implementing a sound COOP strategy
Develop a COOP Implementation plan complete with Emergency Response Strategies
Understand the COOP, IT Infrastructure relationship and how to better connect the two
Distinguish between Continuity of Operations and Disaster Recovery and understand how both areas are critical to contingency planning
How to promote personal preparedness with each individual COOP Team Member
Justify COOP program and testing
Understand the increasing responsibilities on Human Resources, Logistics and Contract Management brought about by the Implementation of COOP planning
Understand Government regulations on COOP and Business Continuity and how they pertain to your agency and why (including The Disaster Recovery Plan and the Information Systems Contingency Plan according to NIST 800-34 Rev. 1 and Federal COOP Guidelines – FCD-1/FCD-2/NCP Implementation Plan)

Why You Should Attend:

Learn how the cooperation of Continuity of Operation Planning and Disaster Recovery is an essential requirement for government emergency preparedness
Network with your colleagues on COOP/DR capability in the Federal, State, Local Government
Review the development phases, tasks, and how to deploy personnel for COOP/DR implementations, testing, and exercises
Understand the best COOP/DR Architecture for your organization
Get some practical experience in COOP/DR concepts and planning through the course workshops
Gain insight into building resilient data centers that scale efficiently
Learn the importance of data integrity and how to protect it
Understand the reasons why some COOP/DR implementations fail
Apply techniques to maximize the efficiency of your IT and Systems contingency plans

Who Should Attend:

Program Managers responsible program operation
Senior Leadership who own the COOP Program
Senior Leadership who is Accountable for COOP Planning, Policy and/or Implementation
Middle managers and staff tasked with the development and implementation of COOP
Facility managers of Alternate and Emergency Relocation Sites
IT Managers and Staff tasked with Information Systems Contingency Planning according to NIST SP800-34 Rev. 1 Guidance
IGs, QA Managers and Staff
Procurement Staff responsible for COOP Contracting
Human Resource Managers and Supervisors responsible for Implementing COOP Telework and tracking personnel during emergencies
Industry managers and staff supporting the government

Speaker and Presenter Information

Keynote Speaker:

Richard "Rich" M. Chávez

Director, Office of Operations Coordination, DHS Continuity Coordinator, Department of Homeland Security

Mr. Chávez is a career Senior Executive at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As the Director of the Office of Operations Coordination (OPS), he provides counsel directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security on a wide range of operational issues to include prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery operations, continuity of operations (COOP), and planning. He leads an office of more than 500 people who are responsible for monitoring the security of the United States on a daily basis, providing national situational awareness, and developing the national common operating picture. His office provides vital decision support information to the Federal interagency, Governors, Homeland Security Advisors, law enforcement, private sector, and critical infrastructure operators across the homeland security enterprise.

Mr. Chávez has over 30 years of government experience serving with DHS and with the Department of Defense (DoD), as an Air Force officer and later as a senior civilian advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. As a senior civilian advisor, he worked directly with the Department of State and with foreign governments to develop policy regarding the request for assistance process to enable host nation support to prepare for and respond to a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear event. He also served as Director, Domestic Consequence Management, where he led a staff that developed policy for Defense Support of Civil Authorities preparedness and response operations throughout DoD and with 32 other Federal agencies. Mr. Chávez was responsible for leading DoD’s largest, most comprehensive, and most extensive civil support mission ever in response to Hurricane Katrina, and he led DoD’s pandemic influenza preparedness and response efforts.

Mr. Chávez came to DHS in 2010 as the Deputy Director of OPS. In 2011, he was selected as the Director of OPS. During his tenure leading OPS, the organization has responded to several key events, most notably the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami response, a number of National Special Security Events (including two States of the Union, two political conventions, and several global summits), and over 70 exercises.

As Director, Mr. Chávez has overseen critical improvements to the National Operations Center, which provides real-time information, analysis, and situational awareness to the Secretary and other senior government leaders during major incidents. Other initiatives have included leading the White House-directed, interagency effort to draft the Integrated Southwest Border Security Augmentation Plan; leading the creation of the National Terrorism Advisory System; and developing continuity plans that allow DHS to execute its missions even when its primary facilities and systems are unavailable. In September 2012, the DHS Common Operating Picture (COP) Project, a database operated by OPS to provide situational awareness to first responders nationwide, was selected as a Government Computer News Award winner for “Outstanding Information Technology Achievement in Government.”

Mr. Chávez holds a Bachelor of Science professional degree in Corrections and Law Enforcement from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He also holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California, and a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

Guest Speakers:

Kenneth Briscoe

Chief, Readiness Branch, Continuity Division, Department of Homeland Security

Kenny Briscoe has over 25 years of professional service; he is a Retired Military Officer with Special Operation and Combat experience, a Manager in Corporate America and is presently the Chief of the Readiness Branch for DHS. His experience is evident in his broad knowledge and expertise in Business Continuity Planning and Emergency Management/Security Operations. Mr. Briscoe was instrumental in supporting numerous large and complex operations that include, Hurricanes Isabelle, Katrina, Andrew, Fran, Marilyn St. Thomas, Floyd, Uphold Democracy Haiti, Restore Hope Somalia, Desert Shield and Desert Storm

Kenny holds a Masters in Security Management/Emergency Planning, is a DRII Certified Business Continuity Planner, is Six Sigma (Green Belt) certified and a published author. His book is titled “Disaster Management & COOP Handbook”. Kenny has developed and implemented numerous programs and process improvement procedures within the Federal Government and National Capitol Region for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Defense Information Systems and Department of Homeland Security.

Veronica (Roni) M. Glass

Deputy Director, Continuity Division, Office of Operations Coordination, Department of Homeland Security

Veronica M. Glass (fondly known as “Roni”) started her public and professional service working for legacy U.S. Customs Service24 years ago before it was bridged with the Department of Homeland Security and became Customs and Border Protection. Her body of work of 33 years in public service has exposed her to vast opportunities at all levels of management. Her experience with the changing world of IT afforded her the unique opportunity to be asked to help revitalize the CBP Continuity Program. Previously she was the owner and Program Manager for the Headquarters Customs and Border Protection Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program within the National Capital Region (NCR). Ms. Glass coordinated and had complete COOP oversight and responsibility not only for CBP Headquarters, but CBP field locations. Recently, Ms Glass was selected for a Department level position as Chief, DHS Headquarters Section, Mission Assurance Branch, Continuity Division for the Department of Homeland Security.

At the Departmental-level Ms. Glass is responsible for department-wide coordination / integration of COOP policy and plans on all levels of contingency planning surrounding potential threat conditions. Ms. Glass has daily COOP programmatic oversightfor at least 26 components. She has been working in the Emergency Management field for the last nine years and has taken every opportunity with the new challenges to become as informed and trained on continuity and emergency planning as possible. Ms. Glass has completed coursework with the Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI) and is a candidate for certificationas a Certified Business Continuity Planner (CBCP). She has also completed coursework in Information Assurance (IA) and continuity planning at the Department of Defense (DoD) Information Resource Management College (IRMC), Fort McNair. Ms. Glass is passionate about her challenge of emergency management, working with the people she meets and championing the cause of COOP whenever and wherever she can.

Elizabeth Voeller, PMP, ABCP

Incident Response, Emergency Management, Cyber Risk Management/Security Consultant

Vice President of the Mid Atlantic Disaster Recovery Associate (MADRA)

Program Manager, eGlobalTech (eGT)

Elizabeth Voeller is a Program Manager at eGlobalTech where she provides consulting support on cyber risk management, incident response, emergency management, and strategic communications to the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Information Security. Prior to that, Ms. Voeller spent 8 years at Booz Allen Hamilton as a Lead Associate supporting Federal business continuity/COOP, critical infrastructure analysis, strategic planning and communications, and emergency management programs. She has facilitated national level exercises and senior leadership meetings for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), written Congressional briefings for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), drafted and rolled out national-level plans for DHS, and developed pandemic response tools and emergency communications curriculum for the Department of Defense (DoD) PACOM and USAFRICOM. She has a Masters degree in International Affairs from American University and an Bachelors degree in Political Science and English from Hamline University in Saint Paul, MN. Ms. Voeller is currently the Vice President of the Mid Atlantic Disaster Recovery Association (MADRA, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and a DRII-certified Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP).

Dean Gallup

Disaster Recovery Consultant

Vice President for Planning with the Mid Atlantic Disaster Recovery Association (MADRA)

Co-author of NIST SP800-34 Revision 1 Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems

Dean Gallup, MBCP, is a co-author of NIST SP800-34 Revision 1 Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems. He has over 25 years experience in management and operation of large-scale critical information systems and Disaster Recovery and Contingency Planning for both the public and private sector. He has IT management experience in 24/7 data center operations, including implementations, disaster recovery management and planning, IT COOP development, and risk and impact analyses for Federal and state agencies and military organizations. His experience includes over thirty years of emergency management training and operations in both the fire service and emergency medicine.

Mr. Gallup is a Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Consultant with Advantaged Solutions, Inc., developing contingency and continuity plans for a Department of Defense agency. He has developed COOP, disaster recovery, continuity and contingency plans for federal civilian and defense agencies for over 10 years. Additionally, he managed the installation and implementation of the Virginia Tax computer system and development of their disaster recovery strategy. Mr. Gallup spent 17 years at the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, serving as Manager of Computer Operations, and overseeing the implementation and operation of the Statewide Automated Fingerprint Identification System (SAFIS), one of the largest automated fingerprint systems in the world at the time.

INVITED: Calvin W. Turner, Jr.

Director, OFCO, National Finance Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Calvin W. Turner, Jr. is the Director of the National Finance Center (NFC). Mr. Turner joined NFC in October 2011, as the Deputy Director, and most recently, he was the Acting Director. Prior to joining NFC, Mr. Turner had more than 20 years of leadership experience in the banking industry with Whitney National Bank, Hibernia National Bank, and the Federal Reserve Bank.

He was also an Associate Instructor with the University of Phoenix at the New Orleans campus, and he was the owner of two small businesses.

Mr. Turner is active in the community and frequently volunteers as on-air talent with WYES TV/Channel 12 Public Television to help raise money with their pledge drives, and he has served on the boards of numerous local community organizations. Mr. Turner has a Master’s degree in Public Administration and an undergraduate degree in Business Management and Communications.

Joe Douglas, ABCP

Continuity Program Manager, US International Trade Commission

Joe Douglas is a recognized expert within continuity operations COOP and emergency planning. Previously he was the Director of the ICE ITS Continuity of Operations Practice based in Reston, Virginia. He has planned and executed continuity efforts for DHS, Customs and Border Protection, US Coast Guard and Department of Justice. He is currently the Continuity Program Manager for the US International Trade Commission.

Prior to this engagement he supported DHS with emergency relocation site planning and led the tactical continuity planning and implementation of CBP’s Continuity Program. Joe has performed as an exercise controller in Eagle Horizon and National Level Exercises. He developed the alternate site reception plan for US Coast Guard Commandant Staff and completed the IT Contingency Plan for DOJ’s Consolidated Asset Tracking System. He was a trusted agent in Forward Challenge 2004 and has been instrumental in the planning, outfitting and accreditation of Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIF) within the Continuity Community.

Joe previously served as an officer in the United States Coast Guard performing both operational and staff duties that included coordination of directorate-level Year 2000 (Y2K) contingency planning. Mr. Douglas holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Appalachian State University.

Relevant Government Agencies

Air Force, Army, Navy & Marine Corps, Intelligence Agencies, DOD & Military, Office of the President (includes OMB), Dept of Agriculture, Dept of Commerce, Dept of Education, Dept of Energy, Dept of Health & Human Services, Dept of Homeland Security, Dept of Housing & Urban Development, Dept of the Interior, Dept of Justice, Dept of Labor, Dept of State, Dept of Transportation, Dept of Treasury, Dept of Veterans Affairs, EPA, GSA, USPS, SSA, NASA, Other Federal Agencies, Legislative Agencies (GAO, GPO, LOC, etc.), Judicial Branch Agencies, State Government, County Government, City Government, Municipal Government, CIA, FEMA, Office of Personnel Management, Coast Guard, National Institutes of Health, FAA, Census Bureau, USAID, National Guard Association, EEOC, Federal Government, State & Local Government, FDA