Mark Ghilarducci

Mark Ghilarducci has achieved more than 40 years of distinguished service in public safety and government management, serving at the local, state and federal levels, and several years as an executive in the private sector working in crisis management, security and prevention in countries around the world. Most recently, he led emergency services and homeland security for the most populous state in the nation as director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) from 2012 to 2023.

As a member of the governor's cabinet, Ghilarducci worked to shape and implement public policy, managed some of the most complex and challenging disasters in the nation's history and directed statewide public safety, emergency management, emergency communications, victim services, human trafficking initiatives, homeland security and counterterrorism efforts, and the California State Threat Assessment System. He led numerous groundbreaking initiatives, including modernization of California's 911 system, implementation of the nation's first Earthquake Early Warning System and development of the California Cybersecurity Integration Center.

Ghilarducci also served with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), appointed by the president to serve as a federal coordinating officer, charged with coordinating and facilitating federal disaster response and recovery operations across the country.

Ghilarducci is a member of the board of directors of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a global nonprofit fire and life-safety organization. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Davis and is a graduate of the fellowship program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.