Professional Affiliation

Director, Office of Response and Recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Expert Bio

David B. Kang currently serves as the Director for the Planning and Exercise Division, Response Directorate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In this role Mr. Kang oversees the development of the nation’s interagency and joint local, state and Federal response plans for catastrophic incidents and FEMA’s exercise conduct.  His past FEMA positions included Deputy Director, Regional Planning Branch Chief, and Regional Technical Assistance Section Chief.  He has been with FEMA Headquarters in Washington, DC for seven years and is a career Senior Executive Service employee.

Additionally Mr. Kang serves as a Plans Chief for the Consequence Management Crisis Unit which provides assistance to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for incidents involving weapons of mass destruction and is the Planning Support Section Chief for the National Response Coordination Center.  

Prior to his position at FEMA headquarters, Mr. Kang worked at the State and Local Homeland Security and Emergency Management field as a Program Manager for Operations, Preparedness, and Planning Sections in the State of Alaska. In Operations, Mr. Kang worked response and initial recovery operations at the State Emergency Operations Center for numerous disasters and full scale exercises. Mr. Kang was responsible for overseeing multiple grant State and Federal grant programs for planning, training, organization, and exercises while in Preparedness. Examples include the suite of Homeland Security Grant Programs and Emergency Management Performance Grants. In Planning, Mr. Kang integrated Hazard Mitigation and Infrastructure Protection programs and funding to define the parameters for Statewide planning efforts. This also included leading and codifying Alaska’s only Public-Private infrastructure protection group. Mr. Kang’s operational experience includes numerous domestic and international arenas. Domestic engagements include eighteen National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) activations as Planning Support Section Chief, over 50 Statewide activation at the Alaska Emergency Operations Center as the Incident/Deputy Incident Commander, and leading numerous Task Force organizations. Internationally, Mr. Kang was the U.S. Lead Planner in the development and implementation for the Government of Ukraine’s Energy Action and Resiliency Plans and had numerous engagements with the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Programs.  Recently, he lead the National planning efforts in response to the 2017 Hurricane Season at the NRCC and in the Caribbean. 

Mr. Kang holds adjunct positions at Georgetown University and University of Alaska, Fairbanks.  His teaching includes 400-level planning and preparedness, 600 level community/urban planning, and a 600 level planning, hazard mitigation, and project management course as part of the Emergency Management, Homeland Security, and Security Studies disciplines. 

In his spare time, Mr. Kang is an Army Infantry Officer in the Alaska National Guard having served in various positions in Maneuver and Joint Staff assignments. Mr. Kang has also deployed oversees as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and has been activated to support State missions.