Speaker Biographies

William Lokey was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art. He worked for the U.S. Antarctic Program from 1969 until 1975, including three winters on the Antarctic continent. Work included logistics and station management and survival and search & rescue training.

He went to work for the Washington State Department of Emergency Management in 1977, working on development of the State Disaster Plan, earthquake preparedness and search and rescue. In 1981, he was appointed Assistant Director for Operations, responsible for disaster response, warning, communications, search and rescue, hazardous materials planning, and recovery efforts and Restricted Zone management for Mt. Saint Helens.

In 1986, he became the Director of Emergency Management for Pierce County, Washington, serving over 650,000 citizens. The Department’s responsibilities included disaster preparedness, the Fire Prevention Bureau, radio communications, the Emergency Medical Services and E9-1-1 Administration. He served as the Pierce County Fire Marshal in 1991 and 1992.

Under his direction, the Department received recognition for a number of its programs, including volcano hazard management for Mt. Rainier, earthquake safety for schools, and multi-language disaster preparedness information. The department was the sponsor of the Washington Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, one of the federal government’s National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response teams. Bill worked extensively on the requirements of Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Re-Authorization Act of 1986 and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Bill has been an adjunct instructor at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland and is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Search and Rescue School

From 1993 until 1999, Bill was a member of FEMA’s National US&R Advisory Committee and was Chair of the Advisory Committee’s Operations Working Group. He responded as a Task Force Leader with the Washington team to the Northridge Earthquake and the Oklahoma City Bombing.

In October of 1997, Bill became Assistant Chief for Special Operations for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Responsibilities included administration of California’s eight US&R Task Forces and the development of the Regional Special Rescue Training Center in Sacramento.

Bill became a Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO) for FEMA in April of 1999. He has served as FCO for 24 declared disasters in New Hampshire, Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Missouri, Indiana, American Samoa, Maryland, Guam, Saipan, Oregon and for Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. He has also worked on a variety of assignments, including two weeks at Ground Zero in New York and as FEMA’s Area Manager in Pensacola, FL in the response to Hurricane Ivan. From April 2005 through May 2006, he was the Operations Branch Chief of the Response Division at FEMA Headquarters. In June 2006 he resumed his position as Federal Coordinating Officer in FEMA’s Region X in Bothell, WA.

In February, 2007, Bill left FEMA and joined James Lee Witt Associates as a Program Director. Working from Tacoma, WA, he is attached to the JLWA Sacramento Office.

Bill's outside interests include mountaineering, skiing and photography. He has successfully climbed major peaks in Alaska, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and Africa, including a winter ascent of Mt. McKinley in 1980. He and his wife, Andrea, live in Tacoma, WA.

Presentation Synposis:

Ms. Graff was appointed Director of Seattle Office of Emergency Management in June of 2005. Her responsibilities include managing the multi-hazard interdepartmental emergency management program for the City of Seattle and coordinating its relation to other emergency response agencies and community groups. The program encompasses all phases of integrated emergency management including preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.

Prior to Seattle, Ms. Graff worked for the City of Bellevue for 21 years; seven of those in the City Manager’s Office and fifteen as Emergency Preparedness Manager. In that capacity she managed more than 20 Presidentially declared disasters and full-scale exercises and in 2003, led Bellevue’s emergency management program through a national pilot of the national Emergency Management Accreditation process. Ms. Graff currently chairs the national Emergency Management Program Review Committee.

A native of Puget Sound, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from the University of Washington.

In 1992, Ms. Graff received the “Educator of the Year" award from the Washington State Public Educators Association and in 2000, she received a “Best of Bellevue” award from the Advance Bellevue community-wide leadership group for her exemplary work in community preparedness. Ms. Graff is a regular speaker at the Washington State Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference.

Ms. Graff serves on the King County Advisory Committee on Emergency Management and Regional Homeland Security Council. She is a member of the Washington State Emergency Management Association and the International Association of Emergency Management.

Since 1998, Ms. Graff has been a contributing author and regional champion of a voluntary effort to coordinate emergency response plans within King County known as the Regional Disaster Plan for Public and Private Organizations.

In 2004, Ms. Graff served on a State of Washington Task Force to review local emergency management programs and recommend improvements to the State’s overall emergency planning and response capability.

Presentation Synposis:

Wendy Freitag

Wendy’s left Microsoft Corporation early in 2007 serving as their International Physical Security Manager her last two years of her four years at the company. Prior to joining Microsoft, Wendy served as a Vice President of Business Continuity Planning for Washington Mutual Bank.

During her 4+ years with Washington Mutual and her four years with Microsoft, Wendy has gained experience through managing a multitude of diverse emergency events which include the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle - 1999, Nisqually earthquake Seattle - 2001, September 11th, the 2002 Winter Olympic Games - Salt Lake City, Iraq War & SARS Outbreak of 2003, the SE Tsunami 2004 and the Lebanon-Israel conflict of 2006.

Prior to joining Washington Mutual, Wendy served for several years on disaster operations throughout the U.S. as a Lead Public Affairs Officer for both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Red Cross (ARC). During her tenure with FEMA, she was chosen to serve on the elite FEMA National Public Affairs team known as the ERT-N.

Wendy participates on various national/international committees and is involved in a number of industry workgroups/associations which include:

• Association of Security Industrial Society (ASIS)
• ANSI-Homeland Security Standard Panel Working Group on Private Sector Preparedness – advisory group to the 9-11 Commission
• Advisory Board Member for the Master’s Program in Strategic Planning for Critical Infrastructures at the University of Washington
• Advisory Board Member for the Western Washington University Institute for Global Community Resilience at the Huxley College of the Environment
• Steering Committee member for the New York University sponsored International Public-Private Preparedness Summit- Florence, Italy

Wendy has three bachelor’s degrees from Willamette University in Psychology, Political Science, and International Studies. She and her husband, Bob enjoy a “sleepless in Seattle” lifestyle on a floating home on Lake Union in Seattle.

Mike is a contributing author of several recent thought-leadership reports on business continuity communications, including ‘Ensuring Organizational Resilience and Employee Well-Being through Crisis Communications’, ‘7 Steps to Successful Business Continuity Communications’. In addition, he oversees an annual survey that identifies latest communications trends and practices among BC practitioners.

Mike has nearly 10 years marketing experience with high technology and consulting firms, and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA in marketing.

Presentation Synposis:

The Human Side of BC: Workforce Continuity Communications Best Practices

While data and infrastructure integrity is fundamental to a viable business continuity plan, companies also must consider the most critical component of their organizations - the workforce itself - in order to be truly resilient.

In this session Michael Martin from Varolii will highlight a shift of business continuity focus toward people to ensure workforce resilience, and review why communications is the key element in managing the entire BC business problem from a people perspective - before, during and after an incident. He will then offer communication strategies to help you connect, protect and account for your most valuable resource - your human capital.

Ted Buehner

Presentation Synposis:

National Weather Service Seattle Warning Coordination Meteorologist Ted Buehner will give a presentation on NWS Seattle operations, products and services, and how you can get them and use them in your operations. Live internet will permit a demonstration of the NWS Seattle web site and address your questions. A short forecast office tour will follow the presentation.