Colt Hagmaier is the Assistant Administrator of the Recovery Directorate within the Office of Response and Recovery (ORR) at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In his role, Mr. Hagmaier leads a workforce of more than 8,500 employees who administer the Department of Homeland Security’s largest grant programs, including FEMA’s $35.8 billion Public Assistance Program and $2.5 billion Individual Assistance disaster programs.
Mr. Hagmaier previously served as the Associate Chief Counsel for Response and Recovery in FEMA’s Office of Chief Counsel (OCC). In OCC, he led a team of nearly fifty attorneys supporting FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery (ORR), including the National Response Coordination Center.
Mr. Hagmaier also served as OCC’s Deputy Associate Chief Counsel for Legal Counsel and Ethics where he oversaw FEMA’s ethics program and the provision of legal advice to multiple components in the Office of the Administrator, including the Office of External Affairs, Office of Policy, Program Analysis, and International Affairs, and the Office of Equal Rights.
During his FEMA career, he has served on details for numerous leadership positions, including his most recent detail as Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security. Additionally, Mr. Hagmaier was previously named the Senior FEMA Official for Implementation of the Disaster Recovery and Reform Act (DRRA) and he previously served as Director of Strategic Planning and Policy, where he was responsible for all aspects of FEMA’s 2018-2022 Strategic Plan. He also directly supported disasters by deploying as the Senior Advisor to the Federal Coordinating Officer for Hurricane Harvey in Texas and later for Hurricane Florence in North Carolina.
Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Hagmaier spearheaded Harvard University’s emergency management program, serving as its first in history Emergency Manager, in addition to serving as a judicial law clerk in Virginia’s 23rd Judicial Circuit, and a Governor’s Fellow in Virginia’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security. For nearly twenty years, he volunteered in his local community as a medic.
Mr. Hagmaier holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree in emergency management from Anna Maria College, and a Juris Doctorate from the Washington and Lee University School of Law. He is a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Department of Homeland Security’s Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program delivered through American University’s School of Public Affairs.