alert - warning

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Antwane Johnson

Antwane Johnson
Resilience

Director, Integrated Public Alert and Warning Systems

Mr. Antwane Johnson, a member of the Senior Executive Cadre, is currently serving in the role of Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for FEMA’s National Continuity Programs (NCP) Directorate. The NCP Directorate is charged with the coordination, implementation and execution of the continuity plans and programs of the executive branch, and with ensuring that the President and federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments can provide timely and effective alerts and warnings to the public under all conditions. In this role, Mr. Johnson is responsible for coordinating continuity programs and activities that preserve our nation’s essential functions across a wide range of potential threats and emergencies and enable the whole community to deliver critical services throughout all phases of a disaster.

Mr. Johnson joined FEMA in August 2009 as Director, Integrated Public Alert and Warning Systems (IPAWS), where he develops alert and warning policies, represents the agency during Congressional hearings and provides expert advice on numerous legislative initiatives to ensure the President can communicate with the American people under all conditions. In this capacity, Mr. Johnson led the nation’s first test of the National Public Warning System and Presidential Wireless Emergency Alert System in 2018. Additionally, he launched the nation’s IPAWS Open Platform for Emergency Networks in 2012, affording federal, state, local, tribal and territorial leaders access to national capabilities, enabling authorities to warn citizens in their respective areas of threats to public safety and communicate protective actions in response to the threat.  

Prior to joining FEMA in 2009, Mr. Johnson served as the Director for Critical Infrastructure Protection within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense & Americas’ Security Affairs, where he was responsible for ensuring a resilient defense industrial base to meet the needs of the Department in executing the National Military Strategy. In this role Mr. Johnson was instrumental in developing the Department’s Mission Assurance Framework, creating Mission Assurance Assessment teams to assess vulnerabilities and initiated remediation actions to ensure execution of the Department’s mission. These Mission Assessment Assurance Teams were adopted by the Department of Homeland Security to assess the nation’s most critical infrastructure and remain today.

Prior to his work with Critical Infrastructure Protection, Mr. Johnson worked for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency as the Chief, Information Management Technology where he was responsible for developing arms control technologies in support of conventional and strategic arms control agreements.  His most notable accomplishment in that position was the development and acceptance of U.S. technologies for use by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a community of 55 participating nations; a technology that is still in use today.

Mr. Johnson is a graduate of Norfolk State University with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, and the National Defense University’s Information Resource Management College Chief Information Officer program. He is a graduate of the Defense Acquisition University, Defense Systems Management College, and the Western and Eastern Management Development Centers. Mr. Johnson has received numerous awards, including the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal and the Commanders Award for Civilian Service.