Daniel Kaniewski is founder and CEO of NorthStar Risk & Resilience LLC, which advises clients on emergency management and disaster resilience strategies. He was previously Managing Director and U.S. Public Sector Leader at Marsh, where he developed go-to-market strategies across all business lines and delivered integrated solutions for federal, state, and local government clients.

Dr. Kaniewski is also chair of the Committee on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate at the National Institute of Building Sciences, a Senior Fellow at the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, a member of Advisory Board for The Resilieny Company, and an advisor to Juvare, developer of the market-leading emergency management software WebEOC. 

From 2017 to 2020, Dr. Kaniewski was the second-ranking official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As the agency’s first Deputy Administrator for Resilience, he launched and led the disaster resilience programs that are now a cornerstone of FEMA’s mission.

In addition to his FEMA role, he was Chair of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) High Level Risk Forum, comprised of risk managers from the 36 OECD member nations.

Prior to FEMA, he led the Global Resilience practice at AIR Worldwide, a catastrophe risk modeling firm. He was also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Cyber & Homeland Security. He earlier led resilience programs at a DHS research center, was a university administrator, and co-founder of a homeland security think tank at George Washington University.

Dr. Kaniewski was Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Senior Director for Response Policy in the George W. Bush Administration, where he managed over 200 Presidential disaster declarations at the White House.

He earlier held positions at FEMA, the Congressional Fire Services Institute, and on Capitol Hill. Dan began his career in homeland security as a firefighter/paramedic.

Dr. Kaniewski has previously served as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a member of the District of Columbia Homeland Security Commission, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and on the adjunct faculty of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from George Washington University, an M.A. in National Security Studies from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a B.S. magna cum laude in Emergency Medical Services from George Washington University.

Picture of Daniel Kaniewski

Daniel Kaniewski, PhD

Risk management and resilience leader

Dan’s Expertise:

  • emergency management
  • crisis management
  • risk management
  • disaster resilience
  • disaster preparedness
  • disaster response
  • disaster insurance
  • flood insurance
  • hazard mitigation
  • public policy
  • public speaking

 

Learn more about Dan’s disaster experience in his blog, “The disasters that define us.”