Joshua L. Kelly, CEM, is a Planning Supervisor, the Long-term Recovery Program Manager, a CFR107 certified drone pilot, and an EMAC A-Team Member for the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA). He currently supervises a staff of four in the Natural Hazards Section of DEMA, which is responsible for coordinating recovery planning activities, the administration of the State’s Public Assistance program, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) grant program, the Flood Management Assistance (FMA) grant program, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). In addition to his role as a supervisor, he is also a Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) and serves as the Planning Section Chief during State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) activations. Mr. Kelly has worked on six federally declared major disasters, including mutual aid deployments to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria and Florida following Hurricane Irma and the State of Delaware’s response to the global COVID-19 incident.

Previously, at DEMA, he oversaw the administration of the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), Non-profit Security Grant Program (NSGP), DEMA’s Continuity of Operations Plan, the State Threat Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA), and was the State Public Assistance Officer. Prior to his time with the State of Delaware, Joshua worked as a Senior Emergency Management Specialist for the City of Garland, Texas, and a Research Assistant at both the Disaster Research Center and the University of North Texas. As a Research Assistant, he worked on four National Science Foundation funded projects and was a co-author on seven disaster-related publications – including a book chapter and several academic journal and magazine articles. He received a B.A. from the University of Delaware where he majored in Sociology and Criminal Justice and his M.P.A., with a concentration in Emergency Management, from the University of North Texas.​