2017 Fire Service Executive Development Institute Participants Selected

Fairfax, Va. – The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) today announced the participants accepted into the fifth year of the prestigious Fire Service Executive Development Institute (FSEDI).

FSEDI is a yearlong leadership-development program developed by the IAFC to provide new and aspiring chiefs with the tools they need to have successful and productive tenures. The cohort members will meet in March for their first six-day session and again in two other sessions six months apart. They will also attend Fire-Rescue International in Charlotte, N.C., as part of the program.

The group will communicate between sessions using an online community. During the course, participants will learn from fire service experts a variety of ways to lead departments and keep their communities safe.

Once again, the Motorola Solutions Foundation has provided the IAFC with a grant to fund the program.

“The Motorola Solutions Foundation recognizes the importance of strong leadership for our local fire departments and national fire service,” said Matt Blakely, director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation. “The Foundation is dedicated to helping support the education of these leaders to ensure they have the skills necessary to meet the needs of their communities to keep them safe.”

Those accepted into the 2017 program are:

• Assistant Chief John Alvarez, Odessa (Texas) Fire Rescue
• Assistant Chief Michael N. Buchanan, Olympia (Wash.) Fire Department
• Division Chief Michael Doan, Little Rock (Ark.) Fire Department
• Fire Chief Eric Enriquez, Las Cruces (N.M.) Fire Department
• Deputy Chief Roy Hollett, Halifax (Nova Scotia) Regional Fire & Emergency
• Assistant Chief Reginald Johnson, Fairfax County (Va.) Fire & Rescue Department
• Deputy Chief Chad Jones, Atlanta (Ga.) Fire & Rescue Department
• Acting Fire Chief Ray Kessler, City of North Las Vegas (Nev.) Fire Department
• Battalion Chief Barbara Law, Sacramento (Calif.) Metropolitan Fire District
• Deputy Chief J. Matthew Lawrence, Chapel Hill (N.C.) Fire Department
• Division Chief Miquel (Mike) Lopez, Carlsbad (Calif.) Fire Department
• Fire Chief David Schmidt, Elgin (Ill.) Fire Department
• Battalion Chief Marci Stone, Roanoke (Va.) Fire-EMS
• Fire Chief Bobby Tatum, Jr., Waco (Texas) Fire Department
• Fire Chief Richard Thode, Bridgeport (Conn.) Fire Department
• Assistant Chief Matthew Tobia, Loudoun County (Va.) Fire & Rescue
• Fire Chief James Walls, Kissimmee (Fla.) Fire Department
• Division Chief Kendall Warnock, Lincoln (Neb.) Fire & Rescue
• Fire Chief Jay C. Wittwer, Tukwila (Wash.) Fire Department
• Deputy Chief Trisha Wolford, Bozeman (Mont.) Fire Department“

Thanks to the continued generous support of the Motorola Solutions Foundation, the IAFC is pleased to be able to make this most successful leadership development program available once again,” said Chief John Sinclair, IAFC president and chairman of the board. “Many officers from the previous four programs have been successful in achieving fire chief positions and in leading their departments. They also are serving on national committees and organizations that are making a difference in the international fire and emergency service."