Kelly Echeverria was sworn in as the new Washoe County emergency manager last week. She succeeds retired Emergency Manager Aaron Kenneston, with whom she worked for eight years and for two years as his deputy at the Regional Emergency Operations Center (REOC).
The emergency manager is responsible for all planning, training, response to, mitigation of, and recovery from all hazards ranging from flooding to fires to civil unrest.
“This is an essential and demanding role, responsible for keeping our community safe,” County Manager Eric Brown said. “Kelly is deeply familiar with the potential disasters that we face in Washoe County, having faced most of them in her tenure here already. She is a collaborator who has worked alongside first-responders and emergency managers from the local to national level, and we are fortunate she is at the helm of the REOC.”
Echeverria has worked at the REOC as emergency management program coordinator for nearly three years and serves on the Local Emergency Preparedness Committee, the State Emergency Response Commission, Prepare Washoe, the Nevada Emergency Preparedness Association, the International Association of Emergency Managers, and the State Homeland Security Commission.
She volunteered for the American Red Cross in Northern Virginia during 9/11, she responded to emergencies as an EMT in her home state of Virginia and aided in recovery in the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina. She moved to Nevada as an AmeriCorps member of the Northern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross. She has responded to hurricanes, home fires, wildfires, flooding, tornadoes, and civil unrest.
Echeverria earned an advanced degree in Crisis and Emergency Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and is a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers, the international Public Safety Association, and the Nevada Emergency Preparedness Association.
Click here for more information on the Regional Emergency Operations Center and Washoe County’s emergency preparedness.
