Joshua Easton
Grants Management Specialist
Joshua Easton serves as a Grants Management Specialist for the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council). Created by the RESTORE Act of 2012 and comprised of the Governors of the five Gulf Coast States and Cabinet-level officials from six federal agencies, the RESTORE Council is responsible for restoring and protecting the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, coastal wetlands, and economy of the Gulf Coast.
Prior to this position, Easton served as a Section Chief in the Program Development and Support Branch of FEMA’s Grant Programs Directorate (GPD). His responsibilities included the development of the national project-based approach for application, reporting, and monitoring in the $1 billion annual Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), management of policy and procedures for grant extensions, closeouts and monitoring, and the development and tracking of grant-funded preparedness performance metrics.
In 2010, Easton joined FEMA GPD as a Program Analyst, serving as the HSGP liaison to the states of Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina and tribal governments within those states. While at FEMA, Easton was also detailed to initiate the first FEMAStat, and he helped establish the Resilient Star pilot program within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Resilient Star is a partnership of DHS, professional engineering and building associations, the insurance industry, and non-profit organizations to encourage construction of more resilient residential and commercial buildings.
Before FEMA, Easton was the Associate Director of the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security (CHHS) in Baltimore, a non-profit homeland security consulting and research group of over 70 professionals. While at CHHS, Easton had the opportunity to serve as manager for the Baltimore HSGP grant funds and to develop several emergency operations and continuity plans, including the EOP for the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. Prior to CHHS, Josh clerked for Maryland Circuit Court judges in Howard County, Maryland and U.S. Bankruptcy Court judges in the Eastern District of California and the Western District of Kentucky.
Easton holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Louisville and a J.D. from Tulane Law School. He is admitted to practice in New York and Maryland.