Mark's Resume
RESUME
Col. (Ret.) Mark Stephen Riley
129 Garden Walk Drive
Covington, LA 70433
mriley@cfbcllc.com
Professional Summary
Mr. Riley has more than 35 years of experience, as an executive leader, attorney, businessperson, and military officer, in the private sector, state government, and federal service, to include positions of executive level responsibility in all three sectors. Currently Mr. Riley serves as Chief Legal Advisor and Chief Administrative Officer for CF Breeze Construction, LLC.
Education
- Master of Law, Tax Law, Georgetown University
- Juris Doctorate, Louisiana State University
- B.S., Economics, Louisiana State University
Areas of Expertise
- Executive Management
- Stafford Act Programs to include PA, HM, and IA
- FEMA’s NDRF and Strategic Planning
- HUD CDBG-DR
- Legislative and Regulatory Experience
Technical Expertise
Mr. Riley recently served as Senior Executive Advisor to the Government of Puerto Rico related to recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Mr. Riley served as the Director of the Recovery Division of the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, for over 10 years. Responsible for over $19 billion in Stafford Act funding for 14 federally declared disasters dating back to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Recently, Mr. Riley served as Deputy Executive Director/Chief of Staff for Louisiana’s Office of Community Development (OCD), the State agency responsible for administration of approximately $4 billion of HUD CDBG-DR funding. Mr. Riley served on the FEMA Public Assistance Advisory Counsel for three years and represented the states in FEMA Region VI. Mr. Riley also has management experience over large groups as a CEO in private business, as a senior executive in State government, and as a Colonel and commanding officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving at all levels of command through Deputy Division Commander.
Functional Expertise
Senior Technical Advisor and Strategy Officer for Puerto Rico Recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria
October 2017 – November 2019
Mr. Riley was designated as the Senior Executive Advisor to the Central Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3), the agency established by the Governor of Puerto Rico to manage the recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. In this role, Mr. Riley participating in the drafting “Build Back Better, the original recovery plan for Puerto Rico, and the drafting of the Economic and Disaster Recovery Plan submitted to Congress in August 2018. Mr. Riley lead the effort to prepare the monthly report required by Congress during the development of the plan and the report due to Congress every 180 days after adoption of the plan to reflect Puerto Rico’s progress in the recovery. Mr. Riley advised the Governor’s Authorized Representative (GAR) on technical issues related to the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) Grant Program and Hazard Mitigation (HM) Grant Program, as well as issues related to the HUD CDBG-DR Grant Program.
Chief of Staff, La. Office of Community Development
March 15, 2017 – December 8, 2017
Mr. Riley assumed the role of Deputy Executive Director and Chief of Staff for the Louisiana Office of Community Development (OCD) after the 2016 Floods to assist in development and implementation of the $1.7 billion of HUD CDBG-DR funding. He was part of the management team that developed the Restore Louisiana program which will repair more than 35,000 houses damaged in the Louisiana 2016 floods and provide other economic programs to support Louisiana’s recovery.
Director, Recovery Division, La Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
June 15, 2007 – March 15, 2017
Mr. Riley was appointed by the Governor of Louisiana to serve as the Deputy Governor’s Authorized Representative (Deputy GAR) and State Coordinating Officer (SCO) for the 14 federally declared disasters in Louisiana since 2005, Mr. Riley was the Nation’s first State Disaster Recovery Coordinator appointed under FEMA’s National Disaster Recovery Framework to coordinate long term recovery efforts after Hurricane Isaac in 2012. Mr. Riley has managed over $19 billion in Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation funding for the State of Louisiana over the time period from 2007 through 2017. As he came to GOHSEP after Hurricane Katrina, he built an organization of over 300 state employees and contractors for the oversight of over 34,000 projects across the grant programs with a budget of $1.4 billion a year. As such, Mr. Riley has experience in all aspects of recovery from emergency response through long term strategic planning
Related Experience
Emergency Management/Homeland Security - Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
From 2009 through 2012, Mr. Riley served as Chief of Staff for GOSHEP and successfully organized and directed the agency, the lead emergency management, and homeland security response and policy agency in the State, in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike and ten other federally declared disasters. Additionally, he was principally responsible for the day-to-day operations of the agency to include the development and implementation of a $1.5 billion annual budget.
FEMA Stafford Act Experience - Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
In 2013, as Hurricane Katrina and Rita approached their eight anniversary, FEMA increased its emphasis the State’s development of an “end game” for the completion of recovery, to include Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the seven other Major Disaster Declarations that were currently active in the State. As a result, Mr. Riley was reassigned to direct the GOHSEP Recovery Division to provide additional leadership in the management of the FEMA PA and HM recovery programs abd the State’s long term recovery plan.
CDBG-DR - Louisiana Office of Community Development
In 2017, after the 2016 floods in Louisiana, Mr. Riley was appointed Deputy Executive Director/Chief of staff of the state agency responsible for developing and implementing the action plan for CDBG-DR funding following the 2016 floods in Louisiana, which include the Restore Louisiana Program which is responsible for the repair and reconstruction of over 15,000 homes.
Private Sector & Military Experience
In the private sector, Mr. Riley was a partner with the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, law firm of Taylor, Porter, Brooks and Phillips for approximately ten years focusing his practice on tax and business law issues. Subsequently, Mr. Riley was the co-founder and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Environmental Services, Inc., an environmental remediation firm performing services in the industrial sector and served as such until its successful sale.
Mr. Riley retired as a Colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in 2007 after 32 years of active and reserve service. During that time, Mr. Riley was recalled to active duty on serval occasion, the last being after the events of September 11, 2001, in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle. He serviced with Standing Joint Force Headquarters, Homeland Security and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for drafting the implementation plan of r the standup of U.S. Northern Command, the joint command established by the Department of Defense after 9/11 responsible for providing military support to civilian authorities and protecting the territory and national interests of the United States. Throughout his career, Mr. Riley served in command billets at the Company, Battalion, and Division levels, with his last command post being as Deputy Commander, 4th Force Service Support Group, USMCR.