Sarah Guenette

Guenette is an Active Member of the IPSA, our newly appointed Secretary, and a longstanding member of our Mental Health Section. In addition, she has moderated webinars with us, participated in previous in-person events, and published with us. She leads by example and rolls up her sleeves to get the work done. It's members and volunteers like Guenette that make an impact in public safety.

She has spent over 16 years working in the public safety sector as a 9-1-1 call taker, dispatcher and manager. She last held the position of Learning and Development Manager responsible for training programs for 9-1-1 officers and bylaw enforcement officers for the City of Calgary. Part of her portfolio was to oversee the health and safety strategy for the business unit, with an emphasis on psychological health and safety. This included managing the implementation and sustainment of a peer support team and ongoing wellness education for all staff.

Tim Riecker

Riecker is a Lifetime Active Member of the IPSA, a newly appointed Board Member, and our newly appointed Treasurer. In addition, he is leading a new social media initiative for us that we're currently piloting. To say that he goes above and beyond would be an understatement. It's members like Riecker that make an impact in public safety. 

In addition, Riecker is is a Certified Emergency and Disaster Professional (CEDP) with a progressive career in public safety and emergency management spanning over 26 years, including time as a local responder, chief officer, senior staff for the New York State Office of Emergency Management, and public safety consultant. He is a founder, partner, and principal consultant for Emergency Preparedness Solutions, LLC and is recognized nationally as a specialist in incident management and NIMS; emergency operations center management; instructional design and delivery; and exercise design, conduct, and evaluation.

Riecker has a depth of experience in major incident management, including direct involvement in the management of 21 Federally declared disasters. He has served in State and local Emergency Operations Centers and as a Type II Planning Section Chief. His responses have included 9/11, United flight 587, Colgan Air flight 3407, Hurricane Sandy, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Riecker has had a range of opportunities in his career, including presenting to a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and instructing and presenting at numerous public safety academies around the nation. He is a member of the NFPA 1600/1660 technical committee and program manager of an academic emergency management program.

David Schuld

Schuld is a member of the IPSA's Advisory Committee and Chair of the IPSA's Terrorism & Counterterrorism Section. In addition to being a highly engaged, Active Level Member of the IPSA, Schuld is also the deputy director of preparedness with Hagerty Consulting, an emergency management and homeland security consulting firm supporting clients in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters. As lead for all security, intelligence, and threat management projects for the firm, Schuld leads teams of planners, trainers, and exercise designers in creating tools and activities that support public safety agencies and their partner stakeholders strengthen capabilities used against active threats, acts of terrorism, acts of violence, and other major crimes. Schuld also created and manages the Hunter Seeker Program, Hagerty’s innovative intelligence and information sharing exercises. Prior to working with Hagerty, Schuld served as political advisor to the Head of the British Army Staff in the United States and was Crisis Management Advisor for the British Government in North America.

Schuld holds a Masters in European Politics and Policies from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), graduated from Air Command and Staff College (USAF), and is currently completing a Masters of Science in Covert Investigation and Specialist Intelligence with Liverpool John Moores University (UK).

Shinar Haynes

Haynes is a member of the IPSA's Advisory Committee, the IPSA Mental Health Section, she is the NENA Coordinator for the North Region of Texas, and an APCO Group Leader. Her public safety career that began in 2003 with the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC). In 2015, Shinar moved to New Orleans to lead the newly consolidated Orleans Parish Communication District (OPCD) and was appointed as the agency’s first Director of Operations. Most recently she served as the Executive Director for Tarrant County 9-1-1.

She is the CEO of Responder Services Consulting working with public safety and emergency management agencies. Shinar is among the elite group of Certification Public Safety Executives (CPE) and Registered Public Safety Leaders (RPL). She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Homeland Security and Emergency Management, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. 

We are so grateful for her contributions and support to the IPSA! 

Dave Weiner, MPsy.

Weiner is a current Active Member of the International Public Safety Association. He has been a generous supporter as a donor, corporate sponsor and member. He is currently serving in our Mental Health Section and has presented some webinars with us. 

We are thrilled to work alongside him and endorse his training on Veteran Cultural Competency for First Responders. 

Associate Teaching Professor Gregory Walterhouse

Walterhouse is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. Prior to joining BGSU, Walterhouse worked in local government for over 35 years holding various public safety managerial positions. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration, M.A. in Management, M.A. in Legal Studies and a Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership.

Walterhouse is a current Lifetime Active Member of the International Public Safety Association. He is published in IPSA Journal, the IPSA's public safety column and has a published InfoBrief with us.

His commitment and service to the organization is greatly appreciated. He provides tremendous value to the global public safety community. 

District Chief David O'Neal

O’Neal has been with the Akron Fire Department for over 30 years. Currently, he is a District Chief and oversees the Special Operations Division, which is responsible for all hazardous material, building collapse, confined space, high angle, trench and water rescue response for the City of Akron and the surrounding region. He is also in charge of the Fire Maintenance Division, which includes vehicle maintenance and purchasing, station maintenance and fire hydrant maintenance. He has been a ranking officer on the department for over 24 years, holding numerous positions.

O’Neal is currently an Active Member of the International Public Safety Association and has participated in many of our events, programs and committees. He attended our recent conferences (2022 in Mesa, Arizona and 2020 in Tempe, Arizona) and is registered to attend our Annual Conference in 2023 in Mesa, Arizona. He also served on our Special Advisory Committee to the Executive Director in 2021. He has also done a webinar with us on Rescue Task Force training.

It’s members like O’Neal that roll up their sleeves and actively contribute to the International Public Safety Association that truly make a difference in helping us advance our mission.

Sergeant Katherine Severson

Severson is a 25-year serving police officer and Sergeant in the Calgary Police Service (Alberta, Canada), currently leading the Emergency Management Unit within the Major Events & Emergency Management Section.

In her role she manages the Police Tactical Operations Center, plans her agency’s response to complex incidents and major events, and coordinates disaster response with the fire department, EMS, 911 Dispatch and other City partners.

Sergeant Severson is a current Active Member of the IPSA. She is presently serving in a leadership role as a member of the IPSA's Board of Directors. Sergeant Severson previously served on the IPSA's RTF Committee, has made personal donations to the organization and is helping plan our 2023 Integrated Response and Interoperability Conference.

Nicholas Greco, M.S. BCETS, CATSM, FAAETS

Greco is an Active Lifetime Member of the IPSA. He has also served as Chair of our Mental Health and Wellness Committee for over 5 years, is a Member of our Mental Health Section, supports our Corporate Sponsor Program, participated in numerous webinars and contributed multiple public safety column articles to the IPSA.

Thank you Nick for your service to the IPSA and public safety! We're thrilled to have you as an Active Lifetime Member.