Victoria Salinas leads Resilience at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As part of the Biden-Harris Administration, she’s focused on accelerating all-hazards resilience in the nation’s most underserved communities. The programs she oversees deepen our nation’s understanding of current and future risk; strengthen the capacity of society to prepare for, withstand, and recover from natural and man-made disasters; increase the accessibility of flood insurance; and, invest in resilience through a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of homeland security and hazard mitigation grants. She is the highest-ranking Latina in FEMA’s history.
Salinas served as the chief resilience officer and deputy city administrator for the City of Oakland, California, where she led planning, policy, and legislative efforts to address climate, disaster, and socio-economic vulnerability. At the World Bank, United Nations, and previously at FEMA, she worked alongside government officials to plan recovery efforts following major disasters. After Hurricane Katrina, she helped lead federal interagency efforts to develop new policies and programs that now guide disaster recovery in the U.S.
Most recently, Salinas served as the vice president for programs and communication at the non-profit FUSE Corps, strengthening local government's capacity to address community challenges. She partnered with leaders from 35 cities and counties to embed and support FUSE Executive fellows tackling climate change, justice reform, affordable housing, and more.
Salinas has a master’s in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.