James (Jim) Featherstone is a Principal Consultant at Themata Strategic LLC, a crisis management consultant agency. Previously, he served the City of Los Angeles for thirty years, culminating in his role as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), which he assumed in March 2016.
In his tenure at HSAC, Jim focused on strengthening the greater Los Angeles region’s crisis readiness and resilience by fostering collaborative partnerships, strategic alliances, integrating emerging technology, and conducting research across private, public, and civic sectors. A Washington D.C. native and U.S. Navy veteran, Jim commenced his public service in 1986 with the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), later appointed as Interim Fire Chief (2013-2014). In 2007, he became the General Manager of the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department, overseeing successful departmental reorganization and restructuring of emergency management protocols.
From 2008 to 2018, Jim chaired FEMA’s National Advisory Council and, from 2004 to 2008, contributed to the delivery of the DHS-sponsored nationally recognized Enhanced Incident Management and Unified Command (MGT-314) course at the National Emergency Rescue and Response Training Center, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. In 2018, he chaired the FEMA-commissioned National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Consensus Report Study on Strengthening Post-Hurricane Supply Chain Resilience: Observations from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
Jim holds a Master of Leadership degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Public Administration from Union Institute and University. He is an alumnus of the Executive Leaders Program at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security, and a Senior Fellow in the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government’s Program on Crisis Leadership.
