Brad Kieserman

Brad Kieserman has been the Vice President for Disaster Operations and Logistics at the American Red Cross since June 2015.  In this position, Brad leads disaster readiness activities and oversees all American Red Cross domestic disaster operations, including all U.S. Territories   and Commonwealths.   Brad and his team are accountable for staffing, logistics, operations, and situational awareness necessary to plan, implement, and manage scalable relief operations to meet the direct needs of disaster clients and assist in their recovery.   

As weather and climate disasters have moved from an acute to chronic problem in the United States, the Disaster Operations and Logistics team manages the American Red Cross’ “continuous response” to increasingly frequent, large, and destructive natural disasters, including over 100 disaster events where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion since the summer of 2015.  Additionally, the team has led the American Red Cross operational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the evacuation from Afghanistan, and multiple mass casualty/mass fatality incidents.   

Prior to coming to Red Cross, Brad earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Catholic University of America, served in the United States Coast Guard in enlisted, commissioned, and civilian positions for 23 years, and was a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service holding legal and operational leadership positions at the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  During over 30 years of public service, Brad has taken part in many crisis operations ranging from Exxon Valdez oil spill, maritime mass migrations from Haiti and Cuba, international drug interdiction, and the piracy of the U.S.-flagged vessel Maersk Alabama.  Brad is an adjunct professor of Emergency & Disaster Management at Georgetown University and a Member of the Affiliated Faculty of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, a joint program of the Harvard T.H.  Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.