Tom Miller is a 35 year veteran of the Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department in West Virginia and has served on the NVFC Board since 2008.  He has held many positions of leadership within his department and currently serves on the Department's Board of Directors in addition to being an active firefighter.  Tom is active in the West Virginia State Fireman's Association and currently serves as its Scholarship Chair.  Tom holds many certifications including, but not limited to: Firefighter II, Fire Officer II, Hazardous Materials Technician/Incident Commander, Swift Water Rescue Technician, Vehicle Machinery Technician, Rope Rescue Technician, and Fire Instructor III, and is an active Instructor with West Virginia University Fire Service Extension.  He serves on the NVFC's Health & Safety and Conference/Education Committees.  Tom also represents the NVFC on the NFPA 470 Technical Committee and the NFPA Joint 1001/472 Task Group.  In his paying job, Tom is employed as the Privacy & Security Officer for the West Virginia Department of Administration.

David is a 22 year member of the fire service and currently serves as a Lieutenant and coassigned to the Training Division with the Columbia County Fire Rescue (Ga.) and a part time Firefighter with Grovetown (Ga) DPS. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia State Firefighter's Association, National Volunteer Fire Council State Director, Georgia Pipeline Emergency Response Initiave Board of Directors, NFPA’s Working Group on Flammable Refrigerants, Alternate to NFPA 1021 and 1056 Committees, and was Secretary of IFSTA's Pumping Apparatus Driver Operator 3rd Edition Curriculum Committee, contributor to the “Training Officer’s Desk Reference”, and is a Safety and Health coordinator with HEPACO LLC. As an active instructor for the Georgia Fire Academy with Firefighter Basics, David is constantly engaged with teaching live fire, leadership, HAZMAT, and Firefighter Survival/RIT classes.

Fire Chief at Elwood Fire Protection District

A Chicago native, Alisa Arnoff is a founding member of the Chicago law firm of Scalambrino & Arnoff, LLP. Arnoff concentrates her practice in the areas of employment and labor law, representing privately and publicly held companies throughout the country. She has a keen interest in the fire and emergency services, spending much of her time providing training to various departments and at various fire/EMS conferences on personnel matters such as reducing discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and bullying; properly conducting investigations; introducing new company officers to the vagaries of employment law; and how to be an effective witness. Arnoff also counsels firefighters throughout the country, particularly female firefighters, in connection with systemic issues that still impact fire/EMS. Her passion is developing interactive, informative, and useful personnel training programs within to improve fire service health and safety, operations, efficiency, and public perception.

Mike Johnson began his fire service career as a volunteer in his hometown in 1993. Two years later, the U.S. Forest Service hired him as wildland firefighter he and worked through the ranks to become a full-time fire captain by the time of his departure in 2004. In 2004, he was hired by Clark County Fire Department (Las Vegas, NV), an agency providing all-risk response services. At the time of departing Clark County Fire Department, he held the Rank of Assistant Fire Chief for the agency. He was appointed in 2014 and currently employed in the role of Fire Chief at Ebbetts Pass Fire District in Northern California.

Jack is a subject matter expert on roadway incident operations and emergency personnel safety and promotes proactive strategies and tactics for protecting emergency workers from being struck by vehicles. He was a volunteer firefighter and chief officer for 23 years and in 2018 retired from a 40-year career as a safety and risk management consultant for the public and private sector. Jack teaches Roadway Incident Safety & Survival Workshops for emergency responders for ERSI and he is a Master Instructor for the FHWA SHRP2 Traffic Incident Management Train-the-Trainer Workshops. Jack is also a Technical Member of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and currently serves as the Chair of the Task Group for Chapter 6i of the MUTCD – “Control of Traffic Through Traffic Incident Management Areas”.

Todd Leiss is the founder of TIM Heroes, Inc., which promotes roadway safety public awareness and emergency responder safety. He also serves as the Deputy Director of Training for ResponderSafety.com. Previously, Leiss served over 23 years with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in traffic operations and incident management. He has also previously served as a volunteer firefighter, EMT, hazmat technician, and 911 dispatcher. 

Jerry Presta is the Chairman of the Nassau County (NY) Junior Firefighters Association, an organization made up of over 40 different junior firefighter/explorer organizations from across western Long Island. He has served as the East Norwich (NY) Volunteer Fire Company program advisor since 1999, after his daughter expressed an interest in becoming a junior firefighter. He has served on the National Volunteer Fire Council's National Junior Firefighter Program Advisory Group, taught at national conferences, and written articles on junior firefighter programs. Presta received the Youth Mentor of the Year Award from the Firefighters Association of the State of New York in 2019 for his service.

Angela Potter, Fire and Life Safety Educator for the Ohio Division of State Fire Marshal, began her career in Emergency Services in 1999.  She graduated from the University of Akron with an Associate Degree in Emergency Medical Services and holds certifications as a FF2, EMT-P, FLSE II, FSI, YFIS, Youth Firesetting Program Manager and Peer Support. Angela has also studied at the Ohio Fire Academy and the National Fire Academy.  She specializes in data analysis, community risk reduction and public education programs.   

Before accepting her current position in the Prevention Bureau, Angela worked for a local fire department and started a public outreach program for students, aged Preschool through High School, where she taught safety lessons with her certified therapy dog, Ahrens.  Throughout her career, Angela has been passionate about building strong partnerships and in 2020, founded Northeast Ohio Safety Educators Network (NEOSEN) to support those invested in safer communities.  Since inception, over 2,300 educators have taken part in training offered through NEOSEN and members have collaborated on several successful projects, including Kids Safety Day for home schooled children; Pet Safety Day; and the Summit County Fire Safety Project – aimed at providing fire safety education and equipment to residential facilities serving people with developmental disabilities.  In addition to NEOSEN, Angela serves as an Executive Board Member of the North Eastern Ohio Fire Prevention Association (NEOFPA); and is a member of the Ohio Society of Fire Service Instructors (OSFSI), Northwest Ohio Fire Prevention Association (NWOFPA) as well as Safe Kids Coalition (Akron).  Recently, she was named 2024 Ohio Fire Safety Educator of the Year by the Ohio Department of Public Safety.  

Angela lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, Richard; children, Aiden and Alivia; and rescue Labradors, Anala and Draeger.  In her free time, she enjoys running, playing soccer, and vacationing with family.  

As Director of Risk Management for Emergency Services Insurance Program with McNeil & Co, Dave works with emergency service organizations across the US . He is the Past Chief of The Cortlandville Fire Department in Upstate New York and A Fire Commissioner in the Virgil Fire District. Dave serves Cortland County as a Deputy Fire Coordinator and is a Director for the Association of Fire Districts in the State of NY. Dave served as the Foundation Secretary for the NVFC. His experience also includes being Treasurer of several non-profit organizations and a Board Member for the First National Bank of Dryden.  

Tom Miller is a 35 year veteran of the Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department in West Virginia and has served on the NVFC Board since 2008.  He has held many positions of leadership within his department and currently serves on the Department's Board of Directors in addition to being an active firefighter.  Tom is active in the West Virginia State Fireman's Association and currently serves as its Scholarship Chair.  Tom holds many certifications including, but not limited to: Firefighter II, Fire Officer II, Hazardous Materials Technician/Incident Commander, Swift Water Rescue Technician, Vehicle Machinery Technician, Rope Rescue Technician, and Fire Instructor III, and is an active Instructor with West Virginia University Fire Service Extension.  He serves on the NVFC's Health & Safety and Conference/Education Committees.  Tom also represents the NVFC on the NFPA 470 Technical Committee and the NFPA Joint 1001/472 Task Group.  In his paying job, Tom is employed as the Privacy & Security Officer for the West Virginia Department of Administration.

David is a 22 year member of the fire service and currently serves as a Lieutenant and coassigned to the Training Division with the Columbia County Fire Rescue (Ga.) and a part time Firefighter with Grovetown (Ga) DPS. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia State Firefighter's Association, National Volunteer Fire Council State Director, Georgia Pipeline Emergency Response Initiave Board of Directors, NFPA’s Working Group on Flammable Refrigerants, Alternate to NFPA 1021 and 1056 Committees, and was Secretary of IFSTA's Pumping Apparatus Driver Operator 3rd Edition Curriculum Committee, contributor to the “Training Officer’s Desk Reference”, and is a Safety and Health coordinator with HEPACO LLC. As an active instructor for the Georgia Fire Academy with Firefighter Basics, David is constantly engaged with teaching live fire, leadership, HAZMAT, and Firefighter Survival/RIT classes.

Fire Chief at Elwood Fire Protection District

Rachel Buczynski is a facilitator, educator, and instructional designer with over 15 years’ experience supporting fire service organizations and other nonprofits. Rachel holds a B.A. from Texas A&M University and an M.S. Adult Education and Human Resource Development from James Madison University.

Debbie Carpenter is the Fire Chief with Spirit Lake Fire Protection District in North Idaho. She earned a Master of Science in Public Safety Administration from Lewis University and is a graduate of the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service's Fire Service Chief Executive Officer program. She primarily teaches on ethics in public safety. Chief Carpenter was one of the inaugural members of iDELP, the Diversity Executive Leadership Program with the International Association of Fire Chiefs. She serves on the IAFC Professional Development Committee and helped to write the IAFC's Guide for Creating a Diverse and Inclusive Department.