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.

Rachel Buczynski is a facilitator, educator, and instructional designer with two decades of 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.

Ryan joined the NVFC in 2022. He is available to assist NVFC members with any questions or concerns related to federal legislation or regulations, is the staff liaison when it comes to standards and codes setting committees, and actively promotes the interests and priorities of the volunteer emergency services to Congress and the Executive Branch. Ryan came to the NVFC with a decade of policy experience. Before joining our staff, Ryan worked on the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ government relations team for two years and worked for former Congressman Peter King for eight years, including as legislative director. Rep. King is the former chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security and the former co-chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus.

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.  

Bruce Lundegren serves as an Assistant Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.  The Office of Advocacy oversees federal agency compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, a law that requires federal agencies to assess the impact of their regulations on small entities and to consider less burdensome alternatives.  As such, Bruce works closely with federal agencies, associations and coalitions, and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to ensure that the voice of small entities are heard within the regulatory process.  Bruce’s areas of responsibility include occupational safety and health, transportation, and homeland security.  Bruce also leads the Office of Advocacy’s team that trains federal agencies on Regulatory Flexibility Act compliance in accordance with Executive Order 13272.

Prior to joining the Office of Advocacy, Bruce served as Director of Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and as Regulatory Counsel for the National Association of Home Builders.  Before that he worked in the private practice of law.  Bruce received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his law degree from the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University.  He is a member of the bar of Massachusetts, Kansas, and Missouri.

Jimmie R. Duncan, Jr. became the Executive Director of the Federation of Fire Chaplains March 1, 2020. He has been a member of the Fire Service since 1987, joining the Irving (Texas) Fire Department Jun 15 of that year. He subsequently retired in 2019 after 32 years of service. He holds a Master Firefighter Certification from the State of Texas, he was a licensed paramedic (1991-2020), and also holds certificates in High Angle Rescue I and II, Confined Space Rescue, and Trench Rescue and is a certified Fire Instructor. Jimmie also holds numerous certificates from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, which includes a Certificate of Specialized Training in the area of Pastoral Crisis Intervention. Jimmie served as the Chaplain and Critical Incident Stress Management coordinator for the Irving Fire Department (Irving, Texas) department for over 20 years. Jimmie is one of the founding members and President of the Texas Corps of Fire Chaplains and is a member of the Texas Line of Duty Task Force. He holds a BA degree in Religion from Gardner-Webb College (Now University). He currently resides in Irving, Texas with his wife, Cindy.  

Dick Brown has been involved as a firefighter for 35 years, 17 on which he served as the delegate from California. He has been a fire chaplain for almost 15 years. Dick serves as the vice president of the California Fire Chaplain Association and is a member of the Federation of Fire Chaplains. 

Chaplain Jim Cook retired from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection/Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department as a Battalion Chief after 36 years if service. Jim has been involved in the Volunteer Reserve Chaplain Program in Riverside County since 1997 and has helped develop an effective chaplaincy for his department.  The chaplains have supported mutual aid needs for San Bernardino County, San Diego, and statewide.  Chaplain Cook has been a member of the Federation of Fire Chaplain since 2003 and is currently serving on the FFC Board as President. He is a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.  Jim serves as the President of the California Fire Chaplain Association which works under the umbrella of the Federation of Fire Chaplains.  Jim has an A.A. degree in Biblical and Theological studies which he received in May of 2013.  He was a member of Fellowship Church in Beaumont, A Southern Baptist Church for 34 years and has been involved with a ministry of Fellowship Church in Cabazon since 2000, for 24 years.  In November of 2021, the Cabazon ministry became its own independent church, named Cabazon Fellowship.  Jim has had the honor of being their Pastor for the last three years.  

Jim’s wife is Roxie Cook, and they celebrated their 51st year of marriage in September of 2024.  Roxie has been a tremendous support to the Chaplain ministry and to Cabazon Fellowship that Jim has been involved with.  Jim and Roxie, with a lot of help from Fire Department Chaplains in Southern California hosted the FFC Conference in Palm Springs in 2009 and in the City of Cathedral City in 2019.   Jim and Roxie have six children and six grandchildren.  Roxie is very Active with the FFC spouse activities and is always supporting and encouraging.  

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.