Ashleigh Makuch
Emergency Management Consultant
Ashleigh Makuch is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) with over 9 years of experience in emergency management, having held positions in state, higher education, and county agencies. Her background includes emergency operations planning, continuity planning, training and exercise development, and emergency operations center activations. She is also experienced in human services, including mass care, community recovery and Individual Assistance, and voluntary agency and private sector coordination. Ashleigh’s significant achievements include, rewriting the Arizona State Emergency Response and Recovery Plan, working Arizona’s COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery, providing technical review of federal and gubernatorial declaration documents, and supporting wildfires, flooding, and other disasters in Arizona. She is an instructor for continuity of operations planning courses and FEMA National Emergency Management Basic Academy courses. Ashleigh also serves as an assessor for the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) in support of professionalization and implementation of national standards for the emergency management industry.
Ashleigh holds a Master of Arts in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security (NPS CHDS). She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Criminology/Criminal Justice from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about leadership, learning, and her Master’s thesis, “Finding a Path for Future Leaders: Improving Leadership in Homeland Security,” highlights the qualities and practices of good leadership to contribute to the development of emerging leaders in the industry. Ashleigh lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, and enjoys travel, reading, and spending time with family.
