Lori Foley retired in December 2023 as an emergency management specialist at FEMA’s Office of Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation (OEHP). She coordinated the Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF), a partnership of over 60 national service organizations and federal agencies co-sponsored by OEHP and the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI). Founded in 1995 to protect cultural heritage from the damaging effects of natural disasters and other emergencies, HENTF serves as a vital response and recovery resource following Presidentially declared disasters, ensuring that local, county, state, tribal, and federal partners in the cultural heritage and emergency management communities work together to provide needed assistance to affected cultural institutions and arts organizations. _x000d_
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Lori was previously Vice President of Emergency Programs at Heritage Preservation, where her responsibilities included connecting cultural stewards with emergency managers at all levels of government through such programs as Alliance for Response and the State Heritage Emergency Partnership. When Heritage Preservation was dissolved in June 2015, Lori worked briefly at the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC, now the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation), helping settle Heritage Preservation’s emergency programs into their new home. Lori worked at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Massachusetts for 10 years, first as a Field Service Representative and then as Director of Preservation Services. Lori lectured widely and conducted numerous workshops on emergency preparedness and response at cultural institutions across the U.S. and internationally. She is a member of the cultural heritage emergency network COSTEP MA, FAIC’s National Heritage Responders, and the US Committee of the Blue Shield._x000d_