Ken Jones

Kenneth "Ken" Jones is an Executive Trainer with Optimum. Ken retired in 2014 after serving 26 years in the United States Coast Guard. His primary responsibilities included planning for mass rescue operations, hurricane planning and preparedness and all-hazard exercise development. Ken is an expert in Area Contingency Plan management, Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP), Incident Management Team & ICS coordination. He is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) through the International Association of Emergency Managers, holds the Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP) and the Professional Continuity Practitioner designations from FEMA. He is also a Type II Incident Commander.

Ken served for six years on the Coast Guard National Level Incident Management Team where he received multiple Type 1, 2 and 3 qualifications with response experience in oil spills, earthquake and humanitarian assistance, hurricanes and tsunami’s, down aircrafts and National Special Security Events (2012 Republican National Convention and the 2011 Asian Pacific Economic Conference). He has served as an EMT, a volunteer fire fighter, served as a Federal on Scene Coordinators Representative (FOSCR), and certified in the maritime law enforcement field as a boarding officer conducting migrant operations and drug interdiction. Ken holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership, a Master’s Degree in Homeland Security and Terrorism and a second Master’s Degree in Emergency and Disaster Management.  He is a professor with Bethel University where he instructs multiple online undergraduate courses in Disaster and Emergency Management & Homeland Security and Terrorism.

Miriam Lafferty

Miriam Lafferty is a senior emergency management expert with over three decades of experience leading complex disaster response operations at federal, state, and local levels. As Optimum Consulting's newest consultant, she brings extensive expertise in crisis management, interagency coordination, and strategic emergency planning following a distinguished 31-year career with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Throughout her Coast Guard career, Miriam served in senior leadership roles establishing and implementing strategic readiness initiatives that ensured thousands of personnel were trained, equipped, and prepared to deploy rapidly for national emergencies. Her operational planning expertise encompasses the full spectrum of land, air, and maritime operations across North America. She successfully coordinated emergency medical support to civilian hospitals during COVID-19 surge operations, managed complex logistics for the Afghan evacuation and resettlement program, and led planning teams for numerous National Special Security Events requiring integrated federal response.

A FEMA Type 1 Certified Liaison Officer, Miriam has extensive experience coordinating multi-agency disaster response efforts, serving as the Coast Guard representative at FEMA Region IV's Regional Response Coordination Center for five CAT 5-level hurricanes. During the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, she directed critical resources at the National Incident Command and facilitated international assistance for cleanup operations. Her expertise in crisis management extends to maritime security, where she served as the Homeland Security Task Force – Southeast liaison to U.S. Army South, developing and implementing comprehensive mass migration planning and operations.

Miriam holds a Master's degree in National Security Strategy from the National Intelligence University and a Bachelor's degree from the Coast Guard Academy, complementing her operational expertise with strong academic credentials in strategic planning and security operations.

Glenn Joseph

Glenn has served over 30 years in the Fire Response Industry. He spent 29 year as a firefighter with the City of Boca Raton fire Rescue and retired as the Fire Chief for the City of Boynton Beach. Since 1994, he served as an adjunct instructor at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg Maryland specializing in Chemistry for Emergency Response, Advanced Life Support for Hazardous Materials Incidents, Hazardous Materials Operating Site Practices, Hazardous Materials Incident Management system. Glenn also served as a member of several course development and design teams for NETC. As Fire Chief, he coordinated and managed all emergency and administrative functions within the Fire Division within the Public Safety Department, including emergency response, disaster preparedness, fire prevention, and code enforcement. Glenn’s specialty is evaluating fire prevention and writing control policies. He consulted with public officials and community groups related to public relations campaigns for applying necessary changes in laws and policies to encourage fire prevention. Glenn oversaw all training and supervised firefighters while maintaining sufficient knowledge of trends in the field of fire science and emergency medical services. 

Glenn’s education is extensive as a Florida certified Paramedic, Florida State Fire Marshal, and Florida State Certified Registered Nurse. He has an Associate degree in Science in General Business, a Bachelor’s degree in Science in Business Management, Bachelor’s degree in Nursing and Master’s of Science in Emergency Planning and Administration.