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.

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.

Efren A. Lopez

Efren A. Lopez is a retired Lieutenant from the Miami-Dade Police Department after 30 years, where he served as an investigator in Economic Crimes. In addition, he enlisted in the Army Reserves in August 1982, for which he served over the next 17 years; he served tours in Alaska, Ecuador, Columbia, Panama, and Desert Storm before he was recruited to join the Coast Guard Reserves. Upon graduation from Coast Guard Officer Candidate School (OCS), Commander Lopez served as an Intelligence Officer and was activated in response to Hurricane Katrina, Wilma, and Charley. Mr. Lopez also responded to Deepwater Horizon, serving eight months as a Logistics Section. Mr. Lopez assumed assume the same position in New Orleans. While there, he agreed to take another active-duty tour with Deepwater Horizon as the Logistic/Finance Section Chief for six months, ultimately fleeting up to become the Liaison for the Financial Management and Procurement Services (FMPS). Mr. Lopez was selected to return to Active Duty as the Incident Commander for the MV Golden Ray incident, the largest US salvage operation in US history, which he served for 2 years. Mr. Lopez is a Certified Emergency Manager, Certified Fraud Examiner, and a graduate of the Southern Police Institute - Command Officer Development Course. He has earned BA degrees in Accounting and Business Administration as well as a MA in Public Admiration.