Meet Your Coach

Melissa “Issa” (Ee-sa) Boudrye; I got my start in public service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, living in a small rural community and working on education and development projects. It taught me quickly that the best solutions don’t come from the top down, they come from listening to people who know their land, their neighbors, and their challenges best.

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, I joined FEMA’s Surge Capacity Force and found myself supporting communities in crisis. That experience opened the door to a career in emergency management, where I’ve since led response and recovery operations for hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, pandemics, and even volcanoes working across the country in nearly every operational capacity you can imagine. I left my career with FEMA after serving as the Operations Section Chief for the devastating wildfires in Maui in 2023. I realized that I wanted to focus my energy on building capacity locally and was offered the opportunity to support the state of California in standing up the new Resilience Branch at Cal OES, making sure California’s communities have the tools and funding they need to prepare for what’s next.

Across all those roles — from Peace Corps, to FEMA, to Cal OES — what I have found is that I am inspired by building capacity and assisting communities navigate systems that often feel too complicated or out of reach. I know what it’s like to sit across from a mayor, a tribal leader, or a city planner who’s trying to stretch every dollar and doesn’t have a team of lawyers or grant writers. My role has always been to make the process clearer, open doors to resources, and stand alongside communities so they can protect what matters most to them.

At the end of the day, my expertise isn’t about acronyms or federal programs, it’s about helping communities recover faster, build stronger, and feel heard in rooms where decisions are made. That’s the perspective I bring to every community I serve: practical experience, a deep respect for local knowledge, and a commitment to making sure no community gets left behind.