Julie Kay Roberts

In March 2019, I was named as Deputy Chief of Staff for NOAA. After a year and half as the Director of Communications for NOAA, my portfolio is expanding to include communication, external affairs, working with our inter-agency and private sector partners, and enhancing the agency’s role with emergency management. My experience in emergency management and crisis communications provides me with the background to carry out this new challenging but exciting job. As people have reminded me NOAA's mission includes from the bottom of the oceans to the surface of the sun.

I have over fifteen years professional experience including emergency management, scheduling, event management, international trade, and government relations. My experience in building public-private partnerships includes state and federal government and the private sector. In June 2016, I coordinated a partnership between the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Jet Blue, Airbnb, and Uber to provide resources to the victims and families of the Orlando Shooting Event.

For four years I worked in emergency management where my focus was on building a culture of preparedness for families, business and families with special needs. Kids Get a Plan focuses on education children and their families on how to prepare for disasters. I worked with the private sector to build a statewide re-entry program for the private sector after a disaster. The more people prepare for a disaster the less government will need to provide.

I spend my free time volunteering to help others including multiple mission trips to Ethiopia, volunteering through the Junior League of Tallahassee, and serving as an Advisor to the Zeta Tau Alpha Chapter at Florida State University for nine years. It is our responsibility to find ways to give back to people to make this a better world.