Meet Joshua Curry, a Pierce College student pursuing his bachelor’s degree and one of our 2024 WSEMA scholarship recipients! Having spent more than five years with FEMA as an IT Network Specialist traveling the country, Josh is already no stranger to the world of emergency management. During deployments, he ensured mission-critical communications and data systems were up and running for first responders. His behind-the-scenes work was recognized by FEMA Region X, who honored him with a Teamwork Award in 2012.
Josh then returned to school—first at Edmonds College and now at Pierce. Today, he’s exploring ways to blend his tech expertise with disaster response, centering the importance of serving communities recovering from disasters. He is grateful for the way Pierce College integrates emerging technologies into their curriculums as he is exploring creating a grant writing platform using machine learning models to streamline the federal grant application process, particularly for HMGP and BRIC. Outside the classroom, his dedication to serving his community shines just as bright serving as a Civil Service Commissioner for the City of Everett and the elected Secretary for Everett’s Council of Neighborhoods Executive Committee, for which he was honored by the city in December! In his own neighborhood, he and his co-chair are teaching families how to build kits and encouraging neighborhood wide drills, helping families to see preparedness activities as a fun learning opportunity.
Josh’s understanding of the complexity of emergency management is clear when asked what advice he’d give others interested in studying emergency management; “Balance education and practical experience and don’t undervalue diverse experiences. Stay humble and be curious.” Josh is a great example of the benefit of investing in future emergency managers from a wide array of backgrounds to bring new innovative ideas to the field!
Through donations from WSEMA members, this scholarship is made possible to help students like Josh build their careers and strengthen our communities.
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Let’s applaud Josh’s accomplishments and continue empowering new voices and ideas in emergency management! Follow Josh’s educational journey as part of class of 2026 for his bachelor’s in emergency management on LinkedIn.