James Arango is an emergency management and public health professional with experience in federal, state, and international response operations. His work has spanned disaster planning, outbreak response, and humanitarian coordination, supporting agencies like USAID, FEMA, and state health departments.
As an Emergency Response Advisor at USAID’s Bureau for Global Health, James supports outbreak responses, and provides long-term strategic guidance on building emergency management capacity within the Bureau.
Previously, James served as an Operational Response Planner at FEMA Region 6, where he developed catastrophic incident response plans for biological and nuclear emergencies spanning 5 states. His work contributed to FEMA’s all-hazards planning framework and improved resource tracking for major disaster responses.
At the Texas Department of State Health Services, James held leadership roles in emergency preparedness, outbreak detection, and medical countermeasure distribution. He has led full-scale bioterrorism response exercises and integrated state operations with federal partners during large-scale health crises.
James holds master’s degrees in Public Health (MPH) and Applied Anthropology (MA) from the University of South Florida. He is Certified in Public Health (CPH). His experience includes instructing emergency management courses and directing multi-agency disaster exercises.His work continues to focus on strengthening emergency response frameworks and ensuring effective coordination in crisis situations.