About

Soraya Sutherlin is the Chief Executive Officer of Emergency Management Safety Partners (EMSP) and a Certified Emergency Manager with over 18 years of experience in the field.

Currently, she serves as the Disaster Management Area Coordinator for Los Angeles County Operational Area C and Regional Emergency Alert and Warning Manager for Alert SouthBay, overseeing a comprehensive alert system for 15 cities across Southern California. In this role, she leads grant administration, training, planning, and coordination efforts for disaster response across the ten cities comprising Area C.

Soraya’s previous roles include serving as Emergency Manager for the City of Torrance, CA, and Disaster Resource Center Manager for UCLA Health System. Her responsibilities spanned program administration, training, community outreach, and response operations, and she became a technical specialist in refinery regulations. In 2010, she advised the secondary review board implementing the Incident Command System (ICS) in hospitals.

In 2019, Soraya collaborated with the California Department of Education and Los Angeles County Office of Education to update the Safe School Compliance Guide for California Public Schools, supporting school districts statewide, including CSU campuses.

In January 2020, Soraya was selected as an instructor for the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training (NCBRT), helping develop crisis communication courses for K-12 schools through Louisiana State University. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the South Bay Joint Information Center and later served as Deputy Branch Director for the Joint Information Center at Super Bowl LVI in Inglewood, CA.

Soraya holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach, and is certified through the International Association of Emergency Managers.