Laura Kavanagh, is the 34th Fire Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), the first woman to hold the position. Appointed by mayor Eric Adams on October 27, 2022, Kavanagh oversaw the diversification of the FDNY applicant pool, including graduating the largest group of women in nearly three decades. As a civilian, Kavanagh oversees the day-to-day operations of the largest fire department in the country with more than 17,000 employees and a 2 billion dollar budget. Prior to her appointment as Fire Commissioner, Kavanagh spent several years in the FDNY, acting as a key leader in the agency's response to major incidents including the Ebola outbreak of 2015 and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Early life

Kavanagh grew up near San Francisco, the only child of a public school teacher and a telephone company worker. Upon graduation from Whittier College in California with a BA in Political Science and International Relations, she moved to New York City and lived in all five boroughs, managing and campaign consulting for non-profits, community-based organizations and unions. She earned a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

degree from Columbia University's School for International and Public Affairs. Kavanagh completed the Executive Leaders Program at the

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security, and the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business schoo ...

’ Summer Institute.

Career

Kavanagh has held senior roles on Presidential, Mayoral, Congressional and local campaigns. She was a Special Assistant to Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

, and during the

2012 United States presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...

, she served as Deputy Director in Pennsylvania on

Barack Obama's Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

reelection campaign. She joined the FDNY in 2014, first as Director of External Affairs before her promotion as Assistant Commissioner for External Affairs several months later. In 2015, she was appointed Deputy Commissioner for Government Affairs and Special Programs, became First Deputy Commissioner in 2017 and served as acting Fire Commissioner in February of 2022 after the retirement of Fire Commissioner

Daniel Nigro Daniel A. Nigro (born October 11, 1948) was the Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) from 2014 until his retirement in 2022. Nigro's appointment was announced on May 9, 2014, and he was sworn in on June 9. Nigro was the 33rd ...

. She has never served as a firefighter. An avid runner, Commissioner Kavanagh has completed two New York City Marathons and is a regular participant in the stair climbs that honor fallen first responders and their families.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanagh, Laura Commissioners of the New York City Fire Department Living people Whittier College alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Women in New York (state) politics 1982 births