CRMP Governing Board

Laurie Johnson, an urban planner specializing in disaster recovery and catastrophe risk management, served as the Enterprise & Strategic Risk Advisor for CEA from August 2016 until June 2020, when she took on a new leadership position at CEA as Chief Catastrophe Response and Resiliency Officer.​ In this capacity, she oversees CEA’s organizational readiness, claims administration and response following earthquakes.

Laurie holds a Doctor of Informatics degree from Kyoto University and a Master of Urban Planning and Bachelor of Science in Geophysics, both from Texas A&M University.

She began her planning career working with communities that were soon struck by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and has since been involved in post-disaster recovery planning, management and research following many of the world's major urban disasters, including earthquakes in California, Japan, New Zealand, and China. Much of her work is captured in her recent book, After Great Disasters: An In-Depth Analysis of How Six Countries Managed Community Recovery (2017). Laurie also has an extensive background in disaster loss estimation and catastrophe risk modeling, serving as Vice President of Technical Marketing and Catastrophe Response at RMS for many years.

Laurie was the 2019-2020 President of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), a technical society devoted to earthquake risk reduction across the U.S. and globally, and is also on the Steering Committee of the Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance organization (GEER), Board of Trustees of the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI), and Advisory Board of the Global Earthquake Model (GEM). In 2018, she was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners. ​

Jim Lombard joined CEA in August of 2020 as the Chief Administrative Officer. Jim's responsibilities include overseeing human resources, facilities, and project management. Among other things, Jim leads efforts for strategic and workforce planning.

Jim joins CEA after three decades of public service, mostly for the State of California.

He spent about 10 years with the California Department of Finance overseeing budget development for a number of state departments including but not limited to Department of Food and Agriculture, Department of Justice, Department of Corrections, and capital infrastructure programs for health and human services programs, State Parks and CalFire. Jim coordinated efforts to create a $54 billion five-year state infrastructure plan.

Jim spent seven years with the California State Controller's Office as the Chief Administrative Officer, overseeing administrative functions and statewide programs such as payroll and disbursements. Jim represented the Controller on various boards and committees. During his time at the Controller's Office, the state faced the "Great Recession," and he was part of the team that managed the State's cash through this tumultuous time.

Jim also spent several years with each of the following entities: the Department of Justice, Covered California, Air Resources Board, and most recently with the Sacramento Superior Court. Jim has led, or participated in, strategic planning efforts for several entities over his career.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Cal Poly. Jim focused his education on environmental chemistry and specifically air pollution.

Lori has worked for the State of California since 2006. She is currently the Deputy Director of Planning, Preparedness, and Prevention, a role which includes oversight of the agency’s seismic hazards branch, dam safety, radiological preparedness, and statewide all-hazards emergency and continuity planning efforts. Additionally, she oversees the California Specialized Training Institute, a statewide enterprise with responsibility for supporting training, exercises, and education in a wide variety of areas including, but not limited to, emergency management, public safety, homeland security, hazardous materials, disaster recovery, and crisis communications.

Prior to her current role, Lori spent almost six years as the Legislative Coordinator at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and nine years at the California Student Aid Commission as Legislative Director, Program Manager, and in various Analyst roles.

Lori received her baccalaureate degree from Arizona Christian University in Phoenix and her post-baccalaureate teacher certification at Arizona State University in Tempe. After receiving her teaching credential, she moved to Saitama Prefecture in Japan for two years to teach English as a Second Language. Upon her return to the United States, she taught elementary classes at Carden Christian Academy for ten years before going into state service.

Alex Pal is the Chief Counsel for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). He was appointed to this position by Governor Brown in 2018 and was reappointed by Governor Newsom in 2019. Prior to serving as Chief Counsel, Alex served in various attorney positions at Cal OES since 2013, including Assistant Chief Counsel and Senior Counsel. Alex has provided legal counsel to Cal OES on many disasters that have struck California, including 11 federally-declared Major Disaster Declaration events and nearly 100 state-only events for which the Governor proclaimed a State of Emergency. Alex earned his Juris Doctorate from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and his Bachelor of Science degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey.