Joshua D Filler is the founder and president of Filler Security Strategies where he leads the firm's projects and teams across our full spectrum of homeland security and emergency preparedness offerings. Mr. Filler has a  wide array of senior homeland security and government operations experience at the local and federal level. He has testified before Congress, published a wide variety of articles, including in USA Today, Government Executive, Emergency Management Magazine, HSToday, Bangor Daily News, The Hill, and the Washington Post, and given speeches and lectures on homeland security and emergency preparedness across the U.S. 

Mr. Filler served as the first ever Director of the Office of State and Local Government Coordination for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington, DC. Mr. Filler was a founding member of DHS, senior advisor to two Secretaries of Homeland Security, a member of the Department’s senior management team, and a member of the Secretary’s Emergency Response Group (ERG) for incident management. At the ERG, Mr. Filler was responsible for coordinating the domestic security posture of the U.S. on behalf of the Secretary following credible terror threats against the homeland.

At DHS, Mr. Filler was the primary point of contact for state and local homeland security leaders, and was responsible for coordinating the programs and policies of DHS that impacted state and local governments. As such, he worked regularly with senior DHS leaders and other federal officials on national preparedness, grant funding issues, intelligence and information sharing, policy development, border security and immigration enforcement, and anti-terrorism operations and security planning within the United States and its territories. This included serving as the co-lead in the development of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 on National Preparedness, as well as leading the creation and implementation of the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program, Urban Areas Security Initiative, State Homeland Security Program, Operation Stonegarden, and the Transit Security Grant Program. Mr. Filler also led the state and local working group for developing the National Incident Management System, the National Response Framework, and the National Infrastructure Protection Plan.

Prior to joining DHS, Mr. Filler was Director of Local Affairs for the White House Office of Homeland Security (OHS) in Washington, DC. As Director of Local Affairs, he was responsible for coordinating with local governments around the country on homeland security matters. This included a wide array of policy and program issues, including the National Strategy for Homeland Security, federal legislative and budget issues, and serving as a member of the OHS Incident Response Group, which managed domestic incidents for the White House.

Before joining the White House, Mr. Filler served in the Cabinet of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in New York as Director of Legislative Affairs for the Mayor and Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Operations. His work included legislative, oversight, and policy issues concerning the New York Police Department, Fire Department, and Office of Emergency Management, and numerous other city agencies. After September 11, 2001, Mr. Filler was responsible for emergency operational issues, and managing contacts with local, state, and federal officials on behalf of New York City in connection with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Mr. Filler has served on the Board of Advisors for the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, as a member of the National Sheriffs' Association Homeland Security Certification Board, and the association's Homeland Security Committee, as a homeland security expert at the Project on National Security Reform, the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security, the Naval Post Graduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security, and as a member of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Homeland Security Law Institute.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Filler was an attorney in private practice in New York. Mr. Filler graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in political science. He received his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law where he was President of the Moot Court Honor Society.