New Planning Resources from Texas General Land Office

Colin Donovan is with the Community Development and Revitalization Division at the Texas General Land Office and manages the Local Hazard Mitigation Plans and Resilient Communities Programs. Prior to joining the Texas General Land Office, Colin administered incentive programs related to air quality and energy efficiency for the Texas Commission … Read More

Colin Donovan is with the Community Development and Revitalization Division at the Texas General Land Office and manages the Local Hazard Mitigation Plans and Resilient Communities Programs. Prior to joining the Texas General Land Office, Colin administered incentive programs related to air quality and energy efficiency for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Austin Energy. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from North Carolina State University Read Less

"Ms. Magee-Henderson is a facilitator and trainer specializing in hazard mitigation grants and community planning in disaster recovery operations. Ms. Magee-Henderson has over 17 years of planning experience, with 15 of those years in hazard mitigation planning. She also has extensive knowledge and experience as an urban planner and in … Read More

"Ms. Magee-Henderson is a facilitator and trainer specializing in hazard mitigation grants and community planning in disaster recovery operations. Ms. Magee-Henderson has over 17 years of planning experience, with 15 of those years in hazard mitigation planning. She also has extensive knowledge and experience as an urban planner and in community development, housing, and revitalization through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. She managed over $1.5 million worth of grants for the City of Jackson, MS, from funding sources such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice, among others. Ms. Magee-Henderson trained and provided technical assistance to community officials; facilitated hazard mitigation application development, grants management, and assisted with establishing departmental planning processes that directed programmatic and administrative components of the overall program; and served as a lead hazard mitigation planner while an employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from 2005 to 2007. From 2010 to 2011, Ms. Magee-Henderson provided course development and training expertise to disaster workforce training projects as a facilitator/trainer. From 2007 to 2020, she facilitated community disaster recovery, application development, grants management, and planning efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi as a contract recovery specialist. From 2020 to present, Ms. Magee-Henderson is working with the Texas General Land Office (GLO), to develop their hazard mitigation plans programs. Over the course of her career, Ms. Magee-Henderson has developed, interpreted, and implemented standard operating procedures and other relevant hazard mitigation planning policies for states and local governments; established the State of New Jersey’s hazard mitigation planning departments, completed over 90 hazard mitigation planning projects assigned to her in the State of Louisiana in less than 3 years; and received approval on 100% of all planning grant applications submitted. Ms. Magee-Henderson is working with the Texas General Land Office (GLO) to develop their hazard mitigation plan programs. She has actively participated in the scoring and reviewing of applications within the 2015, 2016, and Hurricane Harvey competitions. Ms. Magee-Henderson participated in developing the standard operating procedures for the scoring and review process for the competition program. Additionally, she is serving as the Local Hazard Mitigation Plans (LHMPP) Lead where she has also assisted with developing the LHMPP’s standard operating procedures. Additionally, Ms. Magee-Henderson has introduced eligible FEMA programs to the hazard mitigation planning process that will not only enhance GLO’s footprint in the hazard mitigation community but will improve local communities’ chances in creating and submitting eligible applications that could potentially be submitted for funding. " Read Less

"Ms. Cooper has 25 years of community development experience developing and managing an array of affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, community economic development, programs and projects for municipal governments and not for profit organizations. She has managed Community Development Block Grant programs both as a subrecipient and as a grantee. In … Read More

"Ms. Cooper has 25 years of community development experience developing and managing an array of affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, community economic development, programs and projects for municipal governments and not for profit organizations. She has managed Community Development Block Grant programs both as a subrecipient and as a grantee. In addition, Ms. Cooper has leveraged a variety of federal funding sources including National Stabilization Program (NSP), HOME, and Homeownership Zones with local funding sourcing including Tax Increment Financing, and Housing Trust Funds. She has worked with cities and not for profit on program design, developed policies and procedures, and managed development projects from concept through construction and compliance. Her experience includes affordable housing development, economic development, neighborhood serving infrastructure and adaptive reuse of public facilities and historic buildings. She has been involved in the development and implementation of master plans, neighborhood plans, transportation plans, and other long-range plans to transform neighborhoods and public spaces into viable and vibrant places. Over the course of her career, Ms. Cooper has: Provided training and technical assistance (TA) for subrecipients and staff on program design for affordable homeownership and rental housing construction and renovation. Lead a team of inspectors who provided construction inspections for projects receiving federal funds to ensure compliance with Davis Bacon, Section 3 and compliance with local building codes. Designed policies and procedures for projects and programs that provide economic opportunity and strengthen neighborhoods. Provided training and technical assistance for businesses who were awarded CDBG grants for the reconstruction of the exterior of their business. Led multi-faceted teams for the development of long-term community planning. Ms. Cooper is currently the Resilient Communities Program Project Lead for the Texas GLO. In this role, she is creating the policies and supporting documentation for the start up of one of the first programs to address community resiliency nationwide. She provides technical assistance to the GLO and it subrecipients standard operating procedures and compliance standards for CDBG-MIT programs including the competitions for Hurricane Harvey and the 2015 and 2016 Floods. Her assistance with these guidelines ensures that the programs have the proper parameters and guidance available to ensure subrecipient success. " Read Less