Sandra Dugas Gaspard
Assistant Director, Hazard Mitigation
Sandra Dugas Gaspard serves as the Assistant Director of the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Division at the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP). Sandra has been with GOHSEP for 16 years, where she worked her way up through the HMA Division, serving first as a Disaster Recovery Specialist, then Team Lead, Section Chief, and Executive Officer, until her promotion to Assistant Director in January 2024. The HMA Division, in coordination with local jurisdictions, implements the suite of FEMA’s HMA programs for the State, a portfolio of approximately $3 Billion. Sandra also served as the Louisiana State Coordinating Officer for Hurricanes Laura and Delta, and has coordinated closely with FEMA on behalf of the State of Louisiana on the Direct Housing and Non-Congregate Sheltering missions for Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Ida. Sandra currently serves on FEMA’s External Stakeholders Working Group, a group of state, local, tribal and FEMA representatives brought together with the goal of sharing perspectives and insight into mitigation and/or HMA program issues, and to increase transparency and effect change where appropriate to program priorities and policy development.
Sandra holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences/Microbiology, and served as Lab Manager/Research Associate in a research lab at Louisiana State University for several years prior to coming to GOHSEP. Sandra and her husband Melton live on the Northshore with their children Ray, Olivia and Jack.
