Daniel Kaniewski addressed the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting in Chicago, which brought together over 7,000 legislators from across the country to discuss the future of disaster response, recovery, and resilience.

Daniel Kaniewski delivered the keynote address at #ICONHIC2026, focusing on "Building Resilience Before the Next Disaster: Lessons from Policy and Practice." With the FEMA Act currently advancing in Congress, the U.S. disaster policy debate is finally turning toward a central question: how do we actively reward communities that invest before a disaster strikes? We can no longer afford to let resilience depend solely on post-disaster recovery; it must be proactively financed, shared fairly, and aligned across all the stakeholders who rely on our infrastructure to perform under stress.

"By engaging the P&C insurance industry and rewarding proactive mitigation efforts, we can shift liability away from taxpayers and create a sustainable model that reduces losses for everyone," said Daniel Kaniewski, founder and CEO of Northstar Risk & Resilience and former Federal Emergency Management Agency deputy administrator and Marsh U.S. public sector leader.

Former agency official Daniel Kaniewski said promoting resilience should be “job one” for Hamilton. “I realize we're entering hurricane season and that’s a more immediate priority, but the next administrator will have to balance the immediate with the future,” Kaniewski said. “That’s the tension.”

Drawing on his experience at both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Marsh, Dan Kaniewski has launched NorthStar Risk & Resilience, an advisory firm dedicated to helping public and private sector leaders navigate complex disaster risks.