Johnny Brewington is serving his third term as President of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters and has been with the City of Cleveland's Division of Fire for twenty-seven years. He is currently a battalion chief for the Cleveland Fire Department.

Johnny was certified as a Fire-Medic at the Cleveland Fire Training Academy and received his Hazardous Materials Certification from Cleveland State University. He graduated from the Dr. Carl Holmes Executive Development Institute in 2001 and has taken numerous Fire Technology and Management courses through Cuyahoga Community College and the National Fire Academy.

Johnny was awarded Cleveland Fire Department Officer of the Year in 2003. He was appointed national spokesperson for USFA Campaign to Reduce Fire Deaths Among African-American Babies and Toddlers in 2004 and he is a Fire Fighter Training Instructor for Cuyahoga Community College. Committed to our youth, Johnny serves on the Advisor Board for Fire Cadet Program of Shaw High School (East Cleveland, Ohio) and Advisor Board for Public Safety Program of Martin Luther King Municipal Career High School. He is also a member the Black Chief Officers Committee.

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Manuel Fonesca is a 22 year veteran of the Nashville Fire Department. Prior to joining the NFD he was a volunteer firefighter and a fire safety and first aid instructor. After high school Manuel enrolled in college and earned two Associates degrees, a Bachelor’s, a Masters and is soon to receive his Doctorate. He has earned several awards for heroism and has worked hard at improving fire safety not only among the Hispanic community but for the city of Nashville as a whole. Presently Manuel works with the Nashville Fire Department as the Director of Performance Measures—a program that identifies what the taxpayer experiences for their tax dollars by identifying demand, output, cost for each of the services offered by the Nashville Fire Department. In addition to being a licensed paramedic, Manuel has attained Fire Officer I and II and is part of the Community Risk Reduction Team. Apart from the latter, he also has over 1000 hours of specialized training from the National Fire Academy and other local, state and Federal agencies.

Manuel currently serves as the Vice President for the Eastern Region for the National Association of Hispanic Firefighters. He is a past board member of the Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and has served as a board member for the Nashville Academy of Science and Engineering. In addition he has served as a National Advisory Committee board member for Fire Corps a White House initiative and has been invited to the White House on five occasions. On one occasion, he was awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award for Community Service during a White House ceremony. Furthermore, he served as a member of the Mayor’s council on “Healthy Nashville 2010” and recently finished his term as president of Tennessee State University Phi Delta Kappa chapter .

Ronald Jon Siarnicki began his career as a firefighter with the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department in 1978 and with 24 years of fire, rescue, and emergency medical services operational experience, he progressed through the ranks to chief of the department. In this position he served as the Chief Executive Officer responsible for the fire, rescue and emergency medical services of Prince George's County, Maryland. In July of 2001, Ron retired from the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department to take the position of Executive Director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.  

Ron is a graduate of the Masters Program, School of Management and Technology, at the University of Maryland, University College, College Park, Maryland and has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Science Management from UMUC. He is a certified Fire Officer IV, Fire Fighter Level III, and State Emergency Medical Technician. 

Robert Oliver is currently serving as Deputy Chief of Redmond, Washington Fire Department. He retired as Deputy Chief from Phoenix Fire Department after 33 years of service. He is a 1972 graduate of Arizona State University with a B.A. in Sociology. Robert completed an internship in the National Urban Fellowship Public Administration Program in 1973, followed by the completion of the Fire Service Curriculum at Phoenix College and the Command and Staff Officer's Program at the Nation Fire Academy. In 1989, he successfully completed the University of Southern California Leadership Studies Program.

Robert is a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Fire Protection Association, International Fire Instructors, American Society of Training and Development and Society of Human Resource Management. As the Senior Consultant in the Oliver Consultant Group, he develops, and facilitates human relations trainings and designs and implements service-performance programs and rewards and accountability systems. Robert is a well respected public speaker/trainer on various human relations topics, on the local and national circuit.

Vicki Smith is Vice-President, Lion TotalCare® USA, for Lion Apparel. Lion is the world's largest provider of firefighter-protective clothing. The Company’s brands include Janesville® and Body-Guard® turnouts, Lion RescueWear™, Lion StationWear™, and Paul Conway Helmets™.

Vicki started with Lion Apparel in 1987 in customer service and became a Vice-President in 2003. She has held a variety of positions, including Vice President of Channel Marketing Services and Director of TotalCare Operations UK. Her ground-breaking work in creating the first-ever total care program for the London Fire Brigade was instrumental in establishing Lion as a world-leading supplier of fire fighter protective clothing. Vicki has also been active in establishing educational resources for Lion, its dealers, and the fire service. She attended Wright State University in Dayton, OH.

Larry has been actively involved in marketing, community organizing, organizational development, and change management for 30 years. He has worked with fire and emergency service departments throughout the US and Canada in the areas of selection and teamwork training. Larry helped Ergometrics and Applied Personnel Research, Inc. to launch and implement their 2005 IPMAAC award winning FireTEAM Video Selection Testing and Training Program. From that work, Larry became aware of the need to increase the qualified pool of people of color and female applicants and help departments to reinvent their marketing and recruitment efforts. That need inspired Larry to start FIRE 20/20.    

Prior to his work with the fire service, Larry founded and directed the non-profit International Youth Hall of Fame (IYHF) for twelve years. IYHF helped communities around the country to come together to acknowledge and celebrate the positive contributions of more than 5,000 everyday school-age youth. IYHF was awarded honors by the Points of Light Foundation, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. In 2002, IYHF was merged with the Points of Light Foundation.    

Larry is a well respected speaker and workshop presenter. He has presented at numerous regional, national and international conferences and meetings including International Association of Black Professional Firefighters, National League of Cities Annual Congress, IAFC Human Relations Committee Meeting, Search Institute’s International Healthy Communities-Healthy Youth Conferences, and the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts Conference.

Larry has a Masters Degree in Social Work from Washington University.

Executive Board Members >>