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< Back John Sollers Board Member John has extensive experience coordinating with both local and federal agencies and is a certified instructor in hazardous materials, incident management, and National Fire Protection Administration best practices. He is a graduate of the Executive Leaders Program: Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security and the University of Maryland.

< Back Amy C. Mauro, Esq. Executive Director Amy is a results-oriented manager and problem-solver known for her depth of knowledge on policy, legal, agency operations, budget, public safety and criminal justice issues. From 2015 to 2023, she served as Chief of Staff for the DC Fire and EMS Department during a time of significant transformation of the Department . She worked with retired Chief Gregory M. Dean, current Chief John A. Donnelly, Sr., and their executive leadership teams, to drive strategic budget investment, cultural and organizational change, and service improvements. The Department’s reforms and innovations, particularly in the area of EMS, have received national recognition and emulation. Prior to working for the Department, Amy served as General Counsel and Chief of Staff at the DC Office of Risk Management (DCORM), as well as a staff member in the Office of the City Administrator, DC US Attorney’s Office and DC Council. Amy is passionate about improving DC Fire & EMS services for DC residents, which includes her family and kids. She is currently working with the Board to build the DC Fire & EMS Foundation to the stature that the Department’s members and customers deserve. Amy is a DC native and lives with her husband Mark, and their two children, in Ward 6.

< Back Steve Blivess Board Treasurer Before focusing his efforts on labor relations, Steve worked as an attorney in multiple capacities. While with the D.C. Office of Risk Management, he served as acting general counsel and provided guidance to the chief risk officer for the District of Columbia. He was an assistant attorney general with the D.C. Office of the Attorney General where he represented the District in contract cases before the D.C. Contract Appeals Board and the D.C. Superior Court. He also spent nine years in private practice and as an assistant corporation counsel in New York City. For five years, he worked as an adjunct professor at The George Washington School of Law where he taught legal research and writing. For the last seven years, Steve has worked in legal and labor relations, including four years as the senior labor relations specialist for the District of Columbia and assistant attorney general for D.C. Fire and Emergency Services. He then worked for the Montgomery County Government as a labor relations manager and acting chief labor relations officer prior to spending the last year and half as the director of labor relations and lead negotiator for Montgomery County Public Schools. Blivess obtained his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Speech Communication from Penn State University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law. When not practicing law and labor relations work, Steve enjoys watching baseball and spending time with his son and family.

< Back Tommy Wells Board Member Tommy started his career in the District working as a social worker for the District's child protective services agency. He served as Director of the DC Consortium for Child Welfare from 1991 to 2006 and as an ANC 6B Commissioner from 1995 to 2000. In 2001, he was elected to represent Wards 5 and 6 on the DC School Board. He served as the Ward 6 from 2006 to 2014; during his tenure he chaired the Committee on the Judiciary. He then joined the administration of Mayor Muriel Bowser as the Director of the Department of Energy & Environment for eight years, followed by a year as Director of the Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs. He retired from DC government service in 2023.

< Back John A. Donnelly, Sr. Fire & EMS Chief and Honorary Co-Chair, ex officio John A. Donnelly, Sr. started his career with DC Fire and EMS in 1992 at Truck 16. Over the course of his career he has served at Rescue Squad 3, Tower 3, and as Battalion Fire Chief 2; as the Division Commander of Special Operations, Homeland Security, and Apparatus Division; as a member of the Command Staff in Special Projects; and in Executive Officer Roles. In 2018, Chief Donnelly was promoted to the newly established Professional Development Bureau which included the Human Resources Division, Professional Standards Office, Training Division, Medical Services Division, and the Grants Office. Chief Donnelly serves on numerous committees supporting regional and national preparedness, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs Terrorism and Homeland Security Committee and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Fire Chief’s Committee. Chief Donnelly is a long-time Ward 4 resident of the District of Columbia and lives in Manor Park. He spends his free time working with the Boy Scouts of Troop 98 in Brookland.

< Back Robert Holman, MD Board Member From 2013 to 2016 Dr. Holman served as Internal Medicine Discipline Director for Unity Health Care, Washington’s largest federally qualified health center. In 2016 he was asked to assist in the transformation of Washington, D.C.’s Fire and EMS agency, where he became their longest serving Medical Director – with accomplishments including: Development of the nation’s largest 911 nurse triage line; Increase in Utstein cardiac arrest survival rates from below national average in 2016 to being tied for #1 in the US in 2023; neurologically intact survivors increased by 200%; Improvement in stroke bundle of care performance from 7% in October 2022 to 70% in May 2024; Facilitated interagency collaboration to establish the D.C. Stabilization Center that directs intoxicated patients from Emergency Departments to a community stabilization center; and Launched field transfusion of whole blood in D.C., contributing to a decreased homicide rate. Dr. Holman served on GUSOM’s Committee on Admissions from 2001-09 and served the National Board of Medical Examiners for sixteen years as, primarily, a member of the USMLE Step 2 committee. He is recipient of the 2024 Eagle award for national leadership in EMS, awarded by the Metropolitan Medical Directors Global Alliance. Dr. Holman obtained his BA in Latin from the University of California, Davis, graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine, interned at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, and later returned to Georgetown for the remainder of his Internal Medicine residency and chief residency before completing a Medical Staff Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

2025 Awards Ceremony and Dinner The DC Fire & EMS Foundation co-hosted the 2025 DC Fire and EMS Department Awards Ceremony and Dinner on April 10, 2025. Thank you to our sponsors and donors who helped make this amazing night happen! Contact us for information on how to become a sponsor at the 2026 ceremony! Thank You to Our Sponsors See the full Photo Album here and the full ceremony here . Photos by Lexi Critchett and Valerie Freeman Guest MCs Brian Mitchell and Fred Smoot with Foundation ED Amy Mauro Fire Chief John Donnelly with Councilmember Brooke Pinto ...and Local 36 President Dave Hoagland, Deputy COS Alexis Squire Guest MCs Brian Mitchell and Fred Smoot Council Chairman Phil Mendelson MC Lieutenant Keishea Jackson MC Captain Jordan Wiley Guest MC Kevin Grevey Family of Lieutenant Robert Heaney DCFD Pipes and Drums DCFD Honor Guard Foundation Executive Director Amy Mauro Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly Regina Snead, Baby Einstein Child Development Center Director honoring gas explosion first responders DCFD Pipes and Drums Company of the Year: Rescue Squad 2 Toddler accident survivor and her parents greeting her first responders Toddler accident survivor with her Childrens Hospital caregivers Honored for a cardiac arrest save Employees of the Year, including Administrative, Firefighter, Paramedic, and Officer. Administrative Units of the Year: Property Maintenance and Logistics Divisions Honoring the 67 Souls Lost on 1/29/25 Anthony Chappelle with his life savers Kay Bennett with her life savers Firefighter, Paramedic, and Officer of the Year Retired Assistant Fire Chief James Hanson

Meet Our Patients & Their Lifesavers Saved by DC Fire &EMS Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

DC FIRE & EMS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES $442,467 IN GRANT AWARDS FROM LEGACY ON ICE PROCEEDS Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s Legacy on Ice event raised funds for the families of those lost in the tragic January 29, 2025 mid-air collision over the Potomac River, first responders, and the US Figure Skating Association Contact: Amy C. Mauro, Esq. 202-297-0599 amy@dcfireemsfoundation.org August 1, 2025 (Washington, DC) – On March 2, 2025, Legacy On Ice brought the figure skating community and thousands of supporters together at Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena to honor the 67 lives lost in the January 29th airline tragedy on the Potomac River, as well as the first responders who rushed to the scene. One third of the funds raised by the event will benefit area first responders (the remaining funds benefit the families and the US Figure Skating Association). “The grants being announced today are both a practical measure of gratitude and a symbol of hope and healing for those first responders who worked on this tragic scene to help bring closure to the families of those who lost their lives,” said Chander Jayaraman, Co-Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Government agencies involved in the plane crash response, or their affiliated non-profit organizations, were eligible to apply for the funds. The grant applications were evaluated by a committee of DC Fire & EMS Foundation Board and staff members, and then reviewed and approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors. The evaluations were based on the eligibility of the applicant, the quality and completeness of the application, the anticipated impact of the proposed funding, and the nature and size of the responding agency’s response to the Potomac River tragedy. The Foundation announced the following awards: $142,500 to the DC Police Foundation for the building of Wellness Rooms for Metropolitan Police Department personnel, a Member Wellness Academy for police officers and their families, and the purchase of an mobile wellness application for every police officer on the force; $85,000 to the DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for foundational support of mass casualty response operations, enhanced response readiness, and delivery of targeted staff training on trauma-informed family assistance and interagency coordination; $27,554 to the Prince Georges County, MD Fire and EMS Department for a new wireless communication system and equipment for special operations personnel, as well as a train the trainer course on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, an evidence-based therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, for both the county’s fire and police departments; $15,000 to Charles County Dive and Rescue, Inc. to support their purchase of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to assist with dives and rescues; and $172,413 to benefit DC Fire & EMS Department personnel through its affiliated organizations, including: $44,247 to the DC Fire & EMS Foundation in unrestricted funds for Legacy on Ice related program costs; $70,196 to the DC Fire & EMS Foundation for sustaining and expanding trauma support services for DC firefighters and EMS personnel; $25,000 to Food on the Stove to support its Food for Thought initiative $23,000 to the DC Firefighters Burn Foundation to support its Family Services program; and $10,000 to the DCFD Emerald Society Pipes and Drums for supplies and equipment replacements. Amy C. Mauro, Esq., Executive Director of the Foundation, stated that “We are eternally grateful to Ted Leonsis and Monumental Sports & Entertainment for their leadership in this initiative and their understanding of the impact that this work has on these employees and organizations.” ###########

Check out our Virtual Exhibit: The History of the DC Fire and EMS Department in Photos, Videos, and Oral Histories www.dcfireemshistory.org A pa rtnership between and the Friendship Fire Association A partnership between the DC Fire & EMS Foundation and Friendship Fire Association

DC Fire & EMS is one of the most diverse fire and EMS Departments in the nation, with much higher percentages of women and African Americans than most departments. We are proud of our programs that empower women to lead and support the professional development of DC residents. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion DC Fire & EMS is one of the most diverse fire departments in the nation. The uniformed workforce is 48% African American, 33% DC residents (up from 27% in 2015), and 13% women (up from 11% in 2015). In contrast, nationally, 5% of firefighters are women and 8% are African American. Thank you from Camp Spark! In July 2024, the DC Fire & EMS Foundation co-sponsored Camp Spark, a two-day summer camp for girls aged 12 to 17 years old who are interested in becoming firefighters and EMS providers. This camp is part of the DC Fire & EMS Department's 30 by 30 goal -- increasing the Department's percentage of women in uniform to 30% by 2030. One of the Foundation's priorities is supporting the Department's workforce development and diversity. Hear from Camp Spark campers in this short video , followed by a thank you letter to the Foundation from the Department's Women's Advisory Council: Since 2015, DC Fire & EMS has made a concerted effort to hire and promote more women and DC residents, through programs like Empowering Women to Lead, the Women's Advisory Council , the Diversity Advisory Council, improving recruitment funding and staffing , and a new and more accessible entrance exam process . There are now women at every uniformed supervisor rank except assistant fire chief and fire chief. The Department provides diversity training to all employees and has a Racial Equity Action Plan.

Cazo's K-9s Cazo was one of the Department's first K-9s and received a bronze bar and gold & silver medals for his service. The Department has dogs for employee peer support (Avery, Brew, Levi, Luna, Sonny), search and rescue (Kimber, Leni, Margo and Seamus), and fire investigations (Blondie, Bandel). Dozen and Roo are retired. The DC Fire & EMS Foundation supports the unbudgeted needs of these four legged members of the Department. Luna Avery Levi Cazo Brew Kimber Cazo, Roo, Dozen Blondie Sonny Leni Margo Seamus Roo and Bandel