About the Principal

Darrin R. Punchard, FAICP, CFM

Darrin Punchard is an urban planning and resilience strategy consultant who has spent his entire career working to prevent natural hazards from becoming disasters. He has over 25 years of experience in hazard mitigation planning with specialized expertise in risk assessment, risk communication, and actionable strategies for risk reduction. Darrin prepared some of the nation’s first federally approved hazard mitigation plans following passage of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and to date has assisted more than 700 communities in similar efforts, with emphasis on integrated and participatory planning processes.

Darrin’s public service career includes serving as the state hazard mitigation officer for North Carolina, and as a local and state hazard mitigation planner in Florida. He entered the private sector in 2001 and went on to help three architecture/engineering firms launch their hazard mitigation planning practices. In 2016, he founded his consultancy with clients that include federal agencies, state governments, regional councils, counties, municipalities, tribal nations, private companies, and non-profit organizations. Today he remains a trusted advisor and subject matter expert for clients at all levels of government and industry across the US and abroad.

For a full narrative biography, please click here.

Punchard Inducted into AICP College of Fellows

In 2022, Darrin Punchard achieved the planning profession’s highest honor by being named to the prestigious American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) College of Fellows for his exceptional achievements in urban planning.

Fellows of AICP are nominated and selected by their peers to recognize and honor their outstanding contributions as a professional planner. The outcomes of their individual efforts left demonstrably significant and transformational improvements to the field of planning and the communities they served. All Fellows are long-time members of AICP and have achieved excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, public and community service, and leadership.

Fellowships are granted to planners on a biennial basis, and Darrin was one of 53 inductees for the Class of 2022. He became the first nominee from the American Planning Association’s Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Division to be inducted into the College of Fellows.

Certification

  • American Institute of Certified Planners
  • Certified Floodplain Manager
  • FEMA Hazus Trained Professional
  • Certified Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Provider – MA

Affiliations

  • American Planning Association
  • Association of State Floodplain Managers
  • Consulting Planners of Massachusetts
  • Massachusetts Association for Floodplain Management
  • Massachusetts Ecosystem Climate Adaptation Network
  • Natural Hazard Mitigation Association

Volunteer/Public Service

  • Board of Directors, Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
  • Co-Founder, Hazard Mitigation & Disaster Recovery Planning Division, American Planning Association
  • Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT), American Planning Association
  • National Advisory Board, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Coastal Resilience Center, Beyond the Basics: Best Practices in Local Mitigation Planning
  • Advisory Board Member, Texas A&M University, Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard
  • Steering Committee Member, Planning for Hazards: Land Use Solutions for Colorado
  • Workshop Planning Committee, Natural Hazards Center
  • Course Instructor, American Planning Association, PTS Workshop: Creating Climate-Adaptive and Hazard-Resilient Communities
  • Guest Lecturer, Harvard University, Yale University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Us

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