Mathew Sanders

Mathew is the resilience program and policy administrator for the State of Louisiana’s Office of Community Development (OCD). Louisiana received a $92.6M award in conjunction with the HUD-funded National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), including a $40M award to support its resilience policy framework, Louisiana’s Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (LA SAFE), and a $48.3M award to resettle the Isle de Jean Charles community in Terrebonne Parish, LA. Mathew was the state’s intergovernmental lead for its NDRC application and is currently the principal in the development of both awarded projects.

Prior to taking on a resilience-specific role within OCD, Mathew served as the organization’s policy advisor, taking a lead role in program development in conjunction with state’s recovery from 2012’s Hurricane Isaac. Additionally, he has focused on program and policy development within the state’s broader $16 billion portfolio in response to hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike as well as cloudburst flooding events affecting large swaths of Louisiana in March and August 2016.

Mathew holds degrees from Louisiana State University and New York University in mass communication and as a master of urban planning, respectively. Additionally, he is accredited by the American Planning Association’s American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).