Selective members of our H20 team:
  •  Jo Ann Howard, President
  •  Cathy L. Meek, Associate
  •  Erin Capps, Associate
  •  Jane Bachick, Associate
  •  Public Assistance Specialists
  •  Pinkie Henderson, Associate

Jo Ann Howard, J.D.

Jo Ann Howard, J.D, President of H2O, is an attorney and former Administrator of the National Flood Insurance Program at FEMA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. She was responsible for the insurance and mitigation aspects of the federal government's requirements for participation in the program. Ms. Howard also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of Directors of the Association of State Floodplain Managers Foundation and is a former member of the State Board of Insurance (now, Texas Department of Insurance). She has worked as Chief Insurance Regulator for the State of Texas, Federal Insurance Administrator (National Flood Insurance Program) and consultant to many cities and counties across the state and Southwest for projects that include city and county planning. These services include a wide range of work with citizens in communities of all sizes in Texas and the Gulf Coast. As an Advisory Board member of the ASFPM, she is deeply involved in mitigation strategies across the United States and makes presentations regularly at seminars and meetings dealing with improving mitigation through a variety of means.

Cathy L. Meek, C.F.M., L.R.A

Cathy Meek, B.S., CFM, LRA, former Floodplain Administrator for the City of Austin has over 25 years of experience with flood insurance and floodplain management. She has conducted training on flood insurance and floodplain management throughout Texas on behalf of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Ms. Meek has conducted over 75 Community Assistance Visits (CAVs) in Texas from 2005-2007. These CAVs provide an opportunity to assess community floodplain management programs. In so doing, she works directly with communities to help them improve their floodplain management regulations and permitting and inspection processes and reports on the results of the assessments to the State National Flood Insurance Coordinator and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In this work, Ms. Meek "coaches" local officials on mitigation Best Management Practices and points out mitigation opportunities.

Erin Capps, B.S.

Erin Capps, J.D., a recent graduate of Baylor Law School, has performed tort and administrative law research on federal acts dealing with flood insurance, the Stafford Act and other guidance regarding federal assistance to disaster victims. She has also created and conducted presentations to assist communities in their mitigation and recovery efforts. Ms. Capps has assisted with hazard mitigation plans for over 180 jurisdictions and has authored plans for the Heart of Texas Council of Governments and the West Central Texas Region. She has attended and participated in Regional Water Planning Groups in Texas, provided support to the TCEQ Source Water Assessment and Protection Program and developed presentations for national groups regarding Gulf Coast hurricanes and recovery. Ms. Capps is a dedicated professional with experience in legal research and writing, community outreach and graphic design.

Jane Bachick

Jane Bachick, B.S., is preparing for the CFM designation and has worked on Community Assistance Visit reports with H2O. Ms. Bachick has field experience in making CAV and floodplain site visits and is well versed with CAV reports and floodplain regulations. She is adept at communicating with local officials, mitigation planning and NFIP regulations. Her background with databases and various software programs assists H2O in keeping current with CAV visits and in timely and organized reporting to TCEQ and FEMA. Ms. Bachick is working with Ms. Howard in developing a web-based public assistance "toolkit" for helping communities prepare for disaster and track costs associated with disaster management. She is instrumental in preparing documents and providing support in all aspects of H2O work, including SWAP, TCEQ/FEMA Community Assistance Visits, Hazard Mitigation Plans, Public Assistance and Outreach. Ms. Bachick assembles portfolios of outreach materials to enhance the current programs, including internet-based outreach and printed materials to supplement SWAP outreach; develops presentations to showcase SWAP materials to educators; facilitates project design, layout and support services; participates in company projects and initiatives in a wide variety of areas; and is contract liaison regarding client/contractor billing and invoicing.

Public Assistance Specialists

Christina Harris, Nan Krankel, and Pamela Hawkins are Public Assistance Specialists with hands-on experience in financial review and outreach following declared disasters.  These three have excellent backgrounds and experience in Public Assistance and mitigation. For the State of Mississippi, they have managed both small and large Project Worksheet financial analysis and documentation. This group of outstanding Public Assistance workers has worked with Electric Power Associations, cities, counties, state agencies, PNPs and other PA Applicants since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast. They have skills developed from working directly with PA Applicants and in grants management. They have PW tracking and close out experience and meet with key applicants regularly. Resulting from their experience, H2O has been able to develop some simplified tools to assist PA Grant Applicants in providing the necessary documentation for Project Worksheets.

Pinkie Henderson

Ms. Henderson, has worked with Jo Ann Howard and H2O Partners since 1993 in various capacities.  She has supervised state-wide outreach with local officials, assisted with Hazard Mitigation Grants by developing comprehensive all-hazard mitigation grant plans that meet state and federal requirements and served as Customer Service Manager.

Ms. Henderson, a paralegal, has extensive insurance experience and has applied her expertise to FEMA Special Considerations for Public Assistance funding.  She has bookkeeping experience and is facile in accounting tasks.  She has worked for state agencies on insurance programs such as workers' compensation, insurance regulatory issues and insolvencies prior to working with H2O Partners.  She has been the customer service manager for H2O and is dependable and courteous in settings involving emergencies and stressful situations dealing with the general public and local governments.