Katie Simmons

Fellowship Project: Building a disaster recovery model that measures community indicators such as housing and employment to track progress. Staff will use this model to understand recovery after a disaster, and to help shape their recommendations for the development, delivery, and adaptation of recovery programs and policies over time. 

About Katie: Katie Simmons is a Deputy Administrative Officer over Economic and Community Development for Butte County in Northern California. In her role, she oversees nearly $180M in federal and state grants for disaster recovery from a series of catastrophic wildfires, and works closely with local, state, and federal agencies and elected officials on response, recovery, and mitigation. Katie develops and implements the County’s Regional Economic Development Strategy aimed at increasing economic resilience; is currently overseeing development of the countywide Local Hazard Mitigation Plan with all jurisdictions; and is a key partner in implementing the Upper Ridge Community Plan – the County’s recovery plan from the Camp Fire.

As a Deputy, Katie functions on behalf of the CAO and Assistant CAO on various issues of importance to the Butte County Board of Supervisors. She works closely with her team to develop grant-funded projects and programs that address critical community needs prioritized by the Board, such as evacuation planning, hazardous fuel management, food bank supplies and services, and housing rehabilitation and reconstruction loans.