About Us
The BuildStrong Coalition is a group of firefighters, emergency responders, insurers, engineers, architects, contractors and manufacturers, as well as consumer organizations, code specialists, and many others committed to building a more resilient America.
Established in 2011, BuildStrong is the preeminent organization driving the national policy discussion on how to increase investments in mitigation to draw down disaster costs and losses. The Coalition has expanded its efforts to support its state and local partners and stakeholders through education, technical assistance, and connecting resources to build capacity and capability.
The strength and success of BuildStrong is based entirely on its members. Led by our Executive Committee and supported by Governmental Advisory Committee and broad membership base, the BuildStrong Coalition is committed to advancing the priorities of our stakeholders and partners on behalf of a stronger America.
BuildStrong Coalition Leadership
Jimi Grande
Chairman
One of the original founders of the BuildStrong Coalition, Jimi Grande serves as the organization’s Chairman.
As the Senior Vice President of Federal Affairs at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), Grande has been one of the preeminent voices and thought leaders in Washington around the issue of advancing policies that better protect the nation’s homes and communities from devastating natural disasters. Following the widespread destruction brought on by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Grande had the initial idea to launch what was then the Building Code Coalition, which eventually became the BuildStrong Coalition in 2011.
In addition to being a leading advocate in the fight against climate risk, Grande is active with the board of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety and has spent more than 25 years working for and with top policymakers in Washington. He began his career as special assistant to former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. Grande came to NAMIC after serving as a political appointee in the Bush Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, where he was a top liaison to Capitol Hill.
Phil Anderson
President
Helping to lead the BuildStrong Coalition since its inception in 2011, Phil Anderson serves as the organization’s President.
Anderson has over 20 years of experience advising corporations, industries and elected officials on public policy issues and has implemented successful public policy campaigns for numerous clients and coalitions. Anderson previously formed the Financial Services Coordinating Council (FSCC), served as its executive director, and led it to important financial services legislative victories. During his time with BuildStrong, he has positioned the group as the “go-to” organization for mitigation and building code policy at the federal level.
An experience Capitol Hill veteran, Anderson held a series of policy and political positions in Washington with the National Republican Party and with the George H.W. Bush Administration, including serving as Special Assistant to Vice President Dan Quayle and Deputy Assistant to Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater.
Natalie Enclade, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Natalie Enclade joined the BuildStrong Coalition as its Executive Director in 2021. Prior to joining BuildStrong, Enclade served as the lead for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Financial Well-Being Program.
In 2018, she was appointed as Director of Individual and Community Preparedness for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As Director, she oversaw programs that partner at all levels of government, the private sector, and community organizations to increase citizen and community preparedness and encourage the development of disaster resilience across the Nation.
Enclade has an established career in the field of public administration as a Chief Policy Advisor and Senior Program Analyst for the Federal government and a Policy Analyst for the State of Mississippi. In 2014 and 2017, she was selected as a DHS Office of Inspector General Fellow to serve as the subject matter expert in homeland security, cybersecurity, and emergency management for the United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In this role, she was responsible for advising Committee and Senate leadership on Emergency Management, FEMA, Stafford Act, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure policy and related matters, which included major pieces of legislation, such as the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA), DHS Reauthorization Act, fire grants reauthorization, as well as various programmatic mandates.
R. David Paulison
Senior Advisor
R. David Paulison serves as a Senior Advisor to the BuildStrong Coalition.
Paulison served as the Administrator of FEMA from 2005 to 2009. A lifetime emergency management and emergency service professional and leader, Paulison also served as Administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration from 2001 to 2005, Director of Preparedness at FEMA from 2003 to 2004, and Fire Chief of the Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue Department from 1992 to 2001. He spent the 21 years prior to that rising through the ranks of the Miami-Dade Fire Department, beginning his career as a rescue firefighter in 1971. Paulison experienced firsthand and helped manage the response to some of the most devastating disasters in U.S. history, including major hurricanes Andrew in 1992 and the aftermath of Katrina in 2005.
A native of Miami, Florida, Paulison earned a bachelor of arts from Florida Atlantic University and completed the program for senior executives in state and local government at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
