Our Team

Mr. Gaston Boisson is Managing Director at BDA Global and the former Director of International Chapter Services at the Association of Continuity Planners (ACP).  Mr. Boisson also served two terms as President of ACP’s DC and Mid Atlantic Chapter, then the largest group of the Association.  He is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of BCP News, a web news portal that focuses on the continuity planning industry. At BDA Global, Mr. Boisson is a prominent figure in the Emergency Preparedness and Continuity Planning fields and has served a number of high-profile governmental clients including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Weather Service, and the US Department of Defense. He is also a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) with the Disaster Recovery Institute International, a certified Member of the Business Continuity Institute (MBCI), and a graduate of the George Washington University.

Ms. Linda Kleckner is a BDA Global Director and customer service expert, specializing in assisting clients in optimizing the customer journey.  Her experience includes optimizing service delivery, call center operations, performance planning and measurement. Ms. Kleckner is an attorney by training with two law degrees, including a Master’s Degree in Contracts Law.  She has worked as a senior executive at two fortune 500 companies and was also a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) in the US Federal Government. Ms. Kleckner serves as a critical business partner, strategist, change agent, and facilitator in working with clients to improve customer service outcomes and toward strengthening organizational effectiveness. She engages a highly collaborative approach in working with high-ranking executives to identify root causes of pervasive issues and analyze organization structures, processes, and communications. Ms.  Kleckner devises strategic and tactical plans that produce desired outcomes and exceptional service delivery.

Mr. Philip Ellis is a Director at BDA Global and C-suite advisor with over 25 years of experience assisting companies and government agencies with complex challenges. He has substantial experience in assisting clients with process mapping, review, optimization, and business resilience strategy consulting.  He has led diverse teams of consultants in a variety of business and governmental settings. Mr. Ellis has advised CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other members of the executive suite of Fortune 500 companies extensively as well as senior managers at government agencies. His range of experience includes managing projects focused on organizational effectiveness, assessment and re-alignment strategies, resource allocation, utilization strategies, change management, team optimization, emergency preparedness / continuity of operations.  Mr. Ellis has a Master’s degree in mathematics from the University of California Los Angeles, is an excellent writer, has coached senior executives, and is a sought-after speaker.

Ms. Costanza Galastri is a Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP), emergency preparedness, and incident response planning professional with more than 12 years of experience in supporting organizational resilience initiatives. She recently supported COOP Planning at the General Services Administration and has served as the primary COOP and Emergency Management Subject Matter Expert for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families since 2017. She also served as the Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) Preparedness Team Lead for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) BioWatch Program, coordinating preparedness activities in over 30 BioWatch jurisdictions. Ms. Galastri has authored over 100 FEMA Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS.gov) documents and after-action reports on exercises and real-world incidents. She holds a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies and International Economics from John Hopkins University, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, from the Università Degli Studi Di Firenze, in Florence, Italy.

Mr. JD Sicilia has 30 plus years’ experience as Project Manager and Senior Advisor.  He is a Certified Project/Performance Management and a Certified Change Management Practitioner.  Mr. Sicilia is also a Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Trainer and has developed numerous courses and trained hundreds of Six Sigma students.  He is a retired US Army Ranger officer with extensive leadership experience in Military Intelligence, Infantry, Armor, Special Forces, and Special Mission Units. JD is also a published author, facilitator, chef, youth group leader and humanitarian mission leader.  His experience includes consulting with dozens of organizations to improve performance, including targeted process reviews, lean six sigma analysis, and full-scale process restructuring.  Mr. Sicilia holds a Master of Education from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Washington State University.

Mr. Douglas Kinney is an experienced crisis manager, planner, and emergency response expert. His field and headquarters crisis action/response experience covers most of the threat spectrum. His planning and exercise experience includes All Hazards plans as well as focused Continuity/Resilience preparations. As a FEMA Master Continuity Practitioner, Mr. Kinney has worked with numerous clients to develop and exercise plans to ensure preparedness.  His Incident Command System and National Incident Management System training includes ICS-400, Level-3 Incident Management Team, ICS All-Hazards Liaison Officer, ICS All-Hazards Safety Officer, and ICS All-Hazards Incident Commander. He has served as a reserve officer in emergency preparedness for a Federal agency on Personnel Recovery (hostage taking and kidnapping) as well as on all-hazards Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) covering the whole threat spectrum from disasters through terrorism.

Mr. Gary Lipsky is a business analysis and operational resilience consultant with BDA Global.  He has extensive experience at leading multi-functional teams, managing large scale projects, and international engagements.  Mr. Lipsky’s broad based experience was gained through working on complex projects under tight deadlines in the public and private sector.  He is experienced at reviewing and analyzing functional areas, developing operating plans, analyzing best practices and optimizing business processes, and implementing process improvements.  Mr. Lipsky’s functional experience includes process mapping, review, and evaluation for finance, operations, and information technology.  He is also a Continuity of Operations (COOP) planning and Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) subject matter expert, with intimate knowledge of Federal Continuity Directives 1 and 2.

Mr. Paul Flippin is a fire safety expert. He had a distinguished 22-year career as a firefighter, lieutenant, captain, and chief fire officer, and assistant fire Chief of Operations. He has served as a certified Code Enforcement Officer and is an expert at interpreting and enforcing building and fire prevention standards and codes. Mr. Flippin’s experience includes reviewing construction plans and formulating egress plans for new construction. He also developed and procured funds for a door-to-door fire safety outreach program to the community that included a free smoke detector give-a-way and educational materials.  Mr. Flippin has managed dozens of fire studies, including over 50 detailed assessments across numerous jurisdictions nationwide. He holds has a Master’s degree in Fire Protection Management from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and is also a retired fire investigator and certified code enforcement officer.

Mr. William Kmetz is an accomplished senior executive with more than 30 years of experience in the fields of emergency preparedness, business continuity development and training, management, investigations, personnel and physical security. He led the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) emergency preparedness efforts for over a decade, as Director of Security, including Security, Emergency Response, and COOP. Mr. Kmetz subsequently managed a project at the Millennium Challenge Corporation to update its COOP plans to ensure compliance with new US Federal guidance including Federal Directives 1 and 2  and to develop Occupant Emergency Plans for 18 overseas locations. He has also provided subject matter expertise on two emergency management projects for the District of Columbia, including a performance audit of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.

Mr. Craig Bell is an IT Security and Disaster Recovery Planning subject matter expert with experience advising clients on a range of issues including IT systems compliance, risk, vulnerability analysis and other assessments, business process optimization, change management, internal controls, and implementing security design projects.  Mr. Bell has 15 years’ experience in the field of IT Risk Consulting and Auditing including IS Strategy, Risk Assessment and Management, Security Audits, design of Security Policies and Procedures, formulation of Business Continuity Plans (BCP) and Disaster Recovery plans (DRP).  He has worked on multi-platform, multi-software application systems and currently supports Sarbanes-Oxley and IT Audit activities.  He has an excellent understating of IT internal control, IS Risk Assessment, and has12 years of System Security Implementation and support experience.

Mr. Paul Kirvan brings over 35 years of private sector experience in Emergency Management Planning, Disaster Recovery Planning, and Information Technology Security to BDA Global.  He recently supported BDA Global engagements at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, General Services Administration, US Department of Transportation, and the National Transportation Safety Board.  He also served as a Subject Matter Expert on BDA Global’s engagement supporting  the Department Health and Human Services’s Administration for Children and Families. Mr. Kirvan’s continuity and disaster recovery services clients have included a broad range of public and private sector clients.    He received his BA in Communications from Penn State University, is a Certified Information Systems Auditor, and a Fellow at the Business Continuity Institute.

Mr. Brandt is BDA Global’s Country Director in Haiti and leads our efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mr. Brandt is a native of Haiti and has extensive knowledge of the region, Mr. Brandt in collaboration with BDA Global, offers technical and operational risk management, emergency preparedness, disaster management, continuity of government, and business continuity planning services. He served as a Business Continuity Planning Subject Matter Expert at UNIBANK, Haiti’s largest bank as well as for the Alternative Insurance Company, one of Haiti’s fastest growing insurers.  Mr. Brandt is the former Vice President of the Haitian Red Cross and former Risk Management Manager at Brasserie Nationale d’Haiti S.A, a beer and soft drink manufacturer and one of Haiti’s largest companies. Mr. Brandt holds a Bachelor of Arts from University of Montreal and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from McGill University.