Waheeda Yousofzoy received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California Irvine (UCI). After graduating, she worked with at-risk youth as a Unit Director for Boys and Girls Club. She started her career with Fluor Corporation in Health, Safety and Environment (HSE). Her passion for Emergency Management began when she began Fluor’s initial Disaster Preparedness Program for the Southern California Region (5 offices). With her passion in serving people in mind, she received her Master’s Degree in Emergency and Disaster Management from Georgetown University in 2018.
Her background consists of Community Relations and HSE for Fluor Corp., Project Management in the Oil and Gas Industry for Chevron and Phillips 66, and Emergency Management. Her most recent role served as Emergency Management Coordinator for University of Texas at Austin (UT). In that role, she collaborated with local and regional partners, serving in planning roles in emergency operations center during activations, and stood as UT’s lead in a joint full-scale exercise with local, state and federal partners in May 2022. She hopes to continue her journey in emergency management by conveying her knowledge and planning experience to the City of Lakeway, Bee Cave and The Hills.
Her awards include, Excellence in Disaster Preparedness Program in Southern California by American Red Cross. Exceptional Performance Award for Chevron Coke Drum Reliability project. Born in Afghanistan and bilingual in Farsi, she is an active committee member of the Afghan Refugee Task Force (ARTF) in assisting the resettlement of Afghan Nationals in the Los Angeles/Orange County area. In addition, she is the Committee Liaison for the International Association of Emergency Managers Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.