About Joshua

Josh Filler grew up in Portland and now resides with his family in Falmouth. Upon graduating from Bridgton Academy in the late 1980s Josh ventured to Boston, New York and later the nation’s capital for school and work, before returning to Maine.  

Joshua Filler

Joshua Filler

Upon graduating from law school in New York, Josh joined the office of Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a legislative attorney focused on public safety issues. He was later appointed by the Mayor to join the cabinet as Director of Legislative Affairs for the Mayor and Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Operations. His work included oversight responsibilities with the New York Police Department, Fire Department and Office of Emergency Management, and numerous other city agencies. After September 11, 2001, Josh was responsible for emergency operational issues and managing contacts with local, state and federal officials on behalf of New York City in connection with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

After the attacks of 9/11, Josh was appointed Director of Local Affairs for the new White House Office of Homeland Security (OHS) in Washington, DC. As Director of Local Affairs, he was responsible for coordinating with local governments around the country on homeland security matters, including the National Strategy for Homeland Security, federal legislative and budget issues, and serving as a member of the OHS Incident Response Group, which managed domestic incidents for the President and senior White House staff.

After the White House, Josh then served as the first ever Director of the Office of State & Local Government Coordination for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington, DC. Josh was a founding member of DHS, senior advisor to two Secretaries of Homeland Security, a member of the Department’s senior management team, and a member of the Secretary’s Emergency Response Group for incident management.

At DHS Josh was the lead author of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 on national preparedness, led the creation of the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program, Urban Areas Security Initiative, the Transit Security Grant Program, and supported development of the National Incident Management System, the National Response Framework and the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. He also represented DHS before Congress, the news media and was a regular public speaker at national and international conferences on homeland security.

Josh serves or has served on numerous boards, including the Board of Advisors for the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, the National Sheriffs’ Association Homeland Security Certification Board, and the association’s Homeland Security Committee, the Project on National Security Reform, the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security, and the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.

Josh graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in political science. He received his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law where he was President of the Moot Court Honor Society.