Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security Announces New Executive Director

President Preckwinkle appoints Alexander Joves to lead department

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has appointed Alexander Joves to lead the County’s Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security (EMRS). Joves begins his tenure today as executive director of EMRS.  

Joves brings to his new role with the department three decades of experience in the public and private sectors, including service in the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and White House.  

“I am pleased to have Alex at the helm of this critical department and look forward to working with him on behalf of our residents,” said President Preckwinkle. “His decades of experience and dedication to public service are vital to ensuring that our communities are able to effectively prepare for, respond to and recover from both human-caused and natural threats.”   

Joves most recently served as regional director for DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Region 5, where he led the effort to understand, manage and reduce risk to cyber and physical infrastructure in Illinois and five other Midwestern states. He focused on regional efforts to provide risk assessments, cross-sector analysis, information sharing and capacity building. This included mitigating the most significant cyber risks to the country’s National Critical Functions; assisting statewide emergency communications planning; providing incident response support; and coordinating critical infrastructure efforts for special events such as the Indianapolis 500, Chicago Marathon and national special security events.  

He also served as Director of the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center where he led a 24/7/365 national critical infrastructure operations center that provides incident and emergency management coordination, situational awareness and information sharing. Joves coordinated White House briefings, DHS national level reporting and FEMA senior leadership briefs, including critical infrastructure identification and prioritization as well as vulnerability assessments. 

His first role at DHS was in the Office of Operations Coordination and Planning as section chief and then deputy chief of staff. While at DHS he received the DHS Secretary’s Meritorious Service Silver Medal. 

Joves began his career in the U.S. Coast Guard as an active duty commissioned officer. During his military service, his roles included seagoing, search and rescue, maritime law enforcement assignments in both Atlantic and Pacific operating areas, special assistant to the senior military advisor to the DHS secretary and team leader for the White House Situation Room National Security Council.   

He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Government. He received a Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School and practiced law in the private sector. 

Joves resides in suburban Chicago with his wife and three children.