Jill Ramaker is the Executive Director of the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy (NIPSTA) located in Glenview, IL. While NIPSTA has traditionally provided year-round training for fire service, law enforcement, hazardous materials, public works, and other types of municipal response agencies, programming has expanded under Jill’s leadership to include a wide range of training for disaster medical personnel as well as progressive education on crisis governance, private sector emergency management, and community resilience. Jill began her career as a fire service paramedic and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) lieutenant while working as an emergency department nurse and EMS educator. Prior to her role at NIPSTA, she led the emergency preparedness team for a large healthcare organization and served as the inaugural Chairman of the Regional Disaster Healthcare Coalition in northeastern Illinois.
Jill earned an MA in environmental studies with an emphasis on sustainable development and policy from the University of Illinois, an MS in threat and response management from the University of Chicago, and an MA in legal studies from the University of Illinois. She also completed the United States Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Executive Leadership Program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Jill holds multiple advanced certifications in business continuity and organizational resilience, including Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP).