Executive Director of the North American Fire Training Directors
Bio
Ken Willette, a 35-year veteran of the fire service, serves as Executive Director of the North American Fire Training Directors, providing support to the member organizations that train more than 1.1 million volunteer and career emergency responders in the United States and Canada. In his duties, he routinely works with state, provincial, and federal government leaders, as well as private sector representatives.
Willette spent more than three decades in emergency services, working as a Department of Defense aircraft rescue firefighter, volunteer firefighter, municipal firefighter, and shift commander before rising to the rank of fire chief in two Massachusetts towns. He then spent eight years leading teams that supported first responder standards development and fire service solutions at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). He is a project lead on two AFG-funded projects examining immersive learning in the fire service and has presented on this topic at several conferences.
He is also a former president of the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts and a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officers Program with a BS in Fire Protection from SUNY Stony Brook.