NWSEO Leadership / Executive Council and Administrative Staff
NWSEO National President
John Werner
Mobile, AL
(202) 420-1043
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NWSEO National President John Werner
United States Air Force
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics – University of Great Falls Master of Science in Atmospheric Science
– Colorado State University
John Werner is a Senior Meteorologist at the Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Mobile, Alabama. He started his NWS career as a General Forecaster at WFO Spokane, Washington in 2003, where he was active in the Fire Weather and Incident Meteorologist programs. Prior to joining the NWS, John served 20+ years as a meteorologist in the United States Air Force, where he served in numerous positions, including Chief of Weather Operations; Flight Commander of a 17-person Weather Flight, and Chief of Aerospace Science and Technical Services, Air Force Special Operations Command. His passion for the science coupled with his drive to provide customers' the best in weather and hydrological support motivates him.
Prior to becoming the NWSEO National President, he served as the NWSEO steward for WFO Mobile, and as the NWSEO Southern Region Vice Chairperson and Chairperson. He has served on the NWSEO National Council for the last nine years. The NWSEO National Council has been the key to protecting our rights, growing our membership to record levels and ensuring that we remain fiscally strong and are capable of weathering unfortunate events, such as government shutdowns. John has served the NWSEO on numerous local, regional and national teams including initially serving as Co-Chair of the Pilot Project Program, Operational Workload Analysis (OWA) Impact Based Decision Support workstream, NWSEO Finance Committee, and as a key member of the NWSEO Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiations Team.
John currently resides in Gulf Breeze, Florida with his bride Connie. They love the outdoors and traveling around the world and meeting people with different backgrounds and making new friends. They are both involved in animal rescue and John assists Connie with community foster care events for children. John is a member of the American Meteorological Society, National Weather Association, American Legion and the Pensacola Beach Elks Lodge. He also enjoys fishing, outdoor photography, golfing, camping, hiking, football and, of course, hanging out at the beach.
NWSEO Executive Vice President
JoAnn P. Becker
Kansas City, Missouri
(202) 420-1045
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NWSEO Executive Vice President JoAnn Becker
Bachelor of Science in Atmospheric Sciences – University of California, Davis
Master of Business Administration – Baker College
Prior to becoming NWSEO Excecutive Vice President, JoAnn Becker was the first official Regional Chairperson for the new the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Region, created in 2012. She is a Senior Aviation Meteorologist at the NCEP Aviation Weather Center in Kansas City, Missouri. JoAnn began her career at the National Weather Service in 1995 in the Weather Forecast Office in Guam where she became a Lead Forecaster in 1998.
While at the NWS Guam Forecast Office, JoAnn served as local union steward. In late nineties, Ms. Becker was the Pacific Region NWSEO Chairperson until her transfer to the Aviation Weather Center in 2001. JoAnn also served as branch steward and vice steward at the Aviation Weather Center.
JoAnn has been a member of NWSEO for many years. She has chaired both the Credentials and Constitution Committees. She has served as NWSEO representative on various teams. JoAnn has also received local and regional Cline Awards in addition to Special Act Awards. In 2016, she received the NWSEO Kip Robinson Award.
Chris Jacobson
Secretary/Treasurer
Southern Region Chair
Key West, FL
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Secretary Treasurer/
Southern Region Chair
Chris Jacobson
Chris Jacobson currently serves as a lead forecaster at WFO Key West, Florida. Chris began his career as a meteorologist/programmer in July 1995 at the Olympic Weather Support Office in Peachtree City (1995-96). This was followed by service as an intern and general forecaster at NWSO Corpus Christi (1996-99); general forecaster and information technology officer at WFO Oxnard (1999- 2005); lead forecaster at WFO Upton (2005-07), WFO Key West (2007-13), WFO Honolulu (2013-2018), and WFO Key West (2018-present). Chris joined NWSEO in 1999.
Chris’s past union leadership experience includes serving as Vice Steward at WFO Oxnard (2001-2005), Steward at WFO Key West (2009-2013, 2018-present), and Pacific Region Chair (2014-2018). In these roles, he gained extensive experience in the Local Office Team (LOT) and Regional Labor Council (RLC) processes. Chris has been the primary NWSEO representative on the NWS Mission Delivery Council since 2015 and has served as a member of the NWSEO CBA Team since March 2017. He has participated in numerous negotiations dealing with various aspects of operations, including workload redistribution, tropical cyclone contingency planning, marine program improvements, and shift schedules.
Chris has also served as the Chair of the Credential Committee this past year and as the Chair of the Constitution Committee since 2015. Chris is one of a few who have received the NWSEO Kip Robinson Award. This award is given out annually to recognize an individual who provides outstanding support to NWSEO and its members. Chris received the award in 2014.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from Florida State University and currently lives on Sugarloaf Key, Florida. Chris enjoys traveling (47 states, Guam and American Samoa, so far), hiking, fishing, bowling, golf, and his cats.
Richard J. Hirn
Attorney at Law
5335 Wisconsin Ave NW,
Suite 440
Washington DC 20015
General Counsel and Legislative Director
Richard J. Hirn
Bachelor of Arts - Political Science - Haverford College
JD - Washington College of Law, American University
Richard Hirn is a Washington, DC attorney who represents both public and private sector labor organizations. He has earned a national reputation for innovative and progressive approaches to labor, constitutional law, civil service and employment discrimination litigation, and has been responsible for significantly expanding the collective bargaining rights of Federal employees and their unions.
Hirn has served as NWSEO General Counsel since 1981, and as its Legislative Director and lobbyist since 2005.
Please visit www.hirnlaw.com to learn more about Richard Hirn.
Director of Membership
and Media Engagement
Christy Fox
(202) 907-3036
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Director of Membership Services Christy Fox
Bachelor of Science - Communications - East Carolina University
Christy Fox is the NWSEO Director of Membership Services. New members should send their 1187 forms for payroll deduction to Christy at Membership@nwseo.org or fax them to 202-600-2145.
Christy brings 20 years’ experience in business and marketing to NWSEO. She earned several regional awards in Public Relations and a variety of retail tax operations achievements while working for H & R Block in Orlando, Florida.
Christy transitioned to assisting the Vice President, Editor-in-Chief of Mathematics for Harcourt School Publishers, focusing on personnel organization and human resource management. Christy is happiest when helping others. While at Harcourt, Christy led the office to raise more than $12,000 to end child hunger through the Share Our Strength Organization. She represented Harcourt at the Share Our Strength Leadership Conference in New York. She is excited to work for the members of NWSEO.
Chief Financial Officer
Emily Roy
(202) 770-7983
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Emily Roy
B.S.B.A. - Accounting/Professional Accountancy - University of West Florida
M.ACC - Masters of Accountancy - University of West Florida
Emily Roy is the NWSEO Bookkeeper and PAC Treasurer. Emily has significant experience working in a variety of accounting fields including internal auditing, corporate accounting, and public accounting. She has a passion for numbers, organization, helping others, and is proud to be a part of the NWSEO organization.