Meet the team

Rhiannon Kincaid, PE: Program Architecture and Emergency Management

Rhiannon has over two decades of experience in disaster mitigation, planning, and recovery. She has also worked in engineering design and environmental planning.

Her expertise is rooted in her senior leadership roles at FEMA, where she most recently served as the national program manager responsible for successfully implementing the Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). This role required building a national program from the ground up, demanding strategic direction, coordination with Congressional and external stakeholders, and effective translation of agency goals into actionable, large-scale plans.

Rhiannon is a specialist in program development and implementation, with a proven ability to translate complex legislative requirements into compliant, long-term infrastructure solutions. She excels at developing strategic policy, program guidance, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for new initiatives. Her experience leading highly effective, multidisciplinary teams in politically sensitive environments makes her an invaluable partner for entities seeking resilient and sustainably funded environmental solutions.

Holly Jantz: Environmental Policy and Technology

Holly Jantz is an environmental policy, resilience, and technology modernization specialist with more than twenty years of experience helping governments, utilities, and mission-driven organizations integrate biodiversity, climate adaptation, and nature-based solutions into program design and regulatory practice. She builds practical, scalable frameworks and digital tools that strengthen environmental compliance, improve data quality, and support climate-informed decision-making across infrastructure, land use, and community planning.

As a senior leader in FEMA’s environmental office, Holly advanced national modernization initiatives by redesigning environmental review workflows, shaping federal policy and guidance, and leading development of user-centered technology and geospatial tools. Her work improved transparency, reduced review timelines, and helped agencies assess ecological constraints and identify opportunities for nature-based mitigation on billions in recovery and mitigation funding.

With deep field experience from major disaster recoveries, Holly brings a practitioner’s understanding of biodiversity impacts, regulatory requirements, and interagency coordination. She advises public agencies, private organizations, and international partners on nature-based solutions, environmental governance, and technology integration that improves outcomes at scale.

Rhiannon and Holly are supported by an amazing team, including:

  • Attorneys with 20+ years in environmental law and policy

  • Hazard Mitigation experts with 20+ years strengthening communities before and after disasters

  • Emergency Management professionals with decades of experience helping people before, during, and after disasters

  • Environmental professionals from all over the world with experience developing climate mitigation strategies for international clients

Our core competencies include:

  • Policy & Program Architecture: We create the foundational structure for new programs, from translating high-level national goals into concrete plans and drafting funding opportunity documentation, to developing national coordination strategies for consistent, successful implementation.

  • Climate & Environmental Resilience: Our technical background and direct experience in developing hazard mitigation programs, along with our work on initiatives promoting climate resiliency position us to create programs meet modern environmental standards and protect critical infrastructure.

  • Large-Scale Grant & Fund Administration: We provide strategic direction for major grants and funds, overseeing project closeout and adherence to strict financial and administrative regulations. Our experience includes supervising teams on disaster recovery and infrastructure projects totaling over $5 Billion in value.

  • Inter-Agency and Stakeholder Coordination: We excel at representing our clients in negotiations and working groups with national and sub-national government agencies, tribal partners, contractors, and professional groups. We ensure program goals are shared efficiently and through effective communication.

Partner With a Proven Leader

We understand the pressure of high-stakes, high-visibility climate investment. Our history of leadership, from leading new infrastructure funding programs to managing complex recovery operations across the United States, demonstrates our ability to mobilize quickly and achieve results under challenging circumstances.

Forward and Upward is ready to apply this experience to your needs, ensuring your environmental and infrastructure initiatives are not just strategically sound, but well-executed, financially defensible, and globally impactful.