IAEM Canada Atlantic Region

Atlantic Region Interim President

Richard Walker, CD, ABCP

Bio

Richard Walker is an emergency management and business continuity professional with operational, coordination, and consulting experience across military, provincial, and private-sector environments. He leads Black Knight Solutions, a veteran-owned consultancy that delivers practical, standards-aligned training, exercise design, and planning support to public- and private-sector clients, strengthening organizational and community preparedness.

Richard’s career began as a Canadian Armed Forces Artillery O icer, where he led teams under pressure, refined joint targeting and deconfliction processes, and served as Deputy Chief of Fires and Fire Support Battle Major during a 2017 Middle East deployment. He also served as a volunteer firefighter in Oromocto, New Brunswick, and Victoria (Langford), British Columbia, providing frontline response, mentoring, and equipment readiness oversight.

From 2021 to 2024 Richard served with the New Brunswick Emergency Management Organization (NBEMO) as an Operations O icer on the duty desk and as a Special Projects O icer. In those roles, he developed and implemented training and exercise programs, coordinated cross-agency preparedness activities, and prepared situational awareness products that enhanced provincial readiness.

As Managing Director of Black Knight Solutions, Richard shapes company strategy, ensures quality delivery, and embeds a values-based approach focused on respect, innovation, and community resilience. His work spans emergency operations centre (EOC) program design, hazard risk and vulnerability assessment, plan development aligned with CSA Z1600 standards, and functional exercise facilitation that turns plans into action.

Richard holds a B.Sc. in Psychology (University of Victoria), an Associate Certificate in Emergency Management (Justice Institute of British Columbia, 2024), and maintains ICS 100/200/300 certifications. He is an Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP) and is actively pursuing the IAEM Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) credential. Across roles, Richard applies operational discipline, adult learning design, and stakeholder engagement to build readiness capabilities that endure under stress. His professional principles are service, continuous improvement, and turning lessons learned into sustainable preparedness.