Welcome Patty Ciesla, Executive Director of DFSC

Patty Ciesla, Executive Director of DFSC

Diablo Firesafe Council is excited to announce the hiring of Patty Ciesla as our Executive Director as of June 20th, 2026. She replaces Joelle Fraser who served as Interim Executive Director for the last 6 months.

Patty brings extensive leadership experience in heading wildfire mitigation efforts in California. She served as the Executive Director of the California Fire Safe Council, as the Executive Director of the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council, and as the Wildfire Resilience Program Manager at the County of Santa Cruz. 

In her previous roles, Patty helped develop capacity and secure new funding sources for wildfire risk reduction programs and projects. She finds the strategic work of bringing together resources and talent to reduce wildfire risk to be an energizing and important mission.

Patty is experienced in advising residents, landowners and communities on evacuation preparedness, community risk reduction plans, defensible space, home hardening, and hazardous fuel reduction. She is also an experienced project manager, having led several large fuel break projects along roads, highways, open spaces, and community perimeters.

If you have questions or want to connect, contact Patty at patty@diablofiresafe.org