Chief Mitigation Officer
Janiele Maffei was hired as CEA’s first Chief Mitigation Officer in May 2011 and became Director of Research in 2015. Currently her responsibilities include serving as the Executive Director for the California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP), and overseeing implementation of the program's retrofit incentive grants: Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB), Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS), and Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR); various research projects that will benefit the strategic insurance, mitigation, and education goals of CEA; and other mitigation efforts that will benefit both policyholders and California homeowners.
Janiele attended University of California, Berkeley, earning an AB in Architecture and an MS in engineering. Following that, she obtained her civil and structural engineering licenses. In 2017, Janiele was inducted into the Distinguished Alumni Association of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at UC Berkeley.
Prior to joining CEA, she served as the President of the Northern California Chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). She then joined the National board of EERI as Secretary Treasurer for six years, ending in 2017. In 2018 she became Vice President of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California and assumed the role of President in 2019. Additionally, Janiele regularly participates in the EERI Visiting Professionals Program, speaking at California colleges and universities, encouraging students to consider careers in earthquake engineering.
Janiele enjoys theater, travel, family, and music. Her international travel has exposed her to the rich diversity of our planet, and she considers herself fortunate to have had the privilege of visiting over 45 countries.