Wendy is the founder and CEO of the Texas Line of Duty Death (LODD) Task Force, a leader in providing support to first responder agencies and families following line-of-duty deaths. She is a certified grief educator, master-certified chaplain with the Federation of Fire Chaplains, and an instructor for the Crisis Training Center. Wendy also contributed to curriculum development for Texas A&M University-TEEX's first responder peer support training program and serves as an adjunct instructor.As the presiding officer of the Governor’s Advisory Panel for the Star of Texas Awards, Wendy oversees recognition for injured and fallen first responders. In addition, she is a chaplain, PIO, incident command technician (ITC), and first responder with the Forest Bend Fire Department. Wendy also coordinates the Texas LAST team for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), serving as a chaplain, family escort, and logistics team during the foundation's Memorial Weekend events.Her extensive experience includes serving on response teams for disasters such as 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike, Harvey, and Beryl, and mass shootings in Santa Fe, El Paso, Midland/Odessa, and Uvalde. Notably, after the West fertilizer plant explosion, Wendy led the funeral planning and family care support efforts. She has managed reunification and first responder support centers during major events in West, Santa Fe, and El Paso, and provided crisis communication during COVID-19 for the City of Santa Fe, Gulf Coast Center, and Galveston County Long Term Recovery Group. She is a member of the Texas Department of Emergency Management’s Incident Support Task Force and the All Hazards Incident Management Team.Wendy’s work with the City of Santa Fe Resiliency Center following the 2018 Santa Fe High School mass shooting further honed her expertise in addressing the long-term needs of families affected by homicides. She is actively collaborating with national agencies, including NDRI, to create policies and programs supporting first responders facing mental health challenges after disasters and mass fatalities. Wendy also chairs the Texas Disaster Behavioral Health Services working group for first responder mental health and is a member of the Texas First Responder Mental Health Consortium.She has taught and presented at numerous conferences, symposiums, webinars, and academies on line-of-duty death, grief and loss, mental health and wellness, spiritual care, and family support. She has also authored articles on these subjects and has been a guest on several podcasts.