Patricia Pudwill

Patricia Pudwill serves as the Small State and Rural Advocate through the Office of External Affairs – Intergovernmental Affairs. Mrs. Pudwill, a native South Dakotan, most recently served as the FEMA Integration Team Lead in South Dakota for FEMA Region 8 serving primarily rural state, local, and tribal governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector with emergency operations planning and response efforts. As the Small State and Rural Advocate, Mrs. Pudwill is responsible for advocating for the fair treatment of small states and rural communities and ensures continuity between internal staff and external stakeholders on supporting small states and rural communities.

With over 4+ years in Federal service, Mrs. Pudwill has deployed across multiple disasters in support of response and recovery efforts to build capacity across rural state, local, and tribal partners in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Ms. Pudwill will participate in the disaster declaration process and the emergency declaration process to ensure that the needs of rural communities are being addressed; will assist small population States in the preparation of requests for major disaster or emergency declarations; and assist States in the collection and presentation of material in the disaster or emergency declaration request relevant to demonstrate severe localized impacts within the state for a specific incident. Mrs. Pudwill comes with a proven track record with over 12 years with state and local government positions within South Dakota. Mrs. Pudwill served as a Regional Coordinator with the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management and County Highway Superintendent in Campbell County, South Dakota.

Mrs. Pudwill holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Northern State University. Mrs.Pudwill will be a 2026 graduate with a Master of Science degree in Strategic Leadership from Black Hills State University.