About US
About Frontline Strategies Group
Our Passion
Frontline Strategies Group is built around experienced public safety leaders who have operated in the environments our clients are working through right now.
This is not a firm of career consultants. Our team is made up of current and former chiefs, command staff, and incident management leaders who have led organizations, managed complex incidents, and worked through the same operational, political, and organizational challenges our clients face.
We are brought in when the work is not straightforward. When there are competing priorities, strained relationships, or decisions that carry real consequence, our team brings the experience and perspective needed to move things forward in a practical and sustainable way.
Each member of our team brings a specific area of expertise. Together, we provide a balanced capability across operations, governance, incident management, and organizational development.
“We do not show up with buzzwords or canned frameworks. We show up with experience, judgment, and the willingness to have hard conversations when they matter. Our role is to help leaders cut through the noise, fix what is broken, and make decisions they can stand behind when the stakes are real.”
Leading The Way
Frontline Strategies Group is built around experienced public safety leaders who have been responsible for real organizations, real people, and real outcomes.
Our team is made up of current and former chiefs, command staff, and incident management leaders who have operated in complex environments where decisions are scrutinized and consequences matter. We understand the operational realities, political pressures, and organizational dynamics our clients are dealing with because we have lived them.
Clients bring us in when the path forward is not obvious. When priorities compete, relationships are strained, or trust needs to be rebuilt, we provide steady leadership, clear perspective, and practical guidance. Our focus is helping leaders make informed decisions and move their organizations forward in a way that lasts.
Credentials
- Serves and has served in chief officer and command roles
- Led complex organizations and multidisciplinary teams
- Extensive experience with governance and elected officials
- Qualified incident management and crisis leadership experience
- Trusted advisors to senior leaders during change and conflict
Achievements
- Led organizations through periods of transition and recovery
- Managed high consequence incidents and critical events
- Restored trust between leadership, staff, and stakeholders
- Delivered practical solutions to complex organizational issues
- Supported leaders facing scrutiny, pressure, and accountability
Meet Our Team
The Professionals
Managing Partner
Drew Bono
Drew Bono is the Managing Partner of Frontline Strategies Group, where he leads client delivery, strategic direction, and the firm’s practitioner-led approach to public safety consulting. He brings fifteen years of fire service experience and currently serves as a Deputy Fire Chief in Snohomish County, Washington. Drew has served in leadership roles over the past decade, including an extended interim Fire Chief assignment, with work focused on organizational culture, governance, and restoring community trust.
His experience includes developing and leading rural paramedic programs, regional fleet maintenance programs, and multi-agency training consortiums. He has served on Incident Management Teams and as a board member with the Incident Management Teams Association, supporting regional preparedness and coordination, and has responded nationally to critical incidents. Drew also brings local government experience, having run for City Council in Arlington, Washington, and currently serving as Chair of the Arlington Planning Commission.
Drew is known for a direct, practical approach. He communicates clearly, does not hedge where it matters, and is trusted to give leaders a candid assessment, even when the message is difficult. His work focuses on helping organizations understand where they stand, build alignment, and move forward with confidence.
Consulting Focus: Executive advisory and leadership support, governance and organizational effectiveness, organizational culture and alignment, and building practical systems that improve performance, relationships, and long-term service delivery.
Associate
Steve North
Steve North brings more than forty years of fire service and incident management experience, including eighteen years as a Fire Chief in Thurston County, Washington for the McLane Black Lake Fire Department. He is a qualified Complex Incident Commander and a senior leader within the national incident management community.
He has led and supported responses to major incidents across the country, including hurricanes, the World Trade Center attacks, and the SR-530 Mudslide in Washington. Steve served as Incident Commander for the PNW Complex Incident Management Team 10 and currently chairs the Washington Incident Management Team Coalition, helping guide the governance and development of regional interagency IMTs. He has also delivered ICS and NIMS instruction across the United States and internationally.
Consulting Focus: Fire service leadership, organizational systems, labor-management relationships, and interagency cooperation, along with incident management readiness, IMT development, and command and control in complex, high-pressure environments.
Associate
John Unfred
John Unfred is a law enforcement and emergency management leader with more than three decades of leadership experience, including nearly thirty years in policing and executive command roles. He served as Assistant Chief of Police for the City of Lakewood, Washington, where he oversaw operational and administrative functions in a complex municipal environment.
John has led and supported major incidents at the local, regional, and national level, including serving as Incident Commander during the COVID-19 response, Area Commander during civil unrest in Pierce County, and in command or command staff roles on deployments including hurricanes, wildfires, and the SR-530 Mudslide. His experience includes managing operations during the DuPont Amtrak derailment and working in multi-agency environments where coordination and decision-making are critical.
He was selected as an FBI Police Executive Fellow, contributing to national active shooter program work, and played a key role in securing and implementing a $3 million regional terrorism preparedness grant that supported more than 1,100 first responders and established a coordinated multi-county training and response model. John also led the creation of the West Pierce Emergency Management Coalition, building a sustained regional framework serving more than 100,000 residents.
Consulting Focus: Law enforcement leadership, personnel and workplace investigations, municipal government management, and organizational systems, with additional experience in incident and emergency management and multi-agency coordination.
Associate
Joel Johnson
Joel Johnson serves as a fire service leader in Snohomish County, Washington, with a background that includes more than two decades of nonprofit leadership and fifteen years in emergency services across volunteer and combination systems.
He has held leadership roles in both public safety and nonprofit organizations, including serving as a fire chief, training captain, executive director of a nonprofit, and lead chaplain for a regional organization. His experience includes regional coordination through incident management teams and involvement in major incidents, including the SR-530 Oso Mudslide. Joel currently remains active in leadership roles that support both responders and the communities they serve.
Joel is known for a steady, people-first approach and a focus on helping organizations build strong teams, clear direction, and systems that support long-term performance. His work centers on aligning mission, vision, and values with how organizations actually operate day to day.
Consulting Focus: Organizational culture and development, rural and combination fire service leadership, nonprofit and mission-driven organizations, chaplain and peer support programs, and leadership alignment that supports sustainable performance and team resilience.
Associate
Jeremy Stocker
Jeremy Stocker is a public safety leader with more than twenty-seven years of fire service experience and additional service as a reserve police officer supporting patrol, enforcement, and investigations. He currently serves as a chief officer for a fire district in Snohomish County, Washington, bringing practical, hands-on leadership experience across organizations of varying size and complexity.
His background includes extensive involvement in regional coordination and mutual-aid operations, along with experience in policy development, personnel investigations, and organizational accountability. Jeremy has led and supported operational decision-making in complex response environments, helped refine policies that strengthen readiness and expectations, and used performance data to improve deployment, turnout times, and overall service delivery.
Known for steady leadership and clear expectations, he focuses on helping organizations identify gaps, align priorities, and implement practical improvements that hold over time. His work is grounded in real-world operations and a field-tested understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
Consulting Focus: Operational performance, leadership accountability, personnel and workplace investigations, interagency coordination, and data-informed service delivery and organizational improvement.
Associate
Brad Reading
Brad Reading is a fire service executive with more than forty years of public safety leadership experience in South Snohomish County. His career progressed from volunteer firefighter through Assistant Chief and Fire Chief roles, including service as Assistant Chief and Interim Fire Chief for South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue RFA, with a leadership emphasis on consolidation, regionalization, and complex organizational transitions.
Consulting focus: Brad supports clients navigating high-stakes change, with particular strength in governance-facing communication, relationship building, and facilitating alignment when conditions are most difficult. He brings practical experience guiding agencies through consolidation decisions, interlocal agreements, and politically sensitive transitions. Under Brad’s leadership, he advanced multiple consolidations, including the integration of Mountlake Terrace Fire into Snohomish County Fire District 1; the unification of Fire Districts 1 and 11; and contractual service consolidation bringing the cities of Mountlake Terrace, Brier, Edmonds, and Lynnwood together with Fire District 1. He later led the creation of the South Snohomish County Fire Regional Fire Authority.
Brad served as a commissioned law enforcement investigator and Fire Marshal who led arson and fire investigations, including major cases, and he played a key role in countywide police and fire dispatch consolidation efforts. A founding member of the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team, Brad has served as Incident Commander and Planning Section Chief on regional incidents, including the 2014 SR-530 Mudslide.
Brad Reading
Brad Reading is a fire service executive with more than forty years of public safety leadership experience in South Snohomish County, Washington. His career progressed from volunteer firefighter through Assistant Chief and Fire Chief roles, including service as Assistant Chief and Interim Fire Chief for South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue, with a focus on consolidation, regionalization, and complex organizational transitions.
He has led and supported major structural change across multiple agencies, including the integration of Mountlake Terrace Fire into Snohomish County Fire District 1, the unification of Fire Districts 1 and 11, and contractual service consolidation involving the cities of Mountlake Terrace, Brier, Edmonds, and Lynnwood. He later played a key leadership role in the formation of South Snohomish County Fire Regional Fire Authority, helping bring together governance, labor, and community interests during periods of significant change.
Brad is known for his ability to build and maintain relationships across agencies, elected officials, and labor groups, particularly in environments where alignment is difficult and stakes are high. His approach centers on clear communication, trust, and helping organizations move forward when positions are divided and decisions carry long-term impact.
He also served as a commissioned law enforcement investigator and Fire Marshal, leading arson and fire investigations, including major cases, and played a key role in countywide police and fire dispatch consolidation efforts. A founding member of the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team, Brad has served as Incident Commander and Planning Section Chief on regional incidents, including the 2014 SR-530 Mudslide.
Consulting Focus: Organizational transitions and consolidation, governance and board relations, labor-management relationships, interagency cooperation, and facilitating alignment in complex, politically sensitive environments.
Associate
JOEL SMITH
Joel Smith is a public safety and private sector executive with more than thirty-two years of experience in fire and EMS, from volunteer firefighter through Fire Chief. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of a regional ambulance transport service, leading an organization responsible for approximately 90,000 transports annually and a workforce of more than 400 personnel.
His experience spans fire service leadership, EMS operations, labor relations on both sides of the table, training and safety, and organizational development across public and private sector environments. Joel has led and supported agency mergers, multi-agency consortiums, and organizational restructuring efforts, along with work in employment practices, fire academy development, and curriculum design.
In addition to his fire service background, Joel brings direct responsibility for the operational and financial performance of a large-scale EMS system. His work includes managing healthcare relationships, overseeing revenue cycle and billing operations, and ensuring service delivery remains sustainable in complex environments. He understands how operational decisions, workforce dynamics, and financial realities intersect in modern fire and EMS systems.
Joel is known for a steady, practical approach. He helps organizations build systems that work in real-world conditions and make decisions that hold up over time, both operationally and financially.
Consulting Focus: Fire and EMS leadership, labor-management relationships, organizational development and restructuring, EMS system operations and sustainability, healthcare system coordination, and aligning operational, financial, and leadership systems in complex service environments.