Ahead of the 2025 NENA Annual Conference in Long Beach, California, the Board of British APCO agreed to award Brian Fontes the honour of Life Membership. Brian is the Chief Executive Officer for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), a position he has held since June 2008. After a transformative 17-year tenure, Brian is stepping down from his leadership role in the Autumn of 2025. Under his direction, NENA has grown and thrived, increasing its membership by nearly 400%.
At a celebratory dinner in Long Beach, Duncan Swan, British APCO Chief Operating Officer, and Matt Leat, British APCO Trustee, presented Brian with the highest honour British APCO can bestow; Life Membership. Matt Leat read the citation that said, “In recognition and appreciation of his outstanding contribution to Public Safety globally and his professional guidance and support for British APCO, Brian Fontes is confirmed as a British APCO Life Member.”
Back in 2019, Brian worked closely with the late Ian Thompson to form CC:IPS – the Collaborative Coalition for Internation Public Safety. CC:IPS has since gone from strength to strength in terms of both partners joining and reach of the work that it carries out.
Dr Brian Fontes is a familiar figure around 9-1-1 in North America, and earlier this year, tribute was paid in the US Senate recognising his distinguished career. Whilst retiring from his role at NENA, he is expected to remain with NENA in an advisory capacity into 2026 to ensure a successful transition to new leadership. And on June 23rd, NENA announced that John Provenzano will take over the reigns as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective July 14th 2025.
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