Shila Cooch has departed as the acting chief information security officer (CISO) at the Department of Energy (DOE) to serve in a new position at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Cooch is now the associate administrator for mission support at FEMA, an agency spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk.
“FEMA is pleased to welcome Shila R. Cooch as associate administrator for mission support. She brings more than two decades of federal leadership in technology, policy, and workforce development,” the spokesperson said.
“She is overseeing FEMA’s core mission-support functions, including human resources, information technology, facilities and administrative services, security, and procurement,” they added.
Cooch began her role as acting CISO at DOE in December 2025. She first joined the agency in November 2022 as the chief information officer (CIO) for DOE’s Office of Science.
Previously, she served as the director of IT policy under the federal CIO in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for more than three years.
Before OMB, Cooch began her federal government career at the Department of Homeland Security, where she spent 15 years in a variety of leadership positions, including chief of staff for the agency’s CIO.