The CTIF Executive Committee

At the Delegates Assembly in Oslo, June 20, 2024, a new Executive Commission was formed when one new vice president and a new Treasurer were voted in.

One new vice president, Zisoula Ntasiou, Greece, was voted in after Russia's mandate in the EC expired at this Delegates Assembly. Zisoula is CTIF.  She is also the secretary of the CTIF Forest Fire Commission. She is a Fire Lieutenant Colonel in the Hellenic Fire Corps, and works for the General Secretariat for Civil Protection and the Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. Ms Ntasiou graduated from the Hellenic Fire Academy in 2002, and holds a master degree in Forestry.

Milan Dubravac, Slovenia, was also re-elected AT Delegates Assembly  2024 for another four year term as president of CTIF! Mr Dubravac was elected in 2020 at the Virtual Delegates Assembly held during the pandemic, and has since brought several new members and Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) to CTIF.

CTIF is looking forward to 4 more years under his leadership!

The CTIF Executive Committee meets physically at least twice a year to follow up CTIF actions, projects and the work of CTIF commissions and to prepare proposals to be submitted to the Delegates’ Assembly.

Each vice president is responsible for following up with at least one commission or working group and reports back to the EC about their activities monthly or bi-weekly. 

The Executive Committee meets physically twice per year, once at Delegates Assembly and usually also once per year at locations determined fr year to year. The role of hosting fire organization usually rotates between the home organizations of the members of the EC.   

Since 2019, the Executive Committee]meets monthly for 1-2 hours through video conferencing. During the 2020-2021 Pandemic, all meetings have been conducted online.

EC 2024:  Upper row from the left: Roman Sykora (General Secretary, Austria) Martin Nekula (Czech Republic) Christophe Marchal (France),Yvonne Näsman (Sweden)  Taina Hanhihoski (Finland) Otto Drozd (USA0 Luc Faes (Belgium). 

Lower Row from the left:  Nedeljko Vukalović. (Croatia ) Marc Mamer (Luxembourg, former Treasurer) Dennis Davis (UK - Senior Advisor)  Milan Dubravac (Slovenia - Pres), Tom Van Esbroeck (Belgium - Special Advisor and new Treasurer from Jan 2025) Zisoula Ntasiou (Greece) Bjorn Ulfsson, Communications Office (Sweden / Canada)

Neza Strmole (Slovenia) is missing in this photo. Ms Strmole is CTIF's staff secretary since 2017.

Current members of the CTIF Executive Committee:

Text Updated August 2022

Milan Dubravac, CTIF President since October 2020.

Slovenia

Admin for the Slovenian civil protection and disaster relief, Head of the Slovenian National Fire-fighting School.

Mr Dubravac also serves on the CTIF Commission for Firefighting at Airports.

Before becoming elected President in 2020, Mr Dubravac served as Vice President since 2015.

Roman Sykora, General Secretary of CTIF since 2019.

Austria

From the professional fire department, Vienna (Austria).

Mr Sykora also serves as the chair of the CTIF Hazardous Materials Commission.

Tom van Esbroeck (Belgium)

CTIF Treasurer from 2025

Elected CTIF Treasurer in 2024 and his mandate as Treasurer is from January 2025.

Commander of the F&R Service 'Brandweerzone Vlaams-Brabant West', which is the Flemish region surrounding Brussels. 

Mr Esbroeck has previously served as the Chair Person of the CTIF Commission for Extrication and new Technology and is involved in several projects concerning ISO standardization for firefighters.

Neza Strmole, CTIF Office Secretary since 2017.

Slovenia, CTIF Office in Ljubljana

Neza is a voluntary firefighter in her hometown in Slovenia and works for the Firefighters´Association of Slovenia.

Neza is the main contact person for anyone wishing to get in touch with CTIF or any of our members. You can reach Ms Strmole through our CTIF office in Ljubljana.

Current Vice Presidents and other members of the Executive Committee:

Taina Hanhikoski, Vice President since 2020

Finland

Senior Specialist, International Relations, The Finnish Ministry of Interior. 

Ms. Hanhikoski oversees EU funded projects focusing on climate risk assessment as well as AI, machine learning and predictive analysis for decision making in disasters. She is also a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Tampere focusing on the Arctic region.

She is an expert in EU and Nordic security policies (including EU Civil Protection Mechanism, EU Internal Security Strategy and Nordic cooperation). 

Yvonne Näsman, Sweden - Vice President of the CTIF Executive Committee since 2021.  Chair of the Swedish CTIF National Committee since 2023.

Yvonne Näsman works as an Executive officer in Fire & Rescue at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB.se. She is currently also a member of the Extrication and New Technology Commission and a delegate of the Swedish National CTIF Committee. She also serves as a delegate at the International Forum Advanced First Responder Innovation, IFAFRI and she is involved in bilateral agreement with Department of Homeland & Security.

Until 2006 she was a teacher for fire officers and firefighters and 2006 to 2015 , she served as Head of Education and Development at the Swedish Rescue Services Agency. Her entire career Yvonne has been developing methods and technology based on evidence and science for First Responders. She has been working with fire and rescue since 2000 and ongoing.

Christophe Marchal, Vice President since 2020

France

Volunteer firefighter officer at the Haut-Rhin SDIS

Member of the FNSPF Executive Committee

Nedeljko Vukalović- Vice President since 2023

Croatia

Master of Nursing, mag.med.techn.

Mr Vukalović holds several positions in his home country of Croatia, including Deputy President of the Presidency of the Croatian Firefighting Association (from 2021) President of the Fire Department of the City of Novi Marof  (from 2009 to the present)  and President of the Varaždin County Fire Association (from 2013 to the present) 

Since 2016, he is also a member of the International Committee for Firefighting Competitions of CTIF. 

Otto Drozd - Vice President since 2023

USA

Executive Secretary, Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association | NFPA. Chief Otto Drozd has 35 years of firefighting experience, including 20 years as a fire chief in Florida and Texas. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Public Management and is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. Chief Drozd's leadership led to the accelerated development of NFPA 3000™, the Standard for an Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program. He is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences and has held key positions in prominent firefighting associations.

Martin Nekula - Vice President since 2023

Czech Republic

Director of Chief Fire Officer’s Office at the Fire Rescue Brigade of Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic , responsible for Human Resources Management, Public Relations and Legislation Division. Specialist in the Education Area, Technical Expert of the Chemical and Technical Service. Project activity in the framework of Czech Association of Fire Officers and representation of association in the function of Vice-president.

Luc Faes - Vice President since 2023

Belgium

Non-Voting Advisory Position Members:

Tore Eriksson, Past CTIF President and leader of the CTIF ISO 17840 Implementation Group. 

Sweden

Tore Eriksson was the President of CTIF between 2012 and 2020. Previously, he was the Chair of the Hazardous Materials Commission. He is currently also a member of the Extrication and New Technology Commission. Mr Eriksson served until 2013 as head of department for the RIB Decision Support Systems at the Swedish Rescue Services Agency (MSB.se).

Dennis Davis, Senior Adviser to the CTIF Executive Committee

United Kingdom

Mr Davis has an extensive fire and rescue service background, and is an independent international fire and civil protection adviser.

In the UK he also serves as an Executive Officer of the Fire Sector Federation.

Björn Ulfsson, Communications Coordinator for CTIF and Website Content Manager since 2017.

Canada / Sweden

Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB.se) 2008 - 2014. Mr Ulfsson has an extensive background in producing educational material for firefighters.