April Danos is the Vice President of OD Grant Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary of Organizational Development Resource Group, LLC (ODRG) and a woman-owned small business headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and was created to support grant recipient customers with grant management and compliance. As a Senior Grants Subject Matter Expert (SME), Ms. Danos has served the federal, state, local, and private community to include the maritime industry. Ms. Danos was instrumental in developing the Grant Program for Port Fourchon, LA which is a political subdivision of the State of Louisiana and included the development of policies, procedures, and internal controls as it relates to federal grants. She was also instrumental in providing training to the staff responsible for grants management based on the new grant management policies and procedures. She has 25+ years of maritime experience, including having served as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Fiduciary Agent for Port Fourchon/The LOOP Port-Wide Area for over five years managing the full grant lifecycle, where she successfully brought in over $12 million in port security grants for the area. Ms. Danos also managed over 25 grant projects working with local stakeholders including Harbor Police, Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, LOOP, and Lafourche Parish Fire District, as well as several tenants throughout the Port. Currently Ms. Danos and her team are helping others develop their processes and procedures for Grants Management as well as monitoring their current grants and assisting in keeping them compliant. Our experts bring over 75 years of combined administration and monitoring/compliance experience. We manage over $66.7 million in Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grants, $33 million in Port Security Grants (PSGs) and over $7 million in Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant funds.

April has held numerous leadership positions throughout her career in the Maritime Physical and Cyber Security field with the most recent serving as the Chair of the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee representing the Maritime Industry on both Physical and Cyber Security matters with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Throughout Ms. Danos’ career, she has worked closely with U. S. Coast Guard on various issues and projects surrounding cybersecurity. Ms. Danos is currently the Chair of the T2024-01 Cybersecurity Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). She was instrumental in starting up the first AAPA Cybersecurity Committee where she chaired for five (5) years. She is a published author of several articles regarding Maritime Cybersecurity in national publications including Politico.

This experience has allowed Ms. Danos the deep understanding of protecting sensitive information related to grant applications, financial transactions, and stakeholder data is paramount. Compliance with data security and privacy regulations is essential to safeguard confidential information. Implementing robust cybersecurity measures including encryption protocols, access controls, and regular security audits helps mitigate the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access. Ms. Danos is a well-respected professional in the Maritime Cyber Security field. Therefore, the ODGS team fully understands the new Cybersecurity requirements of the revised Uniform Guidance, due to become effective on October 1 of this year.