Chief Joanne Hayes‐White
San Francisco Fire Department

Joanne Hayes‐White, a proud native San Franciscan, graduated from St. Stephen School, Mercy High School and the University of Santa Clara. Chief Hayes‐White joined the San Francisco Fire Department in April 1990. After rising through the ranks, she was sworn in by Mayor Gavin Newsom as the 25th Fire Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department in 2004. San Francisco is the largest urban Fire Department in the world with a female Chief. She oversees a Department of approximately 1,800 members and an operating budget of $400 million.

A member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), Chief Hayes‐ White currently serves on the Presidential Public Safety Officers’ Medal of Valor Board, the Advisory Board for Little Sisters of the Poor and the Advisory Board of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good. She has also served on the Boards of the American Red Cross–Bay Area Chapter, the Hibernian Newman Club and Mercy High School San Francisco. Chief Hayes‐White is also the proud mother of three sons, Riley, age 24, Logan, age 21, and Sean, age 18.