Cliff Jones Ambassador Award

The CPSE Cliff Jones Ambassador Award recognizes an individual who goes above and beyond in their support of accreditation, credentialing, and CPSE as a whole. The CPSE staff makes their selection based on their interactions and observations over the prior year. 

Learn about other CPSE awards or contact CPSE if you have any questions.

2023 Recipients of the CPSE Cliff Jones Ambassador Award

Leonard N. Chan is the accreditation manager for Houston Fire Department, Texas and previously served in a similar role with Cedar Park Fire Department. He currently serves as the chair of the Texas Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) Consortium and a principal member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) technical committee on fire analysts. As of summer 2022, he has been assigned and completed ten peer assessments for CPSE. He has mentored fire service-based research projects at University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, and University of Houston as well as being an adjunct instructor for the University of Houston Master of Public Administration program. His work has been published in PA Times and Fire Engineering.

Mr. Chan also served as the Chair for the 2022 CPSE Excellence Conference Education Planning Committee and has presented on accreditation topics.

Congratulations, Mr. Chan!

Will Gray, CFO is the Fire Chief for Boulder City Fire Department, Nevada.

Chief Gray has been very involved in the accreditation process serving as the founding member and first coordinator of both the Rocky Mountain Accreditation and Credentialing Consortium and the Nevada Accreditation and Credentialing Consortium. He became a peer assessor for the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) and completed five peer team site visits across the United States and in Germany. Later he became a peer team leader and led teams on thirteen site visits across the United States and in Canada. He served as a team leader mentor and as a formal agency mentor for different departments seeking accreditation. While with the Rocky Mountain Consortium Group, he led the credentialing mentoring committee.

Chief Gray received his Chief Fire Officer (CFO) designation in 2016.

Congratulations, Chief Gray!

Learn about other CPSE awards or contact CPSE if you have any questions.