Joseph C. Becker is senior vice president of disaster services for the American Red Cross, a human service organization in existence since 1881.  The American Red Cross is dedicated to providing relief to victims of disasters and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Mr. Becker leads the organization’s disaster relief. In this role, he has led the Red Cross’ two largest relief efforts to date—the 2004 hurricanes in Florida, and the Hurricane Katrina response. He joined the national headquarters staff on January 1, 2004, as the vice president of response. Before assuming this role, he was the executive director of the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross, starting in February 1997. His Red Cross involvement started much earlier as a member of the chapter Board of Directors from 1992 to 1996.  Prior to his employment with the Red Cross, Mr. Becker was part of the management group of Kings Entertainment Company, with five regional theme parks in the U.S. and Canada, which was acquired by Paramount in 1992.  At the end of his 23-year career with the company, Joe was the vice president of operations at Paramount’s Carowinds. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, he received a degree in business administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1979.