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Words matter. How we understand each other depends at the very least on the definition of the words we use. When looking within communities, how do you measure resilience? How do you define or rank an asset? There are so many converging issues around community resilience. This session will help unfold and define the most misunderstood terms in community resilience, while enabling attendees to acquire the first steps needed to build community resilience through understanding the who, what. when, where, and how of asset mapping a community.

Roberto Coronado, Senior Vice President in Charge of El Paso and San Antonio Branches, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, is an expert on La economía de frontera – the US/Mexico border economy. As a Senior Economist, Coronado has devoted decades to researching this richly unique region. Coronado’s plenary address will welcome us to Texas with a deep dive into how the US/Mexico border economy fared during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, what’s ahead for this region, and what lessons learned can shape our understanding as resilience professionals.

When we boil it all down, people are a business' single most critical asset. Of course, we plan to have backups for key personnel, but what happens when our people are also affected by the same disaster and repercussions that impact our business? This presentation is intended to provide insight into why it's in a business' best interest to encourage people to have their own disaster preparedness plans and what their plans need to include. Disasters impacting your personal life are no joke and neither are family and household preparations. This session will refresh you on what we planners sometimes forget about: why people are so critical and what’s involved with personal disaster preparedness.

Organizations can play an active role in the resilience of their communities by establishing a Center of Excellence in Resilience. Community resilience builds by utilizing ground-up/grassroots efforts and a Center of Excellence is a top-down approach. By bringing these together in this session attendees will learn what, why, and how to build a grassroots community resilience program into the creation of a Center of Excellence.

DRI International is proud to welcome Michael Berkowitz, Founding Principal of Resilient Cities Catalyst, who will draw upon real-life experiences from around the world to address reducing risk and increasing resilience in a post-Covid world.

Working from home during a crisis can be challenging. Here are a few pointers to help you set yourself – and your new workspace – up for success.

Morgan Jones, AVP at the New York City Economic Development Corporation describes his Hurricane Sandy Experience. Morgan A. Jones is AVP at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Previously, Jones was Chief Operating Officer of the US-China Strong Foundation, Senior Emergency Management Specialist at NYU Langone Medical Center. Mr. Jones also served at the NYC Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit (CAU) and the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery under Mayors Michael R. Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio from 2010-2015.

Butch Meily, PDRF, discusses uniting the business community to mitigate disaster impacts.

What is a BORP and how can having one help your organization? This session covers all the details. A BORP (Building Occupancy Resumption Program) is achieved by bringing together public and private entities to facilitate safe, expedited re-occupancy of structures following a disaster. The session explores who to involve and how to accomplish this important and beneficial program, including how it was implemented at DreamWorks Animation in southern California.

Presentation

Thanks to sponsorship from the DRI International Foundation, Mahila Partnership has expanded its project in Haiti to improve post-disaster economic and health outcomes for women and girls, as well as building long-term resiliency. This presentation discusses the overarching principles of effective recovery but in the context of an active post-disaster initiative. Attendees will understand how post-disaster relief and recovery programs must promote long-term risk reduction, as well as how investments rather than aid yields both short-term and long-term sustainable results.

Many of our profession's most experienced and talented business continuity professionals have never experienced true disasters first-hand. That's a good thing because it means their plans are working (or they've been really lucky!). However there's nothing like being in the field, and in the thick of it, to give continuity professionals a feel for what it's really like to be on the scene during a response and recovery effort. Angela Devlen who founded the Mahila Partnership -- a grassroots non-profit organization serving the unmet needs of communities by investing in education, public health, and sustainable development initiatives while promoting disaster risk reduction and gender equality - has been in the boardroom and crisis command center as well as in the field. Devlen shares her first-hand experiences in responding to disasters in the U.S. and abroad, including impacts, lessons learned, and suggestions to take back and implement in your organization.