IAEM staff met with FirstNet Association leadership Feb. 12, 2019, to discuss potential collaboration related to industry events and first responder interests. L-R: Ray Flynn, Julie Husk, Beth Armstrong, Michelle Savoie and Dick Mirgon.

IAEM-Canada President Greg Solecki, CEM, presented to the Canadian Council of Emergency Management Organizations on Jan. 23, 2019.

IAEM-USA Treasurer Hugh Daniels, CEM; IAEM-CEO Beth Armstrong, MAM, CAE; and IAEM Program Manager Chelsea Firth met Feb. 20-21, 2019, at IAEM Headquarters, to work on the 2019-2020 budget and related financial business.

IAEM-USA Immediate Past President Nick Crossley (left) and IAEM-USA 2nd Vice President Judd Freed (right) met on Mar. 4, 2019, with for NWS Director Louis Uccellini (center). (Original image, not a good aspect ratio)

IAEM staff and Visit Savannah staff met Feb. 12 to discuss IAEM 2019 Annual Conference plans for Nov. 15-20. L-R: Meetings Manager Michelle Savoie, CEO Beth Armstrong (seated), Visit Savannah Sr VP Jeff Hewitt (standing), President Joe Martinelli, Katie Crow and Larry Browder.

IAEM member Eddie Hicks (left) met on Feb. 6, 2019, with Adam Telle of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee to discuss EMPG funding.

IAEM-USA Past President Nick Crossley and IAEM-USA 2nd Vice President Judd Freed met with FEMA Administrator Brock Long (center) and Deputy Administrator Pete Gaynor on Feb. 7, 2019, to discuss issues affecting the United States emergency management agencies, state and local. Brad Richy and Mike Sprayberry participated from NEMA.

On Mar. 4, 2019, IAEM members Eddie Hicks (center), Bob Franklin, and Jonathan Gaddy met with staff for Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) to discuss EMPG, NWS, the devastating Alabama tornado, and other issues. Senator Shelby is the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

On Mar. 3, 2019, (L-R) IAEM-USA Second Vice President Judd Freed, Immediate Past President Nick Crossley, and 2010-11 IAEM-USA President Eddie Hicks participated in the NACo Justice and Public Safety Committee meeting.

L to R: IAEM Conference Committee Members Eddie Hicks, Diane Logsdon, David Barber, Valerie Lucus-McEwen, Donna Franklin, Mike Gavin, Peter Perez, Cathy Clark and staff liaison Julie Husk, concluded several days of meetings on Mar. 15 at IAEM HQ to plan the 2019 speaker program for the IAEM Annual Conference in Savannah, GA.

The IAEM-USA Board is conducting their annual retreat to plan programs for IAEM’s future. The retreat is in Puerto Rico. PREMA Director Carlos Acavedos (right) greeted the IAEM-USA Board. He is pictured with IAEM Member Ben Nieves, CEM, and IAEM-USA President Marty Shaub, CEM.

IAEM-USA Board of Directors visits the only private-sector EOC in Puerto Rico, on March 20. They were hosted by IAEM Member Ben Nieves, CEM.

IAEM and the Puerto Rico EMA on Mar. 21, 2019, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate cooperation between the two organizations. Following the MOU signing and press event, members from both groups gathered. Pictured in the row in the back (l to r) are: IAEM-USA Immediate Past President Nick Crossley, CEM; FCO Mike Bryne; IAEM-USA President Marty Shaub, CEM; IAEM CEO Beth Armstrong, MAM, CAE; and PREMA Director Carlos Acevedo.

IAEM-USA Region 7 President Dan Robeson, CEM represented IAEM at the annual Missouri Emergency Management Association (MOEMA) Conference on Apr. 11. Pictured from left to right: IAEM-USA Region 7 Secretary/Treasurer Ryan Nicholls, CEM; IAEM-USA Region 7 President Dan Robeson, CEM; Chet Hunter, CEM, MOEMA president; FEMA Region 7 Administrator Paul Taylor; and Ron Walker, Missouri SEMA director.

The NATO and US-DoD sponsored the 35th International Workshop on Global Security in Paris, Apr. 16-17, 2019, held at the National Historical French Armed Forces facility and supported by Her Excellency Florence Parly Minister of the Armed Forces of France. NATO, member country leaders, and international leaders discussed current issues and future strategies for security, including emergency management. Left to Right. Ms. Anne D. Baylon, Co-Director, Center for Strategic Decision Research (CSDR) and Head of Publications;  Dr. Linton Wells, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense; Dr. Roger Weissinger-Baylon, Co-Director of CSDR and Founder/Chairman of workshop;  Professor Yuki N. Karakawa, Board Director of iVeHospital Foundation; Major General Jean-Christophe Cardamone, Deputy Director, Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN); and Captain Philippe Charton, Cyber Operations Head, NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA). Dr. Wells and Prof. Karakawa are IAEM members in Capitol Region III. 

Stephen Peck with MPOWERED visited IAEM Headquarters on May 2, 2019, to discuss EMEX and Annual Conference planning for Savannah.

A delegation from Public Safety Canada visited IAEM Headquarters on May 30, 2019. Discussion included a detailed introduction to IAEM, IAEM-Canada and member benefits, along with information on the IAEM-FEMA relationship. The delegation included Emergency Management & Programs Branch officials, with IAEM represented by IAEM CEO Beth Armstrong, IAEM Government Relations Director Thad Huguley, IAEM Deputy Executive Director Clay Tyeryar, and IAEM Emergency Services Sector Rep Erik Gaull, CEM.
  

Left to right: Beth Armstrong, IAEM CEO; Thad Huguley, IAEM government relations director; Clay Tyeryar, IAEM deputy executive director; Patrick Tanguy, assistant deputy minister, Emergency Management & Programs Branch, Public Safety Canada; Erik Gaull, CEM, IAEM Emergency Services Sector representative, CEM; Stephanie Durand, director general, Emergency Management and Programs Branch, Public Safety Canada; Shawn Wright, senior policy analyst, Emergency Management and Programs Branch, Public Safety Canada; Mélanie Rivest, senior policy advisor, Emergency Management and Programs Branch, Public Safety Canada; Arjun Vinodrai, director, Strategic Policy, Emergency Management and Programs Branch, Public Safety Canada; and Natasha Manji, counsellor, Public Safety Canada, Embassy of Canada.

From left: Mike Sprayberry, director, North Carolina Emergency Management, and past NEMA president; Thad, Huguley, IAEM Government Affairs director; and Peter Gaynor, acting FEMA administrator, at the National Governors’ Association (NGA) Summer Meeting, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, July 25, 2019. The summer meeting, one of two primary gatherings of the nation’s governors, includes a variety of sessions open to the media, as well as governors-only private sessions. NGA meetings are solutions-oriented, providing governors with a chance to discuss the crucial issues that states face, including the state-federal partnership.

(Nov. 4, 2019) At the recent California Emergency Services Association (CESA) meeting on Nov. 4, 2019, IAEM member Jerry Quinn, MBA, president, GJQ Consulting LLC, received the Gold Award from the California Emergency Services Association (CESA) State Board for his exceptional efforts in the field of emergency management and his unwavering dedication to the CESA organization and its members. Gold Awards are presented to an organization or individual who has shown exceptional efforts in the field of emergency management resulting in benefits statewide. In addition, Quinn has received two previous awards from the CESA State Board, as well as the 2011 Fetz Service Award from the CESA Coastal Chapter Board.

The IAEM-Global Board met during the IAEM-Canada Conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on June 3, 2019. Left to right: Clay Tyeryar, IAEM deputy executive director; Greg Solecki, CEM, IAEM-Canada president; Beth Armstrong, IAEM CEO; Ellis Stanley, IAEM-Global chair; Marty Shaub, CEM, IAEM-USA president; Robie Robinson, CEM, Global IAEM finance director; and Eddie Hicks, CEM, USA representative to IAEM-Global Board.

Left to right: Pam Williams, executive director, BuildStrong Coalition; Nick Crossley, CEM, IAEM immediate past president, and director, Hamilton Co. (Ohio) Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency; Bryan Koon, vice president of homeland security & emergency management, IEM; and Chris Rodriguez, director, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, hold a panel discussion on “Identifying State and Local Mitigation Priorities” at the Forum on FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grant Program, July 23, 2019, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC. The panel featured state and local stakeholders and resiliency experts. It focused on identifying and understanding this group’s mitigation and resilience goals, including managing different state, local, and regional challenges.

Pete Gaynor, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was featured in the IAEM/Harvard NPLI Think Tank held July 23, 2019. The moderator was Rich Serino, a distinguished visiting fellow at Harvard University’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI), and senior advisor at MIT’s Urban Risk Lab, who is a past deputy administrator of FEMA. This open conversation with Mr. Gaynor is the most recent in a series of think tank discussions based on FEMA Think Tanks. IAEM partners with Harvard NPLI to engage our partners, promote innovation, and facilitate discussions in the field of emergency management. Learn more.

The IAEM-Global Board studied the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development during its meeting on June 3, 2019, during the IAEM-Canada Conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

IAEM-USA Past President Nick Crossley, CEM, CPM, director, Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Hamilton, County, Ohio, provided a written statement and delivered oral testimony before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, U.S. House of Representatives, on May 22, 2019, in Washington, D.C. The subcommittee was holding a hearing on “Disaster Preparedness: DRAA Implementation and FEMA Readiness.”

Nick Crossley is pictured with Sima Merick, NEMA Vice President, who also testified at the hearing.

Judd Freed, CEM (left), visiting with IAEM CEO Beth Armstrong and IAEM-USA Immediate Past President Nick Crossley, CEM, in Cincinnati (Ohio) as part of an Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) officer meeting, July 26, 2019.

From left: IAEM Communications & Marketing Manager Dawn Shiley with IAEM-USA President Marty Shaub, CEM, and IAEM Scholarship Chair William Hurtes, CEM, at the taping of FEMA PrepTalks held in Washington, DC, on Sept. 19, 2019.

On Nov. 19, 2019, IAEM and Harvard NPLI hosted a Think Tank on "Community Outreach and Why This Is Important to Emergency Managers Now More Than Ever." Left to right are: Herman Schaffer, assistant commissioner, NYCEM and Director of Community Engagement Division; Laura Mellem, public engagement manager, New Orleans Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness; Sherry-Lea Botop, public information officer/community engagement manager, Baldwin County Commission, Alabama; and Richard Serino, IAEM Think Tank moderator. Based on the idea behind FEMA Think Tanks, IAEM partners with Harvard NPLI to engage our partners, promote innovation, and facilitate discussions in the field of emergency management. 

Pictured left to right are Marty Shaub, CEM, UCEM, outgoing IAEM-USA president (2018-2019), with Teri Smith, CEM, incoming IAEM-USA president (2019-2020), at the 2019 IAEM Annual Conference in Savannah, Georgia, on Nov. 19, 2019.

Participants at the IAEM-USA Universities and Colleges Emergency Management Practitioner Symposium, a two-day workshop on Nov. 16-17, at the IAEM Annual Conference in Savannah, Georgia. This year’s symposium will focus on the themes of resiliency and relationships. The symposium featured sessions on how to increase the resiliency and continuity of departments, institutions or programs and sessions that focused on how to build and integrate relationships, whether with other departments, agencies, institutions, or vendors. Sessions reflected real-world incidents over the past year, focusing on opportunities and successes, lessons learned, and best practices. The annual UCC Symposium program focuses on content and speakers who relate directly to higher education and emergency management, and all practitioners and interested parties are welcome.

FEMA and IAEM-USA senior leadership met on Nov. 18, 2019, at the IAEM Annual Conference in Savannah, Georgia, to talk about shared focus areas.

IAEM-USA senior leadership met with representatives from the National Weather Service on Nov. 18, 2019, to discuss areas of shared interest and possible collaboration. The meeting took place at the 2019 IAEM Annual Conference, held in Savannah, Georgia.