2025 Conference Agenda

All content programming is subject to change*

Tuesday • March 11

8:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Pre-Conference Offsite Resiliency Field trip

1:00 PM
Registration Opens

2:15 PM
Welcome

2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
“Go Big or Go Local: A Spectrum of Strategies Towards a Resilient Electric Grid”
Moderator: Dan Lauf, National Governors Association
Speakers:
Marguerite Harden, Colorado Resiliency Manager
Amanda McClinton, Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources
Christina Tamayo, Grid United

In this session, panelists will showcase very different approaches to grid resilience at play today. First, we’ll share strategies on how we need to “Go Big” in terms of expanding transmission lines for a larger grid that can help integrate more variable renewable energy sources across long distances. Then, panelists will share solutions that “Go Local” – how microgrids at community scales are increasing grid resilience.

3:15 PM – 3:30 PM
PM Break
Take a little mental snack break.

3:45 PM – 4:30PM
Concurrent Sessions

“Engaging International Communities Throughout the Disaster Cycle”
Speaker: Halley Maxwell, Harris County Public Health Preparedness and Response Division
Since Harris County, TX is one of the most diverse counties in the country, many opportunities arise to build relationships and partnerships with different international communities. This session will discuss the work of the Harris County Public Health Preparedness and Response Division’s Community Resilience Team and provide an overview of the partnerships between some of Harris County’s international communities and the Public Health Preparedness and Response Division throughout all phases of the disaster cycle.

“A Whole of Government Approach to Extreme Weather in the Pacific Northwest”
Speaker: Nathan Emory, King County Emergency Management
Extreme weather, exacerbated by climate change, causes significant health and infrastructure impacts. In Washington State, a devastating heat dome in 2021, winter storms, and increases in wildfire smoke have highlighted the inequitable impacts of extreme temperatures as well as the need for comprehensive resilience planning, ranging from near-term emergency management to long-range community and infrastructure planning. This session will discuss the strategies developed by a multi-agency, integrated team through multiple engagement efforts with those most acutely feeling the effects of extreme weather events.

4:45 PM – 5:30PM
Concurrent Sessions

Lessons from Recent Wildfire and Extreme Heat Disasters”
Speakers:
Nicole Boothman-Shepard, AECOM
Karl Kim, PhD, National Disaster Preparedness Training Center, University of Hawaii
Jeff Schlegelmilch, National Disaster Preparedness Center, Columbia University
Climate and urbanization have fueled increased threats and needs for mitigation and adaptation to reduce risk from extreme heat and wildfires. The panel builds on recent experiences and multi-sector capabilities to support risk reduction and climate resilience.

“Improving the Resilience of the Nation’s Watershed Regions to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Risk Landscape”
Speakers:
Igor Linkov, US Army Corps of Engineers
Preston Wilson, Resilience Solutions Consulting
This session will describe a multi-year initiative led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with a national Task Group of practitioners and experts to develop a customizable framework and holistic lifecycle process with selected resources that local and regional decision-makers can use to collectively assess and reduce risk to enable continuous resilience improvement of the watershed, its communities, and supporting interdependent infrastructures.

5:30PM
Welcome Mixer – Porch Party

Wednesday • March 12

8:00 AM
Coffee + Conversation
Wake up with us! Join us for coffee and a morning bite to get your morning going.

8:15 AM – 9:00 AM
Concurrent Sessions

“Creating Climate Resilient Communities with FORTIFIED and Wildfire Prepared”
Speakers:
Wendy Anderson, IBHS
Brenda Breaux, New Orleans Redevelopment Authority
Alex Cary, IBHS
Manuela Ekowo, IBHS
Natural disasters are becoming more severe, frequent, and costly. Communities are responding by investing in affordable housing that can withstand severe weather like hurricanes and wildfires. Learn about the research and science behind resilient construction methods like IBHS’s FORTIFIED and Wildfire Prepared standards, how communities use these tools to build survivable homes, and the successes experienced to date.
“Local Floodplain Regulations that Increase Resilience and Disaster Recovery”
Speaker:
Renee Van Sickle, City of Columbus, OH
The City of Columbus, OH maintaines higher floodplain standards than FEMA does & per 44 60 CFR 60.1 (d) the higher standards must take precedence. The higher standards include: 1.) Freeboard/Flood Protection Elevation (FPE) for lowest floors; 2.) Ingress & Egress; 3.) New public streets should be at the FPE; and 4.) Compensatory Storage. This session will discuss information from the National Resilience Guidance (NRG) 2024 document by FEMA & how it is relevant.

9:15 AM – 10:00 AM
Campfire Sessions

“Implementation of South Carolina’s Strategic Statewide Resilience and Risk Reduction Plan”
Features: South Carolina
Speaker: Alex Butler, South Carolina Office of Resilience
In 2023 the SCOR released the State’s first Strategic Statewide Resilience and Risk Reduction Plan which serves as guide to coordinate resilience activities and funding across the state. This session will provide an update on actions SCOR has undertaken to ensure recommendations are being implemented.

“Lessons from the Bomb Cyclone”
Features: Nebraska
Speaker: Adele Phillips, Floodplain Management Division
How Nebraska’s top-ranking Floodplain Management Division has modernized our approach to community engagement and technical assistance. Presentation will feature our real-time flood forecasting interface, marketing initiative, and field tools.

10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
AM Break

10:45 AM – 11:45 AM
Plenary Session
“The Power of Persuasion: The Science of Being Heard, Understood and Believed”
Speaker: Tom Martin, Author and Internationally Recognized Speaker

Whether selling a vision, or rallying support, persuasion is the difference between being overlooked and inspiring action. As a resilience leader, you are tasked with uniting your team in action but getting people to listen, trust, and perform isn’t about charisma or confidence – it’s about science. This session will reveal the invisible forces that shape persuasion, how to use them to your advantage, and equip you with science-backed techniques to ensure your message lands with impact every time.

11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Lunch
“Al-Fresco Luncheon”
Enjoy some delicious food, unwind and decompress, all while you dine al-fresco on the Porch.

1:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Plenary Panel
“Strengthening Resilience: Unpacking Risk Management & Insurance”
Moderator: Natalie Enclade, BuildStrong America
Speakers:
Commissioner Mark Fowler, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Insurance and Co-Chair of the Alabama Resilience Council
Dan Kaniewski, Marsh McLennan
Lars Powell, Alabama Center for Insurance

The panel will explore innovative risk management and insurance strategies that can help communities enhance their resilience to natural disasters. Building on the insights shared during the Insurance Foundations & Resilience: Empowering CROs with Knowledge and Resources webinar, this session will take a deeper dive into innovative insurance tools such as parametric solutions and FORTIFIED standards. Experts will share real-world examples of how these programs have led to state-wide resilience improvements, highlight key challenges, and discuss how to turn obstacles into opportunities for success. Participants will walk away with practical strategies to engage insurance solutions as a tool for advancing community resilience.

2:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Fast Break
Refresh yourself for the rest of the afternoon with a quick hydration break.

2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
Concurrent Sessions

“Harnessing the Tech Revolution”
Speaker:
Jeff McLeod, Deloitte
Faraz Syed, Deloitte
This session explores the ways technology is transforming emergency management and how innovative tech solutions—such as AI, machine learning, and large language models (e.g., ChatGPT); blockchain; quantum—are, or will be, revolutionizing disaster response, preparedness, and recovery to achieve greater resilience.

Innovations in Disaster Risk Reduction: Advancing Flood and Wind Resilience in South Louisiana
Speakers:
Monica Farris, University of New Orleans
Carol Friedland, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center
Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center
This session will explore cutting-edge strategies to mitigate flood and wind risk in South Louisiana, an area expected to face an average annual disaster risk of $4.6 billion by 2050. This session will discuss how DRI fosters cross-sector collaborations across academia, industry, and government to drive risk-reducing technological innovations and build an inclusive, resilient ecosystem.

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Plenary Session
“Leading Resilience: What Leaders Need to Know in Order to Lead People Building Resilient Systems”
Speaker: W. Ross Ashley, III, Senior Director, Emergency Management, KPMG LLP
Facilitator: Natalie Enclade, BuildStrong America

In this session, we will discuss the behaviors and incentive structures that we have all had engrained in our work ethic in order to be efficient and to optimize everything. There are leadership variables that can be adjusted to achieve efficiency and resilience. We’ll define these variables and how to adjust them to achieve goals…even when they may compete with one another.

4:30 PM-6:30PM
“Revelry & Resilience” Closing Reception Sponsored by Beam
Come grab some fresh air and a cool beverage while we mix and mingle. Here, you can enjoy some local music and delicious bites with old and new friends alike. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Thursday • March 13

8:00 AM
Coffee + Bites
Join us as we begin our last morning together.

8:15 AM – 9:00 AM

Campfire Sessions

“Working Across the Aisle: A Collaborative Approach to Resilience Success”
Features: Virginia
Speaker:
Matt Wells, Department of Conservation and Recreation
Virginia has made significant strides in its state-level resilience efforts over the past three years, culminating in major legislation that created and funded a new Office of Commonwealth Resilience in 2024. In this session, learn more about how Virginia leaders have found success by engaging partners from across the political spectrum.

“Tornadoes and Recovery the Goldilocks Conundrum – Not too big and not too small”
Features: Louisiana
Speakers:
Matthew Hammond, LA GOHSEP
Meg DeJean, LA GOHSEP
Best Practices for Non-Stafford Act Responses – Case Studies. Many responses today are more than a local jurisdiction can handle, but they do not meet the requirements for a Federal Emergency Declaration. This session explores best practices to meet response needs in intermediate-sized events.

9:15 AM – 10:15 AM

“Disaster FINANCIAL Readiness and Recovery – Before, During and After Disaster”
Speakers:
Mary Louise Resch, South Carolina Office of Resilience
Jim Leroux, Pin4
Wesley Stone, Systems & Methods, Inc.
Kirsten Trusko, Payments as a Lifeline
PaaL, Visa and the SBA are working on programs to serve households and small businesses to proactively drive readiness and speed recovery. In this panel hear stories from the trenches by public and private sector leaders in disaster. Hear how planning, partners & pilots – are making a dramatic difference in delivering disaster funds – fast, safe, and with dignity.

10:30 AM – 11:45 AM
Plenary Session
Different Strokes for Different Folks: Emerging Practices in State Resiliency Offices
Speakers:
Nick Angarone, New Jersey Chief Climate Resilience Officer, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Ben Duncan, CRO, South Carolina Governor’s Office
Anne Miller, Colorado Resiliency Office Director, Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Stephen Swiber, Chief Resilience Officer, Louisiana Governor’s Office

Resiliency is an emerging practice. And State resiliency offices are on the forefront of innovations and new approaches to building local and statewide resilience. Each State has its own story and no two offices are alike. Hear the origination stories from four different state resiliency offices, residing in Governor’s Offices, in Emergency Management Offices, and other State agencies. While each office has taken slightly different paths, the common threads are cross-agency collaboration, systems thinking, and adaptive management. Learn about successes, challenges, and how these offices are breaking down silos and partnering to advance future-oriented solutions to reduce risk and build thriving communities.

11:45 AM
Conference Concludes