About ResCon Programming:
ResCon is excited to continue a new programming format which offers a deeper dive into the scheduled, curated content. With a desire to facilitate deeper exploration and take-aways from each topic, the 3-day programming will include:
Campfire Sessions
These intimate state-focused sessions are designed to highlight success-story case studies which explore resilient communities. This unique session type will create an intimate, interactive setting in a lounge-like environment with opportunities to explore best practices and find actionable takeaways.
Plenary and Concurrent Sessions
These panel events are designed to bring together a complex set of experts to hold an in-depth conversation on each featured topic. Panelists will offer a range of perspectives, representing diverse organizations and experiences. These topical discussions will highlight collaborative organizational relationships paired with SME perspectives.
Keynote Session
These feature events will present distinguished speaker addresses, designed to inspire, from their personal insights on resilience.
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Tentative Program
| MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2026 |
| Theme: Insurance |
| 2:15pm Introduction |
| 2:30pm – 3:30pm Plenary: The Role of Insurance in Building Resilient Communities Come prepared with your list of questions for our “Ask the Expert” Insurance panelists. Understanding the complex nuances of Insurance isn’t easy, so this is your opportunity to steer the conversation on what is most meaningful to your work. |
| 3:45pm – 4:30pm Concurrent Sessions
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| 4:45pm – 5:30pm Plenary: Louisiana’s Deepening Insurance Crisis This plenary session, featuring Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple, will examine the state’s wind and flood risk and the growing insurance crisis through a Louisiana-focused lens. The discussion will highlight how actions at three scales – the individual building, the community, and the state – shape both resilience and the insurance landscape. Commissioner Temple will share his perspectives on what it will take for Louisiana to navigate and ultimately emerge from this deepening insurance challenge.
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| 5:30pm Welcome Mixer |
| TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2026 |
| Theme: States & Feds |
| 8:00am Coffee + Bites |
| 8:30am – 9:15am Plenary: CRO Panel A perennial favorite at ResCon, this year’s Chief Resiliency Officers panel will share insights from a diverse mix of state offices. Expect a lively discussion that identifies obstacles, opportunities, and solutions arising from shifting responsibilities between Federal and State governments. |
| 9:30am – 10:15am Plenary: Building Statewide Coalitions & Advocating for a Unified Resilience Agenda As resilience becomes a central pillar of state and national policy, the need for cohesive advocacy has never been greater. Using BuildStrong’s “big tent” approach—uniting diverse voices from government, industry, nonprofits, and communities—this session will explore how collective advocacy transforms fragmented resilience efforts into an actionable, state-aligned movement.
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| 10:30am – 11:15am Plenary: Next Steps in State and Local Resilience Planning: Preparing for Shifts in Federal Emergency Management As the emergency management landscape evolves – including potential restructuring of federal programs, policy realignments, and changes in intergovernmental roles – state and local governments face both uncertainty and opportunity. This plenary session, moderated by the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS), will convene senior leaders from government, emergency management, and the private sector to examine how states and localities can strengthen resilience planning and execution in a changing environment.
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| 11:30am – 12:15pm Concurrent Sessions
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| 12:15pm – 1:30pm Buffet Luncheon |
| 1:30pm – 2:30pm Fireside Chat: Inside the Transition: Reflections for Resilience Leaders Amidst Potential FEMA Reform Featuring: Mark Cooper, FEMA Review Council member and former Chief of Staff, Louisiana Governor’s Office and Executive Director, Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness This fireside chat with FEMA Review Council member Mark Cooper will offer a candid, practitioner-focused conversation for resilience leaders navigating evolving responsibilities in emergency management. Drawing on his discussions with state and local leaders during the Review Council’s work and his experience leading the Louisiana Governor’s Office and the state’s homeland security and emergency preparedness programs, Cooper will provide insights on operating effectively amid shifting duties and potential FEMA reforms. He will also share lessons from his tenure as Senior Director for Global Emergency Management at Walmart, highlighting how leaders can adapt state and local resilience strategies as federal roles change and explore approaches to funding resilience and recovery efforts for the future.
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| 2:45pm – 3:30pm Campfire Sessions
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| 3:45pm – 4:30pm Plenary: Open Dialogue – Shifting Responsibility Roll up your sleeves for a hands-on, high-energy session that puts collaboration front and center. Designed to spark ideas and tap into the collective brainpower of the room, expect lively discussion and creative problem-solving. By the end of the session, groups will synthesize their insights into practical solutions and valuable takeaways. |
| 4:30pm – 6:30pm Networking Reception: A “Spell”abration In New Orleans, gris-gris is about good vibes, good fortune, and great company. Soak up the music, the flavors, and the space around you—at this closing reception, the real magic is connection. |
| WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026 |
| Theme: Funding |
| 7:30am Coffee + Bites |
| 8:00am – 9:00am
Plenary: Hazard Mitigation on a Shoestring and a Prayer – Scaling Mitigation Efforts with Shifting Federal Support
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| 9:15am – 10:00am Concurrent Sessions
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| 10:15am – 11:00am Concurrent Sessions
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