In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

If you are in the Washington, D.C. area on Monday morning, there will be an interesting panel discussion on business and community preparedness and response. Organized by the Reform Institute, the forum is titled “A Resilience Metric: Measuring Preparedness Before Disaster Strikes”. The event is described in an Institute news release:  

Preparation and planning are the foundation for building resilience, but it is often only in hindsight that victims take stock of their preparedness levels. Failure for communities and business to adequately plan or provide preparedness-based education to citizens and employees can create a much more difficult recovery process. Join the Homeland and National Security Center of the Reform Institute as we discuss how communities and business can begin to determine their levels of resilience before a natural or manmade disaster occurs.

The concept of resilience – the ability to withstand and quickly recover from a catastrophic event – has gained prominence in the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, Congress, states and localities and the business community. The next step is to identify what constitutes resilience and to measure progress towards achieving it. The Reform Institute, a nonpartisan public policy organization, is committed to building a more resilient America. The forum will build off last year’s Reform Institute report, Building A Resilient Nation: Enhancing Security, Ensuring a Strong Economy.

Event Details: 

WHAT: Policy Forum – “A Resilience Metric: Measuring Preparedness Before Disaster Strikes”

WHEN: Monday, March 23, 2009 – 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: The Phoenix Park Hotel, Ballroom 520 N. Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC

WHO: Robert W. Kelly, Senior Advisor, Homeland and National Security Center of the Reform Institute; Managing Partner, CenTauri Solutions, LLC – Moderator;
Marie Royce, Managing Director, Global Strategic Initiatives, Global Government & Public Affairs, Alcatel-Lucent;
Jeff Gaynor, Founder, American Resilience Consulting, LLC; former Director, Critical Infrastructure Task Force, Homeland Security Advisory Council
Liz DiGregorio, former Director, Office of Community Preparedness – Citizen Corps, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Sen. Michael Balboni, Principal, Navigators Global; former New York State Senator and Deputy Secretary for Public Safety.