How to Disaster

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Episode Description:   "Indigenous values can shift how we deal with disasters." —Kainoa Horcajo   Disaster recovery isn't just about rebuilding infrastructure— it's about honoring the deep connections between people and place. Principles like reciprocity, collective responsibility, and deep connection to the land can shape a more compassionate and c...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "We are making a change and we are making a difference, and it all starts with culture." —Kukui Keahi "[The silver lining] is neighbors helping neighbors." —Melissa Baurer "Our mission is simple: provide beautiful, healthful, love-filled food so that those experiencing crisis can have the strength to do the next hard thing...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "It is becoming a cheerleader for the community that we're [private sector] back." —Tim Zahner  "It takes all of us to make a recovery. There are no heroes after the disaster itself. We all have a role to play." —Lynn Knight "The Kupuna up there in that forest are so alive more than ever. They're just needing condu...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Episode Description:   "The fact that the fire's not near you, it doesn't mean that energy is not going to affect you." —Hani Taan   "What we're trying to shore up is to not only protect assets but to keep the fire from getting worse." —Carrie Horazeck   The world is getting hotter, with cities facing the devastating impacts of the urban...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Episode Description:   "The solutions are creating those resilient landscapes." —Marco Bey   "It's going to come back to you. Is going to come back to how prepared you are? —how prepared can we all be to face these events? We need to center ourselves in that Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge so that we can make good choices." —Belinda B...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Episode Description:  "We're going to have to come together in order to be climate resilient." —Elizabeth Christy     "The earth knows how to respond." —Caitlin Cornwall     "There's this window of opportunity after a catastrophe." —Joe Nordlinger   Disasters are complex challenges that require integrated solutions. While technology c...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Episode Description:  "There's no greater power, no greater strength, and no greater drive to persevere than when you're fighting for your family and you're fighting for your home, even in the face of insurmountable odds." —Josiah Nishita   "We were the home to the most disastrous wildfire at the time, and that's one of those titles that...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "If we're not building with sustainable materials and we're not designing with sustainability in mind, we'll be in an even worse place environmentally."  —Andrew Rothgaber   "We were able to achieve gold standard…so that people know that they have a higher chance that if there's a hurricane that comes through, that...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "You got to be able to get out there and be able to assess the situation, not only from the building standpoint but the infrastructure standpoint, so that your decision-makers have the opportunity to make decisions and know what's facing them in terms of their top priorities." —Karl Fippinger   "An authentic leader who's v...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "We have to grow the 'we' if we're going to survive in the future." —Supervisor James Gore   Effective leadership is not about commanding authority, but about cultivating a shared vision and empowering the community. True leaders understand that their role is to listen, collaborate, and build trust with those they serve.  ...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:   "It's never about benefiting our organization, it's about benefiting the cause." —Jennifer Gray Thompson  Day 2 of the 2024 Wildfire Leadership Summit is underway and the insights are about to get even more powerful!  After an inspiring and insightful first day, we are thrilled to continue our important discussions on disaste...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "A shared vision of reality where we can all see what's happening allows us all to respond to the same thing accordingly." —John Mills   Preparing for the future of disasters requires innovative solutions that go beyond traditional approaches. By consolidating critical information and leveraging technology, communities can enhance...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "There's a lot that can be done if you open up the doors and just change the way that you do things." —Jim Alvey   "We don't do anything globally without partnerships. As a disaster relief organization, we're trying to get the most relief, the most amount of people, the fastest amount of time, for the least amount of m...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "Our mission should be developing communities to better withstand the challenges of our climate, building better and smarter in the first place, not just building back better. Together, we can create a safer, more prepared locality, a more prepared state, a more prepared nation." —Chris Smith   Disaster recovery should empower, not ex...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "The critical resources we used for this were imagination and creativity— things that are always with us, even immediately after a disaster. And by doing this, we have helped ourselves heal ourselves, we've helped our community heal." —Ken Donnell   "Children in our community haven't had the opportunity to share what happe...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "Allow yourself the best you can to just release into all things in due time." —Jacqui Jorgeson   "It's important as leaders that we show those who we are leading that we also need breaks. We are not gods." —Matt Henderson    "Whatever people needed, everybody stepped up to make sure that needs were met to the best of...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "After disaster, there is plenty of information that you have to absorb, there's plenty of decisions you've got to make, there's plenty of problems you've got to solve, and prolonged stress impacts our ability to do all of those things." —Jolie Wills    After a disaster, it's crucial to equip local communities with...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "We need to stop looking at people in this country being victims all the time, but actually being the true first responder in every community, in every situation." —Brock Long   Disasters are hitting our communities harder and more frequently than ever before. We can't keep relying on the same old playbook - it's time for a fr...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "We were rendering aid— food, medical, and those immediate needs until such that the government arrived. So we were in operation for 30 days." —Kalikolehua Storer   "Hard decisions had to be made that day. My daughter would grab the pets and I would grab my uncle. This was the plan… On the one-year date, I scattered my uncle's...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "We have one chance, and we have one chance to get this right. If we rebuild Lahaina only for Lahaina, we will fail. We have to rebuild Lahaina for all of Hawaii, for all of mankind, so that Lahaina can be the example of how we need to move forward for Hawaii and for the world. The SAIL PLAN for Hawaii is in your hands. It's in all of...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "Nothing else mattered more than helping our people… Together, we have the chance to not only rebuild, but to do so in a way that honors our past, supports our present, and secures a resilient future."  —Honorable Richard Bissen   The August 2023 Maui wildfire is considered the deadliest wildfire incident in the U.S. in over a century...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "The most important people in the room are the people who have lived it, who went to bed one night and the next day when they woke up, their lives were absolutely never the same." —Jennifer Gray Thompson   "In Hawaii, we call land Aina, and within that word is the word AI, and AI is food, and that is what nourishes you. So we unde...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "The biggest component of it is making sure that everyone's talking as much as possible, that there is collaboration and you're working together in order to make sure that kids have the support that they need." —Henry Meier   "If I don't feel emotionally safe, physical safety means nothing.—Kasey Earnest   "When we...

"If you're just doing a very limited role and not maximizing your contribution, you're selling yourself short. And it's probably not why you were selected." -Aristotle Wolfe   Episode Description:  When disaster strikes, police officers take on the difficult but vital role of protecting the public. They establish security perimeters, communicate warnings, and keep other first r...

"You do have to bring in some science and some education. But there is something that people who have this generational knowledge can teach." -Algeo Che Casul     Episode Description:  Mega fires pose a grave threat to private lands across California in the era of climate change. As hotter, drier conditions fuel larger and more destructive wildfires, the majority of wildlands that surround...