How to Disaster

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "We're not powerless. We are not powerless against wildfire. We know what we need to do." —Amanda West "I try not to use the word remove. Just move them. You can have plants. You can have a beautiful landscape. We want that five feet for the fire break." —Mark Vaughn   Wildfires pose a serious threat to homes and communiti...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:   "As the recovery process continues, you have to continue to adapt." —Emily Nilsen Disaster recovery is a complex challenge, but innovative lenders are stepping up to the plate. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) like Impact Development Fund are providing flexible financing, coordinating resources, and creating tailo...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "Home ownership is about stability. Homeownership is about building wealth. Homeownership is about families. But if you don't have a clear title, you don't know if that stability is going to be there." —Tim Carpenter   Disaster strikes, but for some, the real battle is just beginning. Millions of homes across the US are caught...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "How you frame your argument is how you get them to listen." —Jeff Okrepkie   "We're willing to help anybody out that is going through this now or in the future." —Steve Crowder    "There's no playbook when it comes to a wildfire… Be ready, because you know this is going to impact you at some point, maybe not direc...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  This recovery is slow, it's painful, and it's costly. We need patience, and aloha, and support because we're all in this together."  —Angus McKelvey   "We have a lot of challenges moving forward, and it's figuring out the strategy of how we're going to approach it. And once you get that strategy, you have to figure...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "Trust is so important to building a community of practice. And part of that trust comes from understanding where people are and where they stand." —Michael McCormick   "Once the scene is stabilized and we start to clean things up, and then there comes a point where we start rebuilding things… and that's when the long-term rec...

2024 WILDFIRE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT   Episode Description:  "It's not enough just to give, you have to always receive as well with the same grace and gratitude and aloha." —Jennifer Gray Thompson   "Aloha is boundless, and we know that Aloha reaches all shores and all states. Even in the most trying of times together, we are one team."  —Mahina Martin   Welcome to the final day of...

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...