IAEM 2nd VP Priority #4 - Next Generation of Emergency Management
A month ago, I announced my candidacy along with four priority areas that I believe reflect the many conversations I’ve had with IAEM-USA members from around the country. The election opens today so I wanted to expand on my final priority area and talk about my ideas for the next four years.
In this article, I want to focus on how IAEM-USA can attract and support the next generation of emergency managers. Even if we all don’t resign due to burnout from COVID in the next year, there will be plenty of new employment opportunities for graduating students and emerging professionals. One of the cornerstones of IAEM-USA is our student initiatives, an area that has been under many changes in the past few years. Dissolution of the Student Council created better opportunities for students to engage with their regions; however, a gap was left in providing a common platform for students to share information and network across the country.
Providing a cohesive student experience is essential to recruiting and retaining this next generation of membership. This topic is more challenging than ever. Many students and emerging professionals opt to avoid professional associations due to cost and a lack of understanding of the benefits of participating in a group like IAEM-USA (see Past President Marty Shaub's article in the November 2018 IAEM Bulletin ). Region 3 President Walter English has been doing quite a bit of work with the IAEM Staff in the past year to fill some of the gaps created by eliminating the Student Region, and there are opportunities to prioritize this work in the coming years.?
In IAEM Region 1, many student members are not part of a school chapter and have limited opportunities to network with other students. IAEM-USA should bring the discussions to create a Student Caucus back to the table to gauge interest by the student members to participate in a group like this with their peers. A caucus may be too formal for this group, but now is the time to explore opportunities.?
When a student or emerging professional is looking for their next internship or job, their first place to look should be the IAEM Job Board . There have been opportunities to provide vouchers for IAEM-USA members to post jobs for free on the Job Board. Still, the association should explore the costs and benefits of providing this service as a standard member benefit to increase the tool's adoption by employers, students, and emerging professionals.
I enjoyed meeting student members from around the country during the New Emergency Managers Networking Reception at the IAEM Conference in Savannah. I think similar initiatives, both virtual and in-person, would greatly benefit our student members. In fact, during COVID-19, our City ended up hiring a recent graduate from IAEM Region 2 that I met through that reception. That's the power of IAEM-USA for students.
In a similar category but requiring uniquely catered experience are emerging and transitioning professionals. This category is a growing space within emergency management, as young and transitioning emergency managers look for mentoring, networking, professional development, & job opportunities. This concept is not uncommon in professional associations, and many similar examples exist within associations in a similar space to IAEM-USA. For instance, in the security sector, ASIS International has a well-established Young Professionals program with a robust mentoring initiative that extends to their local chapters . The seeds for this type of initiative are already within IAEM-USA. Many of you who attended the IAEM Emerging Leaders Pop Up event at the Savannah conference two years ago know how great a networking opportunity it was. Other groups such as Aspiring Emergency Managers Online (AEMO) and the Emergency Management Growth Initiative (EMGI) have stepped in to fill the void in this space. IAEM-USA should identify opportunities to collaborate with these very active programs.
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Last but not least, IAEM-USA must move from ideas to action on engaging diverse students & emerging emergency management professionals. Curtis Brown, CEM, State Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, provided powerful testimony to Congress in 2020 highlighting the lack of diversity in our profession and the likely impacts on emergency management program delivery in marginalized communities . IAEM-USA has taken many steps forward on this topic recently, including the development of an active Diversity Committee , the appointment of a Diversity & Equity Advisor on the IAEM-USA Board , a partnership signed with the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM) , and two member statements released in in 2020.?
We can do more. IAEM-USA may have the opportunity to leverage core programs in our portfolio to support these priorities. For example, are there opportunities to mentor and subsidize the costs of emergency management’s premier certification program, the AEM/CEM, for marginalized populations? Can partnerships be established with philanthropic organizations to support new emergency management scholarships for the diverse new faces we need to add to the profession? It can be challenging to agree on what to do on these complex issues but using IAEM-USA’s existing programs to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion is a good start.
While these are just ideas, and it will be necessary to collaborate with the rest of the IAEM-USA membership to see these come to fruition, I believe it's essential to outline a well-developed strategy for the association. I look forward to continuing my service for IAEM-USA as your 2nd VP! The election opens today so please check out the three other campaign articles I’ve posted to LinkedIn below and email me if you have any questions or feedback about my ideas for IAEM-USA’s next four years.
Please comment below if you have any feedback or recommendations on these ideas; I'm open to discussion! Be on the lookout today for an email from IAEM-USA with your link to vote in the 2nd Vice President election!
Emergency Management Professional, Crisis Manager, Technologist, AI Enthusiest, Educator
3 年Integration of students varies so greatly across the regions. In Region 10, we've had a student position on the board that we've never been able to fill. I was also part of the group that was trying to form a student caucus after the dissolution of the Student Region, but it was challenging to find students who wanted to work on the formation of it. We had plenty of non-students, but that put us in the position of creating something "for" others instead of "with" others. I hope to work with you to solve this problem in my remaining year on the board!
Emergency Management, Public Health, Strategic Planning
3 年Unfortunately I have to disagree with the assessment that the, “Dissolution of the Student Council created better opportunities for students to engage with their regions”. During my tenure there were significant opportunities for student engagement at the regional level including allowing Chapters to participate and support regional activities. There was also a push to create “at-large chapters” with support from active chapters to integrate students that did not have chapters at their schools. Today we now have 10 different voices for students overall and no national unified message about student interests. On the other hand, I do agree that, “a gap was left in providing a common platform for students to share information and network across the country.” This link is critical without national leadership. The way the student question was handled was destructive and was mearly money driven to prop up the National Board and Regional Boards budgets. This left no opportunity to create student support program at the regional and chapter level, a project that was in development during my tenure. In addition there was significant opportunity for student engagement at the regional level, but interest in serving was at an all time low.
Senior Lead Faculty, Emergency Management Professionals Program at FEMA Emergency Management Institute
3 年Good luck Justin!
Consultant in Crisis and Emergency Management
3 年It was clear to me that as the Northeastern FCO that our response and recovery operations would not have been as successful without employees with Next Generation skills. I'm wondering if the idea of updating and validating the prior IAEM NEXTGEN skills through the lens of COVID-19 operations may be a worthwhile endeavor, if not already contemplated? Russ