c-spans your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we are just getting started, building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who neeit >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> next, crisis communications and community engagement. we will hear from fema administrator, white house press secretary, and that head of u.s. fire administration, hosted in washington dc with a talk about the importance of community outreach, tribal and rural communities, and accessing information.

>> to start our day, please welcome associate administrator for fema's office of external affairs. [applause] >> hello and welcome. justin night, associate administrator of the office external affairs. i am thrilled to kick off fema's first ever summit on community engagement. thank you for being here. so many more are watching online and through the liv broadcast. thank you, c-span. this tells me that today's topics and themes really matter for the country and more than that, all of you communicators

across the nation are doing lifesaving work every day that matters. i cannot help but think r co-responders -- cosponsors, the office of external affairs f their work every day to serve the nation and help people, and for their work to help host and produce this summit. i also have to think our fema office of chief counsel. if there is one thing i have learned, engage your lawyers early and often and thank them all the time. thank you, fema lawyers. thank you to the front office, lucas hit, incredible jessica wieder, jessica hubbard, and nicole kansas. i also need to thank our fema regional administrators who are

here with us today and across the agency those who supported the event. specifically the u.s. fire administrator and fema administrator. i'm thank you to all of the presenters. we have assembled some of the nations leading communication practitioners, luminaries and agents of change in our field. thank you all for coming and for being here and for showing up. you represent the best, the highest, some of the most influential leading community organizers in the field today. you come from all levels of government.

you come from nonprofits, the private sector, emergency managements and the international community. some of you travel just down the road to get here today, others of you flew in from places like california and hawaii and beyond. we have convened communicators who share a common devotion and duty to communicate effectively, to engage with our communities in ways that work for them, and to helpful fill our role to build resilience nationwide like never before. this is urgent for all of us because climate is a risk multiplier, from day-to-day issues to the community level to transnational threats and environmental, and challenging conditions into chaos. the extra complexity of all we face from cyber attacks and

public health emergencies create abnormal obstacles for communicators. set the stage with some context. globally 27% of people reported experiencing a disaster such as flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake or fire in just theie in 70 adults in 2022 alone, were estimated to have been displaced from their home because of ae ft that as we look at the disaster landscape in years to come, the disaster tempo will continue to impact everyone, but especially those underserved communities, the left out, cut out or forgotten communities among us that will continue to bear the brunt and burden moving forward. from a communicator standpoint, these trends are even more alarming when you also consider the hurdles we face in delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time. across the country, information and the landscape that we wo within continues to change rapidly. for example, research shows that our news media and media consumption habits are splintering like never before forcing us to consider what's working in our engagements, where we missed the mark, and where we must completely rethind pivot. now, they're a cross-sector, cross-disciplinary leaders

working across government before, during and after these incidents yet, there's not one national forum designed exclusively for communicators on the front lines of these issues to learn, to share and to connect. and if you're a communicator in the room that hasn't yet grappled with these issues, a matter of time before a situation put you in the hot seat where you have to lead in extraordinary ways. that's this summit to bring us altogether with the issues at the forefront. i know each of you, myself included, take ourselves-- not ourselves, our roles. we don't take ourselves, we take our roles very serious communicators. we work to strengthen, adapt anw that done well, in our

profession we have the power to , transform the in fact, and weg about the summit and took a hard look at fema's role and our role as a convener, our role to help fill the gap of people coming together to share, to listen, and wanted an opportunity to look ahead with all of you and think boldly about the future of our field and reflect on how communications must continue to adapt. communications and community engagement are not just inextricably intertwined, they're the pillars on which we build our collective resilience. going deep on any one area is incredibly valuable, but so is exposure to the wide variety of approaches, platforms, tools, issues and opportunities like art, film, behavior change strategies from leaders and experts in public health. best practices from the domestic and international lens and beyond. these and so much more are the areas that we will be exploring today.

we very intentionally curated this forum with our sponsors because regardless of where your position or practice exists, we do not have the luxury of operating in a vacuum. we must grasp and consider it all, how we're woven together to make the power of communications work. that's also what today is about. each of you sitting here today are an important part of this summit. how you spend your day and actions you take after matter. i know you're all incredibly busy people and have lot going on and right now i'm sure many of you are thinking about the program, topics and speakers you want to hear from. i think some of you are probably answering work e-mails. i see you. [laughter]

i think some of you are texting colleagues and friends, it may be in the room right now or , beyond. i also see you. are thinking about what you did this weekend what the rest of your , chaotic work week looks like and the herculean efforts it took just to get in the room today. i acknowledge all of this because i'm going to ask tt all set intention to be present. we're gathered here in this magnificent room with this feeling, the national academy of sciences, with the purpose to grow, to connect, to learn and take what we're due through the lens of the hazards that impact our communities. together let's use a judgment free mindset to honestly challenge or confirm what we know, how we think and what we do. our hope, my hope is that you're met with moments are

-- moments of inspiration tactics to strengthen what you tactics to strengthen what you, do, connections to help you reach your goals and insight into how your colleagues, those on the stage and throughout the room communicate your difference and viewpoints. we might always -- we might not always agree but we have to acknowledge that these viewpoints are part of our worlds. this is your commission to get everything you need out of this summit today and more. with that, let's get started. it is my honor to introduce my boss, the administrator of the federal emergency management agency, deanne criswell. any of you who have seen her do an interview in the white house press briefing room, conduct conversation with a community stakeholder or talk one-on-one with a survivor at a disaster site know she's one of the nation's zatop communicators. as one of the top problem solvers in the nation for president biden, cnn recently featured the administrator inin,

given impact in washington dc and across the country with her bottom-up, community-based, leadership. she leads with compassion and honesty and that is why i am proud to have her kick off the summit today. help me welcome the fema administrator, deanne criswell. [applause] >> well, good morning, everybody. what a great turnout. justin, i just want to say thank you very much for that introduction. thank you for organizing such an incredible event. as i think you heard from justin, and i just want to reiterate. today's convening is truly a

first of its kind for fema. it's the first time that we, as an agency, have pulled together communications professionals from across the federal family. different sectors to discuss the importance of risk communication, crisis communication, and community amazing speakers throughout the day today. from professionals across a variety of fields and sectors with different backgrounds in different areas of expertise.■p< and frankly, i think, as you heard some of the staffs that justin talked about in his opening remarks, there's urgency to have these today. as the nation's leading response recovery and resiliencely agency, fema has been working nonstop with many of you here in this room to keep up with the rapidly escalating tempo of

natural disasters and hazards across the country. i would say gone are the days of a typical disaster season. we are now dealing with persistent extreme heat, drought, extreme cold. we have seen weeks of devastating rain and tornados, just in the last few weeks. just in the last month or so. and i have visited four different states on four different storms, and just last week, we had a tornado that touched down right up the road in maryland. wildfires, they are also now happening year-round. texas and oklahoma caught fire all the way back in february and flames torched well into march . and last year, we had a

hurricane in a desert, of all places. all of this to say, we are constantly communicating to a variety of stakeholders of individuals and of partners to try and get our messages across, messages that save lives, change futures, and help mitigate risk. frequently visit many of these disaster sites. i'm on the ground, face-to-face with the aftermath just days after they pass. and you might ask, why do i do that? why do i spend so many hours on planes, flying across the country, visiting communities on their worst days? well, that's what i want to talk about with all of you today. i want to start with the story from one of my recent visits that i made to small town just outside of des moines, iowa.

i was walking with governor kim reynolds, visiting a residential area, and speaking with survivors from one of the most devastating tornados that they had experienced in that area. we saw a woman in a pink tank top,ordebris pile that was taller than me. next to a massive hole in the+ ground that used to be i listened as she told me her tale of survival. i listened as she told me she had been watching the news and heard that a storm was coming. i listened as she told me that her mother had just called minutes before the tornado went through to make sure that she went into the basement to stay safe. and how heeding her mother's warning had probably saved her life. i listened as she told me that while she was sitting in that

basement, under nothing more than just a few blankets, something flew through a low window, hit her in the head and knocked her out. and i listened as she told me when she woke up all she could see then was blue sky above. no more house. as the administrator, a lot of my day is spent listening to others. because listening matters, because listening is the foundation of communication. i look out into this room here this morning, and i see some significant power players in d.c. and in the communications realm. too often, i would say though, we find ourselves pressed for time, doing our best to make decisions, developing communication plans in a bubble in our nation's capital. it's not that different from the many other bubbles that exist in

cities across the country, in conference rooms and other various places across america. in these bubbles, we look at data. we do the best we can to make decisions with that data. but if we're operating solelyma, we miss the rest of the story. we need to look into the eyes of the survivors. we need to hear their stories, see the truth on the ground and then couple that anecdotal information with data to better inform our decision making. we can only fully grasp the impacts of disastey them. these experiences, they help us make the best decisions possible to support the communities that we serve, because good strategic communications is not one size fits all.

it considers the audience, their stories, their backgrounds. it requires us to consider the listener and to do some serious listening ourselves. because only by knowing our audience can we effectively get our message across, and the first step is opening the lines of communication so we can get our foot in the door. then we need to take the time to understand their needs, their concerns, so we can strategically shape communication to meet them where they are. let me give you just a couple of examples. when i brief president biden, being able to share survivor's story makes all of the difference. it helps me paint a picture and put a finer point on the human impact disasters have on communities across the nation.

so i know when i am communicating up, i need to come armed with stories, not just data, to help drive my point home. we also communicate across our federal families to align our resources, our support, and our messaging.■ and we communicate down to our work force, to make sure that we are all marching forward together. to do this requires message discipline, shared data, a common understanding of our mission, our stories, and our goals. these communications help us get on the same page. they require us to bring the amplify and coordinate our messaging. this is how we ensure that we are operating from the same playbook when we need to communicate out to the

and that's where listening comes back in, because the best way to reach these different communities, to communicate directly to them, is to meet them where they are, listen to their unique needs, and build our communications plan around let me give you another example. when hurricane ida was bearing down on louisiana, landfall was predicted to impact a community of vietnamese descent. previously, we had done all ofad american sign language. we knew that to reach this community we had to take their , needs, theirul consideration, so for the first time ever, we developed a psa in vietnamese. ese community through media outlets in the area and across our social media

channels to ensure that we could reach our intended audience. the result? it was our most watched video in 2021. people were anxious and hungry for the information that we were need and deserve.. they deserve to be listened to. they deserve to be met where they are, to have barriers removed so we can help them more effectively. and as leaders, it is on us to e first and listen to what they need, especially as we look to a more challenging future.: let me give you another example from one of my more recent trips. i was joined by senator bosman during my visit to arkansas last month to assess tornado damage, and i was really surprised by

what he told me, that the community that we were in had the largest population of marshalees. or the peoe from the marshal islands. the large population across the united states. i don't know about any of you, but translation into marshallese was not top of mind when responding to a community in rural arkansas. this is why listeng and understanding and taking the time to find out about the communities we serve is so important, the whole community. we have to be able to do this work. it's also why today's convening is so critical. because the people in this room wied with figuring out how to solve whatever problems come their way and helping to keep these commuti i want everyone in the room today to be thinking about what

those future challenges may be, and how we can leverage the partners that surround you, the conversations you will have, and the lessons that you will learn to be better prepared. i want you to ask yourselves, how do we make sure we're leading through crisis, instead of being driven by them? how do we ensure that we are meeting communities with intention, hearing their stories, and using them to paint a clearer picture of the work that needs to be done? how do we use our resources to break down barriers of access, including language barriers, so people can get the help that they need? how do we find out where people get their information, whether that's the news, a phone alert, social media, or like the woman i met in iowa, from her family,

from their caregivers, so we can help keep them safe? how do we improve our communication tools, our strategies, and our platforms moving forward? now, i know it can feel overwhelming, especially as justin clearly pointed out, you have very busy schedules and i know you're listening with intent right now, but i want to assure you that none of us are in this alone. we all have each other that we can depend on and get support from. this is why we brought you all here today, to build networks, to expand your networks, to share stories and to help you■o. because we are so much stronger when we do it together. thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules and being here today. i wish you the best of luck.

in my note, it says "i look forward to partnering with you in the future," but honestly, i hope i don't have t [laughter] with that, have a great day. [applause] >> this is why we love the commissioner so much. thank you, ma'am. another priority for all of us in the room who are communicators, we know that important part of the job, whether it's before disaster, during disaster or afterr on days like today where we're all gathered to learn, connect, and grow, is to be flexible and to remain flexible. and so, we will be hearing from the white house press secretary later this morning because there is a lot going on today in the world and we have to be flexible.

so with that, we are going to continue our program. i am so excited for the presenters you're about to see, what you're going to learn, exposed to, the discussions and ideas that today those on the stage will help to ignite and with that, let's continue our thank you so much. [applause] ♪ ♪■;

>> people and community are at the center of our work. this first section of presentations will focus on community and credibility. please welcome the deputy spokesperson for the u.s. department of state, nathan tick. [applause] mr. tick: good morning, everybody. it's such a pleasure to be with you today and thank you all so much for having me. it's an absolute pleasure to be speaking with you today on this incredibly important topic. my name is nathan. i have the honor for working with the department of state we -- department of state, where we protect prosperity, and

democratic values and shape and international environment in which americans can thrive. we use the tools of diplomacy to implement foreign policy that delivers results for every american, and we do that by taking on the biggest challenges they face and seizing the biggest opportunities that can improve their ves. and no challenge more clearly captures the two sides of this coin than the climate crisis and how we communicate at home and abroad about impending disasters. as risk and crisis communicators, you're operating on a global stage, in a global■r context as part of a global community of practitioners. that can be sometimes hard to remember as you go about your day-to-day work, putting out fires, figuratively, maybe with this crowd sometimes literally. it bears repeating here, as you know, the united states does not have a monopoly on hurricanes, wild fires, and pandemics are often exacerbated by the climate crisis.

they know no borders and they don't care about the nationalities of the communities they ravage. no one country can address these problems alone. while we deal with shared threats that cross borders, we can identify shared solutions that cross borders as well.allel face in this room and watching online with regard to public communications and community engagements around disasters and climate change has probably been encountered or thought about by someone else in some other country. actually i was delighted to see there were representatives and foreign attendance from gauna, saudi arabia, and othe, i think that cross-collaboration is exactly what we need more of. at the department of states, we. agency for international development and the department ate, to facilitate collaboration between american and foreign experts. we facilitate joint exercises with partners around the world that are focused on all aspects of disaster response, including

communications and public engagement. the state department's professional exchange programs bring foreign communications professionals and first responders to the united states to learn our best practices and we send american experts overseas to engage in exchanges with their foreign colleagues. as communications professionals, i encourage you to seek out opportunities to collaborate internationally in ways that result in win-win of best practices and knowledge. our view at@x s that every domestic crisis here in the united states has international dimensions from foreign students and embassies that have been affected. large catastrophic like hurricane sandy and the oil spills and■m wildfires in hawaii and canada generate offers of assistance and foreign citizens and the affected area or

expressions of sympathy by international governments. 20 years ago, hurricane katrina ulf coast of the united states in louisiana, and mississippi. people of qatar, a small arab state were deeply affected by the disaster and moved by the areas of destruction and decided to help. qatar established a fund in new orleans and other affected areas in the gulf coast and with the n partnered to aid.

and helped with the cleanup efforts. thispaying it forward was more than thanks, but a testamt to the deep connections in times of crisis showing acts can ripple across the globe and bring people together. while individual acts of kindness. the

united states through crisis shapes international opinion and policies. the world its watching. how the united states responds to the climate crisis and compem the department of state has seen a foreign journalists and their extensive coverage of the united states politics and policies. we have seen the continued growth of social media as the primary window in the united states for billions of people. the end result is that you are ambassadors for our country. your success as communicators has impact to lead on the global. that there was a botched response to a disaster or response could lead governments to conclude we are a country in decline our democratic and liberal system of governance and

that authoritarianism is better. you don't have to make any word for it and adversaries have propaganda and disinformation to take advantage toown aims. the center for providing material support to a state news agency focused on relationship that spread. one of the campaigns was to target u.s. and with dangerous health related disinformation. the campaign undermined public projects regarding the mosquito borne vital[> disease and health focused and spread of disease. we have seen russia propaganda

exploit the food crisis and that the invasion of ukraine was exacerbating. if they spread these lies, what can they do here at home. i urge you to keep in mind while misinformation, disinformation and rumors have been problems during disasters and foreign actors are jumping into the fray. the fight against disinformation starts with all of us and presents a joint challenge. the department of state and every communicator around the world including here at home will counter rumors and inaccuracies before it bom a fire storm. and lessons we have learned here. these are drawn from our experiences with domestic and foreign audiences and the

withdrawal from afghanistan, the outbreak of civil war in sudan d matters. getting your message out there is critical. others move quickly to fill the space, don't wait until you have a perfect plan. the planning are keys but thing will go according to plan. it develops relationships, norms and obtains any aprovals in advance which are more important but don't create a detailed plan and make your organization to meet the moment. communications very important especially as diplomats. are you ensuring that you are reaching populations and the

administrator offers examples of communicating here in the united states. are you forcing feedbacks to test your messages and cultural context of these audiences is how■f they perceive your messages. you need to be at the table as any policy operations are being developed because the public and journalists expect you to have the background and serve as an alarm bell if the decision is being made and will not pass muster with the press. a policy idea that works but does president pass muster with the media isn't a good policy idea. tell your audience what you expect if you feed to adjust and err. and one of our is to protect ams

overseas. we communicate to ensure they getting the information they need. inconsistency in messaging when multiple agencies aren't coordinated. many of my c the coordinated structures but everyone has the responsibility to ensure these members of the committee nissments are working and have been tested. don't hide behind legal jarringon. they want you to speaking clearly. all communicator need to have engage stakeholders, congressional and youth and foreign embasses and and messaging and engagement. as emergency grows in scale and

complexity. this is difficult and complicated to have fragmented but is absolutely essential. there is no magic formula to work effectively but elements in place and as long as we are carrying out our work we maximize our chances for success. thank you for the work you do on behalf of our country to ensure our leadership on the global stage. thank you everyone. [applause]

when the organizers asked me what the title of my presentation was going to be, rebuilding, reclaiming and connecting and not just a catchy phrase to go with an organization on their website but our equation for rebuilding, reconnecting. what do we actually do at the end of our project. we tee up communities and people for success. we actually look at the intersection of divestment and climate risk because we have

marginalized that are facing these challenges at the same time.k. everywhere public comments are built, everywhere that a black, brown or rural community has had lessor no access, you will find those same communities have an outside risk of disasters and the effects of climate cnge. for example, in heavily red-lined community you do have good bridges or public infrastructure. the internet is attached to tall buildings, good bridges, good public infrastructure. researchers and scientists that i work with needput up sensors and other technology to measure risk without a strong wifi connection, you can't

measure. communities can't access public services or resources appropriately and consistently to get the money they need to mitigate against all climate risks. you find yourself that you don't have blue sky access. you find our self faces heat like on a day like today. hurricanes and flooding and■ can't go online on research on fema . gov. it's hard to apply for resources. what do we do about this? in order to communicate and resource it, you have to be able to measure it. we work with communities to get the temporarily to get broadband wifi keeks. we help them understand the risk and what kind of solutions they want. once we can measure and design

solutions together, then he we can understand what resources looks like and start to build hope. first this equation one step at a time. and i love this story and i am grateful that our colleagues like this. the end of this project started in west baltimore and some of you might have known it from the television show "the wire" or the freddie gray tragedy or you did work in that community. during the height of the pandemic we were asked to help the community understand why they couldn't get access to the internet. these are early days of people going to school online and work online.

when we got there, there was no broadband in that part of baltimore and had to put up this community center. as i'm walking around and looking at the steps of the brown stones and all these black things on the steps. there is a lead containment facility and lead is not contained properly. then we realized that this is a low-lying part of baltimore in a coastal city that is sinking and con tam gnats that water is flooding repeatedly in the neighborhood. what are we going to do about this? a pandemic and environmental and climate risk all happening in this section of one u.s. american city. here's a rebuilding part of it. whenever we have an event we say we are going to rebuild and

repairing physical structure and good to communicate the numbers of what we are going to spend and how much stuff and building back the social sphrawr reminding folks that they have their own sovereignty that needs to be respected. part of rebuilding is respecting community sovereignty. and not because of all of the tragedy that we heard about happening there, there an incorporated african-american community in baltimore that was once thriving and thanks to an ambitious student of mine and we had a work shop of how to do wifi and all the physical mechanics we were going to do it and the didn't have the information and wasn't about the

thing, it was about who they used to be and a different narrative, a resillians ofverein the community. this leaves us to the second piece which is reclaiming because sometimes you talk about disaster victims and disaster survivors always in the context. and context of all of the talent and capacity and earnestness and hope that we find. as we are beginning to construct the community wifi some of the most interesting groups of people came to help. we had citizensg to find work and when they were under the government supervision. we didn't have them wifi texan

there are we had kids struggling to go to school because of the wifi issue. how long did it take for those high school kids to reconfigure and take ownership over the maintenance and work with us on distribution snr that's of comms listening and honoring sovereignty and seeing people and allowing them to participate. we would have looked at sterner resource and brought outsiders into the community. but another aspect is building resilience is who is that wifi. not in terms of owning a physical infrastructure but how it is used and how the community collaborates and how it

collaborates of issuing that once they weren't shy of petitioning for it. the next is connecting. in the same community. we started off working with mostly african-american and there is adom any can populations and african migrants and lots of old italian immigrants who have the same issue. as we began to build out, then a former catholic community center offered up their rooftops to us. thedom any can leaders. and doing hair delivering them in person and set up electronic store fronts and not put themselves at covid. and people who checked owrl

network and mering air and lead quality and doing the construction. but communicating that this is yours, you can do this and you are a part of your own reclaiming, rebuild and reconnecting in the face of these challenges.

get information about the status of neighborhoods is critical. we want a internet. one of my law students is figuring what is it look like and and it goes off to the women. the other thing they have gone with us is we are now doing an asset map around some of the root causes of divestment and the agency of jurisdiction and people can for resources and better understand the con stours. while every community is unique,

when we are talking about the kinds of divestment that we are reaching into in our work and what you are doing, there are some consistencies and trends. we talked about red lining and lack o access. and the folks in baltimore havev mentored people in d.c. and southeast louisiana and held us accountable and listening and connecting and driven us to a place where we have a network of researchers and one of the young people and it stands for disasters researchers in place and scholars, because i'm a nature of southeast from these e research and the information you get to communicate and our colleagues in goverent is

enriched with the experience. we all of this equation the coming of this organization to a community that we first learned about through it was not a positive one but a beacon of resilience and how we to commund collaborate and gig in self care and we get hope, movement and get slewings and thank you for your attention. [applause] >> and have an amazing rest of the conference. >> let's welcome angela executive director for north america at the climate group. [applause] >> what can people do together

today. >> the money is being stopped. >> and transition everything to their industrial sites to the way they manufacture things. >> to do this work you have tok: infuse equity. >> 14 billion of private sector funding for clean energy and clean manufacturing. >> has come together. >> this is going to empower the u.s. economy. >> we cannot do what we do by ourselves. to work with other states and country, internationally and globally. >> from the private sector from the nongovernmental sector have

come together to say this transform eying is happening. >> the power and the will to change things right now. >> it is a very effective tool that we actively deploy. >> we need each other to make this happeand these kinds of collaborations are going to increaser momentum. >> hello, everybody. how are you all of you doing? i like that video and spend tim? breaking this down. that was pretty fun, collaboration, we are going to get this done, but how do you get there? what are we doing? and we moment for climate. climate is impacting everybody

today. the time is now. and we as an organization arrived at a place where everything we do we have to look under the lens. go to our website our mission is to drive climate action. our net zero at 2050. we focus on systems including government and businesses that have the greatest opportunity to drive change. we bring tether people across

climate who are interested in talking from government, business and nonprofit sector and commit time, energy and effort to real action. but under these shiny and beautiful events, i would like to say that our underpinning is called radical collaboration but the secrete is that. it is pretty simple. engaging the right people,■f abt bringing them together at the right time, connecting with your communities and creating a space for action. let's do a little bit of a time machine rewind. i'm going to take us back to the paris accord. brought the world together. we believe climate change was the message and acknowledgement that something needed to be

done. it was great.■ then what with ae yet. we are not enough. so we are in this transitional moment and we need what we need to do and tools at the global level at the public sector and prive are not enough. we are out of time. so how do we get access. roll sleeves and get messy. i will say a little bit. we are in the messy middle. no magic wand and many will continue to face communities everywhere are struggling. they are feeling the impacts

today and we need to break down the rules of engagement and where all of you are part of that solution today. so what do i talk about when i talk about radical collaboration. don't be afraid don't be afraid to lead. a wonderful example to these amazing people brought together in one place and committed groups of people to make this happen because the real fail your is not to do anything. identify your stakeholders. what do we bring to the table. every single one of u something to give. they have resources, they have■v intell, they have money and power andnf convenor, your job o get that out of them. who needs to be at the table. bring the right people together

who have the ability to come together and come together and solve problems right then. ands a convenor listen to their problems, identify the solutions that are coming. they are just not being deployed and commit and hold people to a commitment to move forward and what i found is there is just sg in the way. are they able to make a decision am i as a convenor able to push them there and am i comfortable with the mess anyness of un one more example of where we are. cross-board trucking and not the middle of this. and but our impacted every

single day by huge amounts of slewings and it's all caused by trucks that are idol■0k% on that border and contribute to green house gas and it's a climate issue and technology innovation issue. not one sector can fix that, a border between two countries and add canada, three countries and no one wants to tackle. why don't we bring them together and last year's climate week in september, we hosted our round table on this issue. everyone walked in and said wow these are the people we need to move this forward. we aren't going to solve it today and what do we need to get

this moving forward and how can we work together and commitments and ideas followed. that is real progress in real-time and not done. we are in the messy middle but making progress. the truth is, in climate and resilience in unchartered territory and eryone is needed to bring everything we can to bring those solutions are here. and the not to do anything and not try. as conveneors look at what you can do to accelerate your progress. broaden your circles. don't get bogged down. and have tough conversations with your stakeholders and get them to commit to action and growth and hold people

accountable. this is only the beginning and crucial that we all work together to innovate and as individuals i'm going to challenge you today. we have inrebel group convened here today. radical collaboration really starts at this moment so i want you to look to your and say hi u don't k be open, be vulnerable. what do else in the need. what are you struggling that someone else can help you solve? if you don't have an answer. make a plan, meet five new collaborateors. you can do it and commit to following up within two days with two of them.

i think you can all do it and radical collaboration that starts right here in this room today. thank you so much. [applause] >> setting the stage for our panel on community engagement welcome u.s. fire administrator. [applause] >> good morning and congratulations to on this engagement. community engagement is instrumental to communication during crisis. the key, however is that engagement accomplishing the relationship and building trust must be doneefore the crisis. particularly effective

communications as a result of human behavioral response or action. at fema and u.s. fire administration, community engagement is part of what we do, it's who we are. our mission and are culture require us to build relationships that develop and strengthen our partnerships and collaborate with our stakeholders. at all levels within each component of all regions and every facility we work with the communities every day to deliver programs strengthen communities and ultimately build resilience. all the work on successful community engagement. communities are n whom greenous entities. they are big states and million small neighborhoods and groups of social structures, value systems and cultural understandings in the world.

community age are atypical partnerships or coalitions and help mobilize resources during crisis and respond to emergency managers we must under the cultural dynamics of specific groups. in order to build relationships, identify ways to effectively collaborate and build respect and trust only to be affected in a time of crisis. uniting people where they are an involving them in achieving a slewing. roles that we play at the u.s. fire administration is to identify those tuesdayed voices and lean on tm navigate the challenges that preparedness and response to fires across the nation. we rely on commune based organizations, are schools, ac deem yeah, advocates and our

local fire departments because they are powerful voices and amplify our messages and they know our communities best. earlier this year along with fema's office of internal affairs we embarked on a ready stop tour to carry fire safety messages to the community. we partnered with local fire departments. we traveled there and gained interest with the local media and met with community leaders in the fire stations and listened to stories that contributes to fire during the winter and during those times we were infiltrate local social media. our local fire departments have a level of communities surpass that of the federal

government. and that's why i'm excited today our d.c. and e.m.s. fire chief will be here presenting this afternoon and because of leaders like him we can better to serve. to be effective we must be clear about our purpose and knowledgeable about the history, culture and social networks and the political and power structures. another factor we must realize as crisis communicators and leaders that the competition for attention is vast. the world is busy. communities are busy. people are busy. and when a constant battle comme can buildup the tolerance for risk. with the first message that we

put out about risk we may get change through fear, but as fear diminishes and complacency return time, fear no longer occupies their mind and a feeling, it won't happen to me, will result. that confidences can lead to less awareness of hazards and best practices go become a norman there is limited motivation to change or reduce risk to present incidents or even to lisn. we must forge ahead. the very cor community engagement is scron going commitment to engage, actively listening and learning to be present and invest now in community and cultural awareness, sensitivity, how hilt and lay the groundwork for the

successful collaboration in the time of crisis. engaging to offer resources and assistance and be more ac assist i believe and and reflective of the communities that we to introduce a couple of people who are extremely effective at community engagement. this panel will be moderated by the senior adviser of native hawaii an affairs. marcus, and dr. martin and office of please welcome them to the stage. summer, i'll turn it over to you. [applause]

>> oloha and thank you so many for being ready for discussion on community engagement. i'm here today. i am native hawaii an and last 10 months to be privileged to assist fema in discharging commission in a way in my home state and my grandmother and was raised on maui. i come from a family of rain makers and before i left on

trip, my mother insisted i wear one of the leai she made and these bushes are not that prolific and labor intensive process and takes a few days to gather enough flowers and it's a real rater and much love and i get self-conscious wearing these out of my home state and people don't appreciate it rater or cultural and■q what it means toy cultural and my identity and how labor intensive it is and how much love gets into it.

and she's not here and wouldn't know, but i put it on, because it is the perfect convening and perfect audience and perfect discussion to bring forth as this and we are about to embark on a conversation at community engagement and deep understanding and readiness to meet communities where they they are with mixture and self-canningness and distrust and readiness to do something different. on august 8, one of the most deadliest wildfires hit our island home. 101 fatalities, 2,000 structures destroyed and the first few

days, weeks and months following the disaster, people were overwhelmed with grief and trauma and distrust we weren't ready to let federal resources in and we knew it was going to be a we could do it in significant volume and ex speedens and yet, the communities self-protected. they preferred jet skis and kayaks and boats to providev them. they went to costco and relied on those resources first. and i think it is instructive of what it means to have to build trust ande understanding of community before we lend our best efforts and best intenges into providing solutions. and 10 months in, it is

remarkable testament to thendscl navigateors and guides and i have invited all three of our speakers to share their community aie start this converh thoughtful discussions about where we have seen successes and these possibilities. i will begin with you the share engagement story that resonates for you. >> i'm excited to be here and so grateful that this conference is happening at such an important conversation and space. i want to give a shoutout that worked on this because it is rare and important so thank you

for everyone who has had a part inputting this toget wanted to i go back? there we go? bear with me. it was hard to pick one but i wanted to highlight other work that is happening in the state of california. california is the most diverse state, different languages and different cultures so we have to be thoughtful and intentional about how we do community engagement and highlights the doing ist and highlights the accomplishment of director communications and i helped the proposal from the governor and going for two years and the reason why this is something

that i wanted to highlight it is been doing in california and foh community-based organizes and network and human centered and data and community informed and so just wanted to highlight of how we do this work and figure out how the buttons work. part of the values was meeting people where they are and the language they speak. so the first to do show and tell of how we meet people and where they are. we have to create surround sound and we are reaching people that are disconnected and underserved.

and both community based organizations going to where they work, where they commute, but anywhere and everywhere where we can touch folks this is where we and creates surround sound and communications, and and creates a larger impact. and then in language, plain language, ensuring that it is accessible and making sure -- i think someone said that the information we share is how i would share it with my grandparents. to resonate with.t farmworkers and i called my parents does this make sense and they say no, i have to do a better jobrefine the work.

you see collateral in language, information■: that has informed the work and symbols and i krrve ons and fellowship andthnic leaders and all of us working to deliver information in language in plain language. trust the messengers, showing people in community we have areg people where they have. social influencers. content creators. the diversity of messengers has grown and meeting people where they are and folks are getting their information through social media so how do we connect the

influencer with our secretary, because after many years of covid how do we keep the information entertaining and meet people where they are in communities. i think i went too far. i'll stop there and pass it on. >> is today monday? >> believe or not. >> happy monday. >> in addition to being the c.e.o. and director of a nonprofit. i'm going to share several stories very quickly and hang on tight and i'm going fast. let's see how we do this.

first and foremost, i was a chief officer for boston and first city to have a resilient that had racial and social justice. but as integrated into every initiative within the strategy and we were able to establish that because we engaged 11,000 bostonnians with very little budget. we had over 100 community members, commune based organizations, businesses who were part of the boston resilience collaborative. they partnered with us in making sure we■ were able to implement the community process as well and partnered with us on the initial initiatives

example number one. example number two in mro execue c.e.o. of all aces ink, we■6çg partnered with the collaborative and the consulting firm in order to create a regional climate action strategy and that strategy combined a social vol nermt assessment and critical infrastructure assessment and the way we were able to accomplish that, i mean the strategy being actually completed the plan and the process to have such a robust output. that was through partnerships and community dedicated one-third of our budget to subcontract with community-based organizations on the ground who then told us what to do and

partnered with us on actually implementing the community engagement and wne there were gaps got other resources to fill those gaps in communities that did not have the process. as a result of that, completed y economically and socially diversed communities within cities and towns, they engaged with community-based organizations on the ground that they had relationships and they were guided throughout the whole process and 70 private infrastructure managers participated in the process through a table top exercise and we brought those groups together and that's what created an integrated climate action strategy that used this on the

screen called the. [indiscernible] >> putting on my other hat■d executive director for leadership development, we convene a national coalition of black-led organizes. there are several members in the room with us today and raise your hand for us so we can pay you the honor and respect that you deserve. [applause] the fir expl is with our partners are with mississippi. so at the beginning of march, 2023 shortly after the black resilience network co-hosted an event with marcus cole man we hosted a resilience round table. after that, we■; immediately ben

jumping into action through our operations center and one of our founding members represented by dr. p.r.i.m., worked very closely with us and still working closely with us and community-based organizations in mississippi to support the recovery process. we convened over 15 of t commune-based organizations that we worked in mississippi in jackson and doctor of urban league of mississippi■[ and buit relationships with each other and also bring in the director of philanthropy to meet people on the ground who were part our ecosystem. next example of the black

resilience network we were connected with the historic black communities of lincoln heights which is in california. qua you are seeing on the screen is the devastation from the 2022 mill fire that leveled the entire community and this is one year later and that building that has helpe■ point. we partnered with the community in several ways. first and foremost we coordinated through the health alliance to bring in mental health services as requested and found someone to help them through telehealth and we coordinated on events after the one year anniversary and amazing support of dr. coleman's office and working in the front row here, we were able to support

their events. they both dr. coleman spoke and we were able to help them with everything from flyers to web sites to social media stuff. kind of behind-the-scenes. and you are here to be of service to communities. and timely we worked with them on establishing their own organizations and have plaque hawks' foundation named after a the community that was precious to them and people who from the community. so the blackhawks' foundation has a web page and i look forward to you being able to support them. and we transition to the wonderful director■z coleman. >> happy monday, everybody.

>> i thought about the greatest accomplishment. i thought about a lot of different things but you are going to helpsh the greatest thing to do. if you are able, please stand. if you raise your handike this for me please. and then go like this. and my greatest accomplishment is shaking hands. director of the center for faith-based and neighborhood partnership at the department ofhomeland security. and i am honored to serve, of course, president biden and vice president harris, dtment ofhomeland security secretary mayorkas and chris well and the just our office but our time ats

in this room. story one, in addition to shaking hands with you dear friend of mine jackie peterson who planted important codes of how we evolve our roles in emergency management and talk abou■■ñtllenges that befall communities. the fellow that you see here is a product of o 10-plus-year collaboration where another person, are shelton, had penned an article in magazine titled "stop calling us resilient." the people who were suffering disaster, after after disaster, to be called resilien.

she invited me down and some of you may know him for his work and capacity that he was here was with the concerned citizen of the baptist parish and at a church in louisiana shortly after hurricane ida it is known to some as cancer the conversation we were having, how are we addressing the issues from disaster as disaster and the inherent risks that exacerbated because of those disasters that occurred. that is one example. the second end of the spectrum.

we listen, learn and share from one■b another. we are on a shared journey with a lot of other partners to ensure we are being thoughtful about our role how we continue to engage in helping to not only help people understand their risk but take action and what you see is a visual of that of several of our community based partners the three things i want to leave you with as we think about community engagement. one will be awkward. someone will have to move first. thank you for standing. number two, it is really important we find unique opportunities to do things at once. the third piece, i'm looking forward to talking about, noted in both examples, it takeshe government having a posture of finding where we can listen with

intention and act alongside communities. it is equally as important to find ways to iterate how we are engaged. >> wonderful. thank you, everyone. i'm going to go back to marissa and talk about community engagement is toured traditionally thought of in terms of outreach, which is a transactional kind of communication with comment, feedback. but engagement invites broader more community based work. we discussed partnerships and coronations and listening in a thoughtful way, allowing community to inform decision-making and solution. why is this distinction between outreach and engagement so consequential and how does an organization accustomed to the outreach model transition or pivot to become more engaged? >> and has been great to hear

some of the common themes this morning of active listening and partnership. i think the key, they are key things for me. ■we have to listen and engagemet is i think for me building relationships. that is your organization, the state, whoever you belong to, building relationships with organizations, the partners you work with, and at the same time the partners being able to build relationship with community. they are all interconnected. it should not be transactional. i give you funding, you go do this. it's interconnected. these are organizations, we have to recognize they are embedded in community and that is what makes them so valuable. we are all in the room because we recognize the government

is not always the trusted messenger and the partnership with partners is vital in being able to breakthrough with communities. as trusted messengers. recognizing that means we need to listen and create spaces community understands, these partners are embedded where they live and advocate for them and represent them and understand them. they can even at the micro level , these organizations are knocking on doors and making phone calls. they may know the family. like you have a daughter. they are connecting people with a number of different resources and it is not just, i am here to do that is one job and that is it. they know the families and communities and understand the barriers and challenges.they ar.

that is one of the reasons why i wanted to highlight the office of community partnership but there are a number of other partnerships in californiawith y , organizes through our labor work force and development agency. sharing information about workers rights. it creates those spaces and recognizing it isers and commund not just checking the box sort of thing. having something be community informed means it will resonate. you will deliver the information in the language they speak, in the way that will resonate, in the way they will understand. going back to how information works for particular populations. in some cases it will be through a trusted messenger or plane

language or ethnic media. you have to understand the complexities. hearing from community will help you inform how you do that. the examples shared before resonate because what we did our work aroundrtners connected to vaccine clinics. so when people came in they saw familiar trusted faces. on the senses during the pandemic our partners were able to figure out how to adapt to what we were going through and meet people where they are and go to grocery stores where there was still foot traffic. i mention it because you have to engage with these community partners because they understand community and how they will reach them in the way that will resonate.

■cwe cannot emphasize enough the fact that they are trusted messengers and bring a trusted voice to the table. i first started my career working with first lady maria schriver. we did big we connect events that were one-stop shop. but we brought in other programs. we cannot do that without the anchor of a community-based organization who wanted to cohost and they brought others to the table and we were able to create partnerships around them so to be effective and connecting and communicating with community, you have to view it as a relationship, not just checking a box assignment. >> marcus, marisela brought up

the value and asset of having trusted messengers. could you share more on how to go about identifying particularly ifú you are enterig a new space? and how do you maintain that trust with the messengers over time? how do you insert co-creating messaging once the relationships are established? >> that's a good question. i'll help the people in the room first. ifou you have been seen or called on as a trusted messenger. we have a quarter of the room. i know people are faith leaders and community leaders in here and people from the private sector. one thing that's true when i meet with anyone for the first time i get three questions typically. one, when they look at any organization, are there people

that reflect the communities they are trying to serve. you have done a stellar job representing all the federal government in hawaii to brings reflection to just say we get it , it is hard, there is a lot we have to do, and being able to have people reflective of the communities makes a huge in connecting with people because you can serve as a trusted voice as well. the second is ensuring we are clear about what we can do and want to do, especially in the crisis context. on the heroes journey where we want to put-on -- put on the cape and do all these when we . we can't do it. community engagement and sustaining. it goes back to what dr. martin was talking about. community expertise already exists. they are looking for outside funding from organizations and economic opportunity to join the team.

fourthly,, we are hiring in the communications space because we know to be effective in the communities it is really important to reflect the communities and provide sustaining opportunities for people, you can work for a nonprofit. that is where it starts and stops. the trusted messenger has to be reflective of all sides. >> that's a great intro into her next question around being a trusted messenger within the institution because communities look for trusted messengers within the institutions that seek to serve or help them. dr. martin, what does itrepreset people do not trust? how do you navigate that space and approach your work in it if

themunity has identified you as a trusted messenger and how do you remain accountable to them throughout the course of the engagement, maintain integrity of relationships on which your institution relies but that your community also looks to as being a good faith partner, an enduring relationship beyond perhaps that particular event or challenge? what is it like to be asked to pick up that role? >> thank. disclosure to everyoni do not work for the government anymore. [laughter] however, in multiple roles, we are constantly interfacing with institutions and on the other

side of that having formerly represented institutions and works with communities, that is the lens through which i will share what i am going to share. number one, it is not about you. you are showing up representing an institution that has a long history that you may or may not understand the full context of. when you walk into a community space representing the institution, you bring all of that with you. doesn't matter what your identity is. it does not matter what an amazing person you are and how much you love■c you are bringinl of it with you. with that, do not take it personally that people do not say, thank god you are here and fall to their knees, placing you as a messiah because you showed up. the goal is we are being honest

with ourselves. the community is not responsible for us feeling good about ourselves.we are there to suppot community members. it might not always be wrapped in a pretty bow like we want it to be. it will come with what it comes with. community members are under tremendous pressure, dealing with lived trauma aso please exo not interact you in a way you would prefer. the other part of being a representative of an institution engaging with communities is that how you choose trusted members matters. because there is, in most instances, there is never one person or organization that represents every member of any community.

if you fall into that trap, you are perpetuating what i call the highlander syndrome. i was old enough to have watched that movie when i -- when it came out. [laughter] the tagline of that movie is there can be only one. in institutions we often fall into the trap of picking the one golden organization to be the partner and that organization gets all the attention, to the detriment of others who were doing work as well. there is usually never one pathway in. always choose multiple pathways. the second part is that if you accidentally fall into that trap, keep your ear to the ground about who some of the organizations are. connect with them. make sure you are being honest about the boundaries of what you can do from your role.

jim not make prompt -- do not make promises you cannot keep. finally, why will share is the other important reason why we need to be careful with how we select trusted messengerss just because someone is a member of a community doesn't mean they have that communities best interest at heart. it's very important we have a diversity of members from a community so you do not fall into that trap of additionally causing harm in communities while trying to do right by them. i will stop there. thank you so much. i wish we had more time. i don't want to stop. [laughter] but we have about five minutes left. we promised to empower this audience with actionable next steps and i wonder if each of

you could take about a minute to tools, strategy, even the low hanging fruit that will make a world ofif approachl way, leading with empathy and humility. we can start with marisela. >> sure. i want to go in a number of different directions but i want to make sure i do not forget, i am excited that the summit is happening but i hope it does not stop here. i hope there were ongoing ways for us to stay connected. this is an incredible network for us to tap into. this network is so important. someone else will know something we don't know. some will have resources we do not have. figuring out how to stay connected will be helpful. one of the things, you know, the team doing outreach around

covid did during the pandemic was a partnership with cdc around how to apply best practices around adjusting information. and there was a conspiracy that happened. it was semi-easy to do and something that came together that we were really gratefuto be able to share information but also make connections. i think locally in cal is try to create■" content that is somethg that anyone whether it is a different organization or state. sharing resources would be incredibly helpful. so i would hope that i think just generally how do we keep this network going and create ongoing opportunities for us to

engage in and stay connected would be a really great thing. in terms of the work everyone is doing and actionable steps, just taking bits and pieces of what everyone will here today, ensuring you have a trusted messenger network that is diverse, community-based, faith-based, verrilli will meet the needs of communities you are trying to reach and again we are all talking about communities that arereach, so really being e with your trusted messenger network will be important as well as if you have the y how to create that , surroundsound so that if you have resources to do communication, it gives cover to your partners on the grounds and helps reinforce the message. community members who have said it is great when we knock on the doors, it's not the first time people here it, when we leave they see it on

social or hear it on tv so i think that is a really important take away to ensure your network is diverse and will meet your ct you find a way to build the surround sye -- surroundsound and then one other take away -- i'll stop. >> i'll jump in. my last comments are going to sound strange because you won't know the context. i will give you the context quickly. always listen to honorary mayor tonya debose from independence heights of houston, texas. emblematic of community members who hold people accountable to do the right thing and show up as their best

selves and challenges us to be better and do better. she's been sick and recently was cleared to be with us here today.ça so i wanted to use my time to honor honorary mayor tonya debose of independent heights houston, texas. i appreciate you and thank you so much for all you have done. [applause] >> i got 30 seconds left. do me one favor. pull out your phone. i'm got you doing a bunch of stuff today. the action you can take today find your five, put them in your , phone. county emergency managers from ramsey county. los angeles county, people leading efforts nationally in places like the island of puerto rico. we have business leaders here. my number one call to action is to find your five and put them in the phone, continue to stay connected with us and connect with them. we have a number of employment

opportunities but the best thing we can do is find the five from more resilient nation for the future. >> i'm putting these here. thank you for joining us. [applause] >> please welcome to the stage michael s george, the associate administrator for fema office and continuity programs. [applause] >> the continuity guide gets to follow such an incredible panel. i know you are very excited. i get inspired listening to

intentional and deliberate dialogue from community and thought leaders in their space. i found myself backstage getting caught up in their comments and perspectives. i appreciate it. i could listen to that for the rest of the morning. good morning, how are we? been good thus f. i appreciate the opportunity to be here. like my colleagues and the administrator, i am excited to welcome you to the national convening of the risk in crisis communicators and community engagement summit. i appreciate everyone taking time tattend the event. being here not only shows your commitment to the future of how we engage, listen, and communicate, but also to the safety of our communities. so thank you all for joining us. as mentioned this morning this , is a wonderful opportunity and

as we have seen to continue to foster the collaboration and leverage our shared knowledge and expertise to navigate the evolving landscape of emergency communications, the threats we face, and the hazards that are er-growing. as highlighted, we are joined by partners at the federal, state, local, tribal nation and territorial levels who each have a variety of an and expertise in crisis and risk communications. we have a broad range of representatives here today. not only from industry and including professionals in broadcasting, psychology, communication. policy, education. faith leaders and more. all of us, whether you are a seasoned emergency manager, communicator, or new to your field, you each have a role to

play in cultivating the future of the emergency communications with the public. this event is a rare opportuty to collaborate and hear from our colleagues. this would not be possible without the leadership and hard work of many of you in the room. thank administrator criswell for her leadership and unwavering support, as well as my cohost associate administrator justin knighton for leaving fema's efforts in crisis and risk communication space community engagement, and accessible education on all hazards. and the office of external affairs for their excellence. communicating with the public and our partners. i present thoughts for consideration i will spend a few highlight one of the tools mentioned by justin earlier.

the integrative public alert and warning system. through ipods and the national public warning system that ability to send emergency alerts and warnings to over 90% of the public over all conditions, the program connected to 20,000 broadcasters. 65 wireless carriers, and 100 different internet connected applications and devices. our partnership with the national and atmospheric association noaa allows us to access 1,000 weather radio transmitters. today 40,000 alerts are sent every month by our network of over 1800 alerting authorities. ■jxqthis often includes amber alert's through the wireless emergency alert system which led to the recovery of over 180 children.

we have collaborated with several technology providers to integrate with a internet-based technology like digital photo displays. smart refrigerators. lottery kiosks, and voice warning sirens. in partnership with the state university of new york we have developed the automated dashboard to share best practices for writing emergency alerts, grounded in behavioral science and easy to implement when crafting emergency messages. we have been updating training developing new alerts on behalf of prores and building software certification and training certification programs that will increase the q and timeliness and resiliency of alerts in the country. these developments were made possible through the insights and partnerships of local alerting authorities, media,

technology industry leaders, academics and many agencies , across the federal government. this includes our close■ partne, the federal communications commission. the fcc has been integral to the program and a tremendous partner to me as well as our partnership with the cybersecurity infrastructure and security agency and more so we will continue to drive innovation through partnership as we look forward ledges -- leveraging satellite tech, streaming media, providing other possible communication vehicles. they were so many opportunities to harness modern technology to ensure emergency messaging use -- messages are rapidly disseminated and reach the widest audience possible. we have many goals including providing better management,

local alerting programs on the expansion of the national public warning system. we aim to continue to develop better tools and training for alerting authorities to empower them to send the most effect of and timely alerts possible. and one area we are especially excited to see growth in is the alavting solutions for those with access and functional needs, a much-needed area for enhancement. so why is the continuity person here? not just to highlight the program but contiity is risk management. i want to ensure that we take the full spectrum of threats and hazards into account and further emphasize that how we planned for, communicate, mitigate about those sorts and hazards is critical.

whether as a government, community or individuals, particularly in a crisisessentid changing outcomes that we work on these together. the landscape of risk in crisis communication is ever-changing and we need to adapt. you heard the administrator speak this morning about the persistent threats. in an all hazards framework we must account for everything from a water main break to catastrophic emergency on a national scale and we are at an inflection point. as you have heard this morning the emerging threats and hazards we are facing can come with little to no warning. they move fast and are dynamic and certainly destructive.

they can be domestic, tornado, flood, wildfire, domestic extremism, or existential, posed by nationstate actors. ■(we face a pacing threat from china, threats from russia, north korea, and so on. these threats can potentially be connecticut in the cyber demands, terrestrial, or celestial in the space domain. ■fso how are we preparing for these threats now? what will we say when minutes matter? when a threat is move -- slow moving like hurricanes, we have the luxury of time to plan, hash out messaging.

now take away the precious element of time. we have seen what happens when a wildfire rips through community. it burns infrastructure faster than messages can go out. when false alerts go out. like in hawaii. when moments are lost because of decision paralysis and when poor planning can lead to confusion, or because of a lack of understanding or appreciation of the intended audience, many of these same challenges exist in a nationstate conflict but now add the element of communicating with incomplete or clouded information. when we say all hazards, we mean

for them. man-made, fema will continue to search for new ways to bring communities together and optimize alerts on warnings and notifications and what is delivered to the public and when. to be most effective we need to learn from you. hear your perspectives and experiences and the risk and crisis communication space so i look forward to the rest of the presentations today and sincerely thank you for your time and participation. thank you. [applause] ■r>> we will now hear more about tailoring messages to audiences and developing content to different channels from four experts. first, trey borden, artist and

founder of the tree boarding company. [applause] >> hello, everyone. thank you. thank you for having and for approving the funding. t to justin. i know how hard it is to get this together so thank you. i here to talk about art and the time of crisis. it is nice to talk with you because you understand the stakes of the moment we live in but many you understand how important communication is that is relevant and culturally competent. my company is an art and media production company in los angeles. what underpins our work is the

belief that artist are not just little weirdos who make pretty things. they are they are also people taking a look at what is happening in the world and translating it to their practice and showing us in ways that are bewildering and frightening but most importantly it reminds us who we are and can access to our values and makes us want to participate in what the future can hold so i think that is really important because in times like this we need those types of people to be in charge, to be desion-makers and create a clear vision for the future that we have not seen. i think we can all agree it is not working and it is hard to motivate people to a future they have not seen and we were with all sorts of organizations and are on the front lines [indiscernible]

helping indigenous children in the welfare system, getting fair wages past these are all things we help organizations approach in a creative way and are organizations that have a long history of working with artists and being creative but they understand like you do that art has potential to reach people in ways that traditional modes we are used to do not and we want to use everything at our disposal facing a cataclysmic time so i am just going to■siar example i hope i will ask for your participation so chime in when you know. captain planet, he is our[f hero -- my 1990's babies, my little eco-warriors. [laughter] that is a artistic place to get millions of kids to think about the earth and what faces it. so that is what i mean. getting people to pay[indiscern]

very engaging way to get people involved in these crises so let's get into the projects when you are delivering critical information you need a community already on the same page and connected and help create those type of communities and it can allow communities to form her places and this is the example of a project we did in inglewood and this is an art center underneath the landing past the plane so we installed a mural so people returning to l.a. or coming home or surveilling the neighborhood understand what this community cares about and this also has become a really good gathering placeizers and artists in the area and so art is really critical for people to form connections on this is in sacramento called underbelly and this is a mural we put it undeea the freeway in order to commemorate the state's largest farmers mark and this is a place where all people in

the community were already used to using but it was dark you got out as quick as possible and we wanted to create a space where moore was possible so we installed this with the help of caltransre freeway operator and now it is the template work freeway beautification throughout the state and the sight of so many compelling and interesting gatherings that were not happening before and this is an interesting project in brooklyn by suzanne lacey and she wanted to get people excited about and involved with gender poli sactivate students on thise block on brooklyn so she invited people that have conversations and invited the community to come and eavesdrop and so not only was this a way to get people to know the activists in the community and organizations in the neighborhood but it also laid the groundwork for how they could mobilize around other issues should th■e time come which of course it is. so i think thatis are

really capable of seeing the potential of spaces and what communities can come together around. art can be a way to make traditional methods of communication more relevant. this is a project called in plain sight and it's a way to get people to understand that right under their noses in many cities across the nation there are immigrant detention centers we do not cease of a partner with companies to do messages that allow people in the public to look up and understand what is happening right in front of them after messages that translating as helpful for those in detention and also those guarding those in them to understand we see you and we are scrutinizing again this is something that is for advertisement it is meaningful and impactful and we worked on a campaign with california office of emergency services because they were trying to reach communities that typically are not so engaged in these typical modes so ey partnered with artists from the

commities to create imagery that was repsentative and cultural competentnd could get their attention and get them to participate in these communication strategies that they were really standoffish about before and it really worked. a lot of you are on the front lines of these crises so you understand wt and what is at se but a lot of us are not and i am in l.a. and we are looking at you on instagram and watching netflix while we are recording a podcast and it is hard to break through to actually show us what this means and so artists are really capable of making the abstract tangible and human centered and human centered on this is a project that [indiscernible] where he took life jackets syrian refugees and put them on lotus petals and floating them on the pond in vienna and this is a way of picking something that is happening and making it real and tangible for people very powerful.

we are often talking about unmet possibility and hidden history and so how do you make that something that is readable and so we took the rainbow flag to commemorate the stone wall 50th anniversary so we took the rainbow flag of the symbol of lgbtq of quality and we up into component colors and added colors for inclusivi did contemporary interviews and archival research to put the lost stories from those communities on the flag and so that became a visual oral history that traveled around the nation and was in santa monica and in front of the capital and this is a way of visualizing the people and experiences sometimes left out of a conversation and it is hard to understand that if you are not looking at it and so art has a critical ro to play and i love this project it's from our alliance and he took pieces of melting ice near greenland's a put it in front of cities throughout europe and when you hear about the polar ice caps like we all live in

greenland so that is something we have wrap our mind around we are going and touching the ice and seeing it in the course of the day and he replaced it every week and it really made something that people and you get to touch the ice and it is tactile and it gets you emotionally in ways that no amount of reports can do. god you can understand the water crisis and read york times but when you see a little girl who cannot find clean water her teeth and uses bottled water it hits you in a different way and makes you want to get involved so again traditional methods of communication are appropriate especially for experts but a lot of people cannot access these types of communication so pairing them with things that make the human cost of the [( crises real and tangible is something that i think is really effective an something that we need to engage with as much as

we can and once we get to communications that are creative we can make creative solutions to the problem themselves on ths artist who takes part of resources that come in to feed and clothe the community as part of the art practice. we created fires in the soil and seed mixtures that resnd mass extinction occurring so it blooms and leaves behind a natural landscape that supports pollinators so it's a small way of addressing the problem. this artist is interested in movement and he takes jobs -- jugs [indiscernible]

the people most impacted who face the brunt are the ones who need to be in charge to try to figure out how to tackle the problems. the stakes are high. people are motivated. we need to reach them where they are. in creative ways. i look forward to working with you. thank you. >> help me welcome to the stage white house director of global strategy, christian tom. >> hello, thank you for having

me. i wanted to give you some examples of things we have done in the white house that might be outside of your expectations and i hope they can provide fodder for creativity, inspiration, and new ways of thinking about how it might apply to your version of communication challenges. the primary point i want to bring across is that the goal for our team is and has always been to think about digital first ways to communicate on behalf of the white house, on behalf of the president. i have here a floor plan on what the first floor of the west wing of the white house looks like. i show it to you because one of the single largest sections on

the upper right part pertains to the traditional press, broadcas print journalism. the famous white house press briefing room. our press secretary will speak to you later today. there is a white house correspondence association. a whole method by which journalists have developed and staked out a huge footprint in the white house. the way we approach them for big events and work with traditional is probably very familiar to you. these are real photos from the way the tv networks promote their broadcasts. you can see how it plays in a

way. what i will do is use an of the state of the union for how we thought differently about how to amplify the state of the union this we are -- this year as well as how we got examples out into the world that were just different and can hopefully serve as a spark of creativity. we put out promotional materials and built a brand with our design team around the visual identity for the state of the union and we carried it th did.

we tried to create hype for people who are maybe not familiar with what the state of the union is. to me it is a reminder and i think it is a take away to your communication needs that the acronym, the abbreviations, specifics of what a go are are maybe something most people have never heard. i have a video we produced the week before the state of the union itself. president biden: any advice you have for me?

[crosstalk] >> president gives some quote unquote and advice and the idea, perhaps you are a fan of one of the television shows [indiscernible] our goal was to take a step back andall of our administration was focused on thenism for what happens at the capital as may be people are not aware how do you take a minute to actually break through with so many beloved stars did just that. it's an entertaining piece.

the best is from bill pullman who played the president in independence day and the advice he gave to the president was actual really inspirational and he is a great guy so having a chance to get some familiar faces and voices out there is one of them. for the state of the union show, same way broadcast partners shared it, we did online as well. we did two things that were different this year. the first was from the white house website. part of the challenge has been about what would make a person make the choice to watch the livestream of the president's remarks on the white house website as opposed to other places? we created an interactive set of features.

there re three different buttons to press on the bottom of the screen. if you watched it in real time there were emojis that flew across the screen. we tried to mimic. it came from a good amount of interaction with a link back [indiscernible] you can see a little bit on the bottom of emoji the lines are reflecting the volume of the number of engagements throughout the speech and you can go and see what drove the most engagement from people and you

can see the crescendo at the end that goes up at the close of the president's remarks. we livestreamed the entire remarks on instagram. digital is not just social media, though that represents a huge way we get out our message. we also livestreamed it in the instagram app, and unsupported feature until this year. some big fashion brands set up a livestream at the end of the runway of whatever fashion show and they would livestream the catwalk so part of what we did is we knew this would attract

people and we wanted to do the same. that is some ways we drove the viewing experience. a few other pieces about how we elevated the state of the union. we built■ a concerted effort around working with digital creators, influencers. we did three things with that community, some of which were new this year. we brought a number of political creators to the white house for almost media briefing. they heard from members of the white house to almost get a preview of what the president would speak about.

the opportunity in crisis moments rests in the response. but it is the year-round impact that almost primes things to be set up best for the moment and that is especially true on digital where people sometimes see govnm outreach as one way street so some of this was relationship building with digital hat have an enormous reach, sometimes more than news. there has been a shift towards large information sharing accounts. they are not journalists but they have a huge audience that share so it almost becomes a news channel for

followers. we had some of them at the white house. we also invited people to mimic what the president does with television news anchors where he hosts a private off the record conversation and we the vice president do the same thing, a roundt■able with digital creatos ] to share some of what the president will talk about. we hosted creators in the state dining room of the white house during the marks and when the president came back, the first people he met were this digital

community, thanking them for helping get out the message. we thought about peoplwho had wide reach and also depth on topics specific to building■ one-on-one relationships with their audience and some of the topics we knew that would be highlighted in the president's speech. this is a video that we put out after. it was our way of visually providing something different for what might otherwise be [indiscernible] president biden: when you get to be my age [inaudible]

i know the americanthe battle fr between those who want to put america into the past and those who want to move it to the future. my lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. the future is core values. an honest america. decency, dignity, equality. to give everyone a fair shot. to give people safe harbor. >> the hope was even if you take the basic asset, remarks, a press conference where you share vital information about what people need to do to prepare for emergency, our goal is to try to make ways■z, something that visually stands out to people.

thank you. i appreciate it. thank you again. [applause] >> please welcome kel kennedy, female -- fema national affairs tribal advocate. [applause] [speaking another language] i am a proud citizen of a nation of oklahoma. i was born and raised in a reservation in southeastern oklahoma. i am so excited to be here with you. [applause]

i am here to talk about tribal nations and risk communication and i canell you growing up on my own reservation when a tornado almost hit my aunt's house my tribe was the only department to show up. when a fire was going to hit my grandparents house my fire dertwhen we called on 11 for hep with years ago we were told to your tribal police officers, they will get here quicker. this happens across indian try where the tribal nations are sometimes the first and only responders. it is so important that we have this conversation about thpke te of communication today and i'm going to ask a couple of you a question, i always like to get a feeling of my audience. my first question is, who has ever worked with a tribal nation before? awesome. who here has ever worked with a

member of a tribal nation? who here speaks choctaw? a couple of you. speaking choctaw your whole life and you never know it. if you ever said ok, you are speaking choctaw. it is an affirmative word in the choctaw language. so much as you have been working in your field and not knowing you speak choctaw, you have been doing work in some way that has an impact on tribal nations and citizens across the country. one of the first things is the diversity across indian country and i want to highlight some photos. this is a lower 48. there are 574 federally recognized tribes. a lot of us. in alaska there are over 200 this is the u.s. census map from

a few years ago and there are more recognize today. i want to give you a concept of how big indian country is because i think people feel as though there are not many tribal members and nations are so small but if utopia all the land tribal nations have together yhn montana. it would be the fourth biggest state in the u.s. and that comes with a lot of complications. 574 tribal treaties, histories, responsibility. it is complex but no less worth your time. this is a slide from a budget report to give you context. this highlights tribal nations have been underfunded for

decades in the area of emergency management homeland security. there■ is a little over $100 spent on non-natives people in this country. $.64 spent for native. shopping. a lot of tribes did not have emergency managers. your emergency manager could be your chairwoman, 15 other jobs. i wanted to give you to context. a lot of tribal medication thats unless their tribal government has a really good economy and lepp that actually invests in tribal emergency management they will not have a person on staff

that does just one job. always help out your fellow colleague. i'm going to have to use the red button. we're back. i about tribal nations is to go to their tribal website. they will tell you their own story fro perspective. my faiferght thing is to go to a tribe cultural center. hearing from the tribal nation from their own perspective. there are some things tribal nations cannot say. they disaster coming their way. tribe liaisons. the way we work with those tribal nations that have a cultural aversion to talking about a disaster coming on because they believe if you talk about a disaster you will bring

it to your community. we work with them to make their. it is like us to be able to work with them in the language they see best to make chair inundate safe. how do you understand the community? how do you figure out what is the scope of lang weather channel that you can do and be flexible with the comm learningo are the communicators for your specific message? the tribal leader? is there a tribal emergency manager? is there a youth commissioner? is there an advocate in the community? figuring out who is the best communicator in the c of tribalt only -- government for everybody in the tribal community. a lot of them are for surrounding communities. a tribe out in southern alabama. they shared with us that they have so many people coming in for the covid-19 shots. not just native americans but

also non-native people from not just alabama but u.s. they specifically asked those people why come here to get your covid shot and they were told by these people i don't trust the feds. i don't trust the state. but i trust the tribe. it is not just commune indicateing with the tribal nation to get information out to tribal nations, it is also communicating in order to get communication out to communities you have not been able to talk to before but they trust the tribal nation. the last couple of things i'll talk to you about are methods of communication. you see three different folks on the screen behind me, to the far left far left is and brian ridley and to the rht is from citizen potawata miles per hourenation. very different areas of the country. for the pueblo, the best

communication, was word of mouth. now that they have internet, it is a little bit easier. sometimes word of mouth works best, especially in tribal communities. the importance of having cell phones and text trees during disasters. internet access isre and more available. making sure you have the right people's numbers in order to get the information out. in alaska you might get a phone call one time and then you're gone for eight hours dealing with the disaster. sometimes a phone tree is literally the best way to go. you also have to ask yourself do you need to put something in a native language? we had a lot of great success things out in a tribal radio station. check with the tribal nation verbally or written.

check with them before you put it out. oklahoma choctaw different than mississippi choctaw. they are kept. you want to make sure you're working a tribal nation if you want to translate something into a native lang weather channel. people say they don't get all of they are a information from facebook. news flash. serve on facebook. i kid you not. i was following my tribe's emergency management last night. faceok is a huge way tribal nations communicate across endian country especially in times of crisis. thúáe last thing i will say is newspapers, hard newspapers many tribal nations still have hard■r newspapers they get messaging out with. all of this comes back with no tribe is alike. no one size overcome those challenges is learning about each individual tribe from that community and asking what are the appropriate things to say to get the same outcome that you

want to make sure everybody in community is sing and after disasters. this is one of my favorite photos since i've been at fema. the mug literally says what about tribes? literally this is -- they do literally have these mugs. i have seen them use them. all of our fantastic tribal affairs teams across the country. ensuring that you are thinking about tribes at■x-' the outset. i can't tell you how frustrating it is to get to the end of a project and someone say what about tribes? a square in a round hole does not work. thinking of tribal medication thats first and foremost when you're looking at communication projects will save you so much time and energy by the end. so i just want to say, you know, just a couple of last takeaways to ensure you are doing right by tribal nations learn about the

tribal nation. they are unique and disticket. know that tribal medication thats are not just areas that need help -- nations are not just areas that need help. they saved so many lives during the pandemic when third degree little to no funding for emergency management purposes. they want to keep even single person safe across this countr and have done so for a very long time last week, remember you came here today saying i don't know any choctaw. you have been speaking choctaw your entire life. i guarantee you in some way, shape or form,as some impact on some way just lie when you walked into today's auditorium and thought i never thought i would speak choctaw. thank you so much for being here. [applause]■i

>> please welcome to the stage lucy -- >> i am so excited to be here. i have the clicker so i can turn off my headshot which makes me feel really awkward. i'm excited to be talking with you. i have had the pleasure ovelopm. if that term is not super familiar to you, we are anywhere and everywhere. autoesm. veclmost boring presentation, i could read you thousands of them for hours. there is lots of nuance needed for our community and we are part of every layeror our community and geography. to tale bit about that. with also the understanding community like all communities is complex.

is really laird and intersectional. if you have a development of disability, we expected to continue forever in significant impacts on various areas of her life. as a result you will probably need some aaccomodations or support. development of disabilities on the scroll but there are all these other layers. people are more likely to have communication needs and more likely to be people of color, impoverished. we're more likely to identify as lgbtq than a lot of other members. we are getting a lot of numbers of people traditionally enfranchised in different situations. i want to talk a little bit today people i know personall with developmental disabilities

and share some of the challenges they have had navigating the world. the first person i want to talk about is claire. claire works with me at the office. i hope you would expect the -- and client state. accessible parking so when we hired here, we expected no issues. claire as you can see uses a full mechanical wheelchair. she has had cerebral palsy her entire life. like a lot of people in wheelchairs, everything their needs for the is on the back of her wheelchair and she carries it with her at all times. the result of that is reaching out with her arm, everything she has to carry on herack, she can't reach far enough to do the

motion activated door opener. and then she can't go far enough the other way. she can get stuck in this three by three vestibule in a space that is technically a.d.a. compliant. it shoops very if if you have hosting a safety fair, if you are talking about a place where people with evacuate, go get splice? i to have somebody role test this space. really work through it. if you are going use this space, make sure they are a.d.a. accessible. we deserve to come in the front door. that there is accessible bathrooms. we should probably have access to more than one. with the accessible space beside

disability par are not taken up by other things. claire is constantly reheapedding us. test it. try it. go to the space and work it out. have someone with limited experience do that. make sure there are places to charge device. have you ever had a cell phone suddenly drain of battery. what if a cell phone was how you move around in life. a huge deal for us. the next person i want to talk about is ben. he is autistic. he self identifies that way. he communicates with a letter board. you can see him working with his mom here. on ben's chart, theugh z and uss

to commune indicate. if you have amazing patience. i'm sure we can all imagine how much team it would take us if we had to spell out letter by letter every single thing we wanted to say and how frustrating it would be if you got twird of the way through the words and someone said oh, did you no, that is not what i meant. give me a little time and space. ben is an unreliable verbal communicator. he can hear you just fine but makes lots of noises to communicate back with you. the noises are not always a great way to gauge what he is trying to share. we have to rely on the letter board. i don't mean typing. if we are tag about communicatingwith ben or people like him in an emergency, absolutely, we have heard about importance of pictures, simple language but making sure alerts that go out can be automatically read. have someone test them. does it sound right when it is read allowed?

are we putting really long urls in there? it becomes too much to copy down or write down? is it in bite-sized chunks that we can understand or appreciate? of very real questions back in the event of an emergency. is there a way to ask those questions? how can they reach out? are people going to give them patience and time and space? does your software work with assisted technology? it is really, really important to us. mention is charlie.anted i don't know if you can tell behind the mask. charlie has down sind rom. his mom says that is a kept issue. he was given a fatal dying know sis in utero.

diagnosis in utero. he had a huge part of his colon and stomach removed. he eats through a tube. he has tumors that grow in his stomach. charlie just graduated high school. he is absolutely a force of nature. but when you talk about someone who is so inkredbly■d immune compromised we think absolutely going to need something like covid vaccine and we also think who is the expert who is going to answer charlie and his mom's questions about who were the those vaccines have been tested on people with significant medical comeks i guess the? whose the person that is going to walk through and say el look at your list of 50 surgeries in the last five years and look at your list of really unusual medication and make sure you are going to be safe? i will walk through it with you

and listen to you. for him and his family, that is so important. charlie carries tens of thousands of chemo in his we'll be right back. you see them for the tu mores that are always growing in his stomach. his family will not be evacuating anywhere unless they know there are refridge raters, the is someone that will help them order medications and there iscal splice charlie needs. he is less at risk in his me mir leaving without the medications that keep him alive. those are so important. is there space tr for them? is there refrigeration for them? his mom who is a freaking genius will spend hours of day going throughd programs to make sure charlie has the supplies he needs. it is a full time job. she needs to know if they have to move there is a way to take those things with him and to get

them. when i see emergency say buy 30 extra diverse medical splice, charlie's family has filed for bankruptcy more than once trying to cover the cost of medical care. they don't have $15,000 extra dollars to buy an extra month of medical supplies every year. they need it to be communicated with them we are going to help you feel we need to really understand these things are going to be accessible to him. the last person i wanted to mention today is connor. connor is here with his mom sharon. a lot of our community uses caregivers. a lot of that caregiver community is dominated by women of color and english as a second language speakers. when i talk about our layers of complexity and alerts. maybe we need to be reminded more that than once. maybe we needed to be reheapedded in english and spanish. maybe we need alerts related to

these layers of people that help to navigate things. you're communicatingwith connor and his partners. i wanted the thank you all for epg you do and thank you for including the disability community. i really appreciate your time today. [applause]■ >> please welcome senior vice president and group campaign director. [applause] >> good afternoon. thank you. i overship our partnership with fema on the ready campaign. i've been there 4 1/2 years. i want to thank justin and his team for the support and the work. it is very important to us. today i want to speak to how we

have worked through complex communication and leave you with some best practices. 60% of americans say preparation for disaster is very important to them but only 19% claim to be very prepared in emergency. we know that this barrier becomes even worse when you look at specific audiences based on cultural or identity groups. so to drive impact and see movement we need to make sure we have communications specific to them. .-- goal is to encourage and empower that people prepare for emergencies. and steps you can take and everyone has a role to play in this. our strategy is three parts. we want to reframe attitudes and steps around

preparedness and something that now. we need to improve people's understandings what it means to prepare and take steps. they have to go beyond just stuff. they need to understand that it is not going to cost money. that there are many steps that you can take. and then we want to encourage people that access resources at ready.gov and also engage with their family and community in preparation. we take all of those pieceses of our strategy and layer in culturally specific insights to motivate action. we do all of this first by partnering who have competence in three kept areas. hispanic, black and asian communications. we first worked with them, they are an nd came back and worked with us on our older adult

effort. we work with black owned agency here in d.c. on our black audience campaign and we are working pdw and co on our asian audience. our latino audience, campaign firmed in october 2021 and is complete in english and spanish. we understood that they recognized the importance of emergency preparedness plays but they don't feel like they have enough information to really prioritize it. when we spoke to them in research, we heard i really doubt it will ever happen to me. i know it is wrong. sometimes i would rather not think about it because it stresses me out. we love to enjoy life. we don't worry about tomorrow. i usually wait for the news to tell me what we need to■ do. and the idea we love to enjoy life so we don't worry about tomorrow was a recurring theme

we heard and a cultural underpinning to our strategy which had the insight of to prepare ahead for a disaster is to protect everyone you love. we told people the same way you plan each detail for special moments in your life, start planning to protect you and your loved ones from disasters. because protecting your family is the best plan you can have. let's watch onethose ads. >> when it comes to making plans you the best. 273 days of planning. what about your daughter's first costume party? it was out of this world. let's not forget those barbecues you plan and detail for your family and your more vegetarian

by the day best friend. that surprise party for your parent's golden anniversary. you get the golden planning. the same way you plan each detail for those moments start planning to protect you and your loved ones from a natural disaster. sign up for local make a family commune dications plan. protect your family is the best plan you can make. >> so that campaign had a full range of psa's in eng linebacker and spanish. we also did an influencer effort. it is fun and successful. >> it says we love your tiktok. be prepared. you never know when you're going to see an either queak. natural disaster don't really do

this. if you want to learn more, go■jo ready.gov/plan. >> we launched for our black effort, they are food insecurit, health. the disasters are unlikely to have them prioritize preparation. they often live in areas affected by natural disaster. when we went to research, we heard them say that is mainly what planning is about. making sure they can get to your family or they can get to you. or that you have a common place to meet up where everyone is safe. that is one of the big places ien can't prepare for. the biggest thing is to at least have the family on one page. that idea of family is what drove our insight. family is the most important asset to black communities and

what they value most in the face of any disaster. so our message was protect your legacy by emergencies. and all the work to ready.gov/plan. >> the west coast. >> here are the pictures that you asked for. cute as a button. >> oh, here's grand florence after that flood wiped out the whole neighborhood. sometimes i just cannot believe all the storms that have gone through here. i can only hope we'll be able to live in this house again one day, baby. you're our legacy. >> planning for disasters is to make sure we're safe and is the best way to protect the legacies. >> we shold make an emergency communication plan. that way we're ready. at my dorm we have emergency kits for earthquakes and

wildfires. i'm sure there is something more local. >> ok. >> protect your legacy. plan for natural disaster today. visit ready.gov/plan. >> the older adult audience, we launched that last november. we know that older adults are not their own group but culture group but older adults are more likely than younger adults to believe disasters will not impact their8ç lives but they ae experiencing the greatest harm from them. we heard them say things like i have extra canned goods. small generators to keep my husband's cpap going. you adopt think it is going to happen to you. we have thoughts of preparing but keep procrastinate. they need to inform us where to go especially if we have dogs. our insight was here to help

make sure that planning for disaster is done according to age-related needs who'll allowdn incorporate longer. before disaster strikes, take control. one assess your needs, two make a plan and three engage your network. ready.gov/olderadults. >> one will leave me powerless to cool my insulin. >> i'm relying on luck. who knows if it will be on my disasters and emergencies. >> take control. assess your needs. two, make a plan. three engage your support network. let's prepare so we all have a better story to tell. >> they had p.s.a.'s. instead of doing a social media effort, they created a step by

step guide for adults. we heard that is very important for them to have. we're creating a new round of work for an asian awed yens in that work will be done in english only but there will be opportunity for local partners and other government agencies to customize some of the resources in languages for needes they have with audiences they serve. the challenge here is only 35% of people in an asian ethnic group believe steps theyake will make a difference. they have a very low confidence in their ability to take any meaningful action. it feels like a first world problem and concern. when i was growing up, my parents' concern was make sure you get by. preparedness was not a priority. get good grades. put food on the table. i grew and we had typhoons.

we're not very prepared. it is a time thing. we have small kids and full time jobs. we're looking on the creative but the idea it is -- the asians in the united states are more likely to prepare for disasters if they are equipped with assessable resources and reminded that the disaster preparation really does align with their core values of family, community and taking care of loved ones. i want to share a quick note here. we're seeing great results with the work we have done. with the latino audience, we have had 948% increase compared to when we first launched. we are also seeing that 48% of our audience and our national tracking survey reports feeling extremer prepared for a natural disaster vs. 35% who have not soon our work. when you go to the black audience, 28% feel very or

extremely prepared who know our work vs. 16% who don't. and with our older adult audience preliminary, we are already seeing good movement there. 24,000 visits to the site and 28% of o people reporting theyn< will take steps to prepare. at the beginning i said i i saig practices.ou wh those fall into two buckets. the first is to seek out and lean into cultural expertise. this is reinforcing things you heard in earlier presentations. you want to engage diverse partners whenever you and. people have expertise with our audience you are communicating with. you want to engage with stt work with the audience and consider the resources they need. but also hear what resources they may have to offer you. and of course, gain additional insights into that audience from the people who were closest with them. lastly, some of these might be the same, but assemble local and committed partners to amplify

your message in culturally and locally relevant ways. things like sharing messaging frameworks and suggested language they can work from will go a long way. the second area is keep the audience centered. you want to start by gaining insights through research. i use research in its broadest term because not everyone can do research but that can be quantitative, community outreach, listening sessions, engaging your erg's, however you can get in front of whomever you are communicating to, very important. when you have your messaging of them. make sure it what you are trying to say is landing and clear. dy to produce, don't just stop at casting who is visually in there, ensure that cultural nuances grounded in the audience's lived experience are there so they can feel its authenticity and connect with what you are saying. when you have the resources

ready, make sure you are thinking through what are the particular needs that the audiences have? is this information that needs to be presented in special ways just like we did with our older adult audience? lastly, this is super important, know and understand that there is no monolithic audience within any cultural group. thank you. [applause] >> please welcome to the stage linda thomas brooks. the chief executive officer of the public relations society of america, inc.. [applause] >> hello, everyone. happy to be here. when the team reached out to ask if i wanted to talk about some climate communications issues, claimant was very much top of my

mind, exactly at that moment. it was not because i had been in india when it recently reached 125 degrees. it was not because i had been in the path of a tornado. not because i■h had been anywhee near a melting glacier. not even the parts of th glacier in front of the tape that we saw earlier. none of those break lemon changes on my mind at that moment because i had just gotten my most recent homeowners insurance bill. [laughter] and my homeowners insurance bill had gone up00 since the last time i paid the bill. husband and i talked about that. we said, clearly, this is a mistake will just call the company and remind them we have had no claims, no problems and this bill will be magically reduced. that's not how it went. i did getchooled a bit on the number of claims they are

getting. the rising cost of replacement and fixing problems. and the number of climate related issues that happen all over the country that are leading to these increased costs. in the communications business, we have a saying that something isn't news until it's local and personal. guess what?qk climate risk just got local and if you think about all the other issues people are facing, not just insurance. my friend in mississippi you can't get a company to come to take diseased trees out of her yard because there is too many storm damaged trees that that priority. or something a little less dangerous, gardeners who are wondering why the flowers in their yard don't thrive anymore

because there has been a change in the heartedness zone. at my yard in new york, we can't grow some of our favorite color ■ú80's -- varieties of lilacs. this is an opportunity for communicators because problems that seemed far awaor esoteric or scientific are now local and personal. it allows us to translate things like infrastructure investment and terms that people tune out to things like do you want to prevent your neighborhood access road from flooding? the challenge we talked about that the ad council is facing and how may people feel like those risks are real to them. these are the risks we can bring home with these personal approaches. it will also allow us to create that connection between dealing with risk communications and dealing with crisis communications.

when we do that, you can sound the alarm without being alarmist. we can inform people without alienating people. and all these things we heard about engagement and being tuned to communities. if you think about that relative to communications of climate risk conversations we will have this afternoon, threats that needle perfectly between those elements. when i think about the people that you really want in your foxhole when times get tough. all of you and your colleagues are those people. power goes out, when roads are closed, you danger and adrenaline junkies know how to handle those problems. but increasingly, climate and risk communications are

erybody's business. our members are committed caters across the ecosystem. our members do financial committee occasions or investor relations have to talk about things like reduced crop yield, or increase transportation and logistics costs and how that affects businesses, our colleagues health medications have to talk about the health risks associated with being on in these communities. being in an area that was hit by these disasters. our internal comms colleagues who were dealing with community bases or the constituents within will talk to their employees. everyone has to figure out how they will talk to shareholders. all of those communications now have an element of climate attached to them. so, you guys are kind of at the center of this universe. your colleagues who are not risk

communicators increasingly need your expertise to be able to do their job. when going to give you one example. we have annual awards for the best campaigns of the year. last year, one of our award winners was florida power and light. what florida power and light reized, way in advance of hurricane ian, is that the string of hurricanes that hit that state with increased ferocity was not going to decrease. they went into a year-round campaign where they showed on a hyper local basis communications around what storm hardening efforts were going on. they did drone footage of tree trimming efforts. so that people in local communities could see what was happening. then when they had the shift into storm preparation in advance of ian, they had peoples understanding.

at that resulted in was increased consumer satisfaction, increased consumer trust, and increased attention to the storm preparedness messages. also importantly, for those of you who have to deal with trust relations during a crisis, the inquiries to their trust hotline decreased. and hurricane ian they had 167, the previous hurricanerm a, they had over 900. the hotline use decreased but positive press coverage increased. they were able to manage that outreach and that press relations through this year-round campaign. we have a great opportunity to partner s prayed one of them is the annenberg school of communications at usc. annenberg recently released a study on global communications. one of the things they studied

was what groups play a posiv adl challenges? the color bars are the different constituencies. consumers ahe bar. can see that consumers trust nonprofit and local news much more than they trust national news. probably not a surprise to most of you. but when we talk about local influence and really reaching folks with trusted messages at a time where they need to be prepared and thread these needles together between a current crisis and what else they can do to be ready. when they thread the needle between beingproactive, those ts are local news and nonprofits. i'm sorry for those of you on the federal side, you did not stack up very well on trusted this. [laughter]

i'm sure this is not coming as a surprise to you. dr. hannah ritchie, at the university of oxford, talked about how communications can be used to reach people with positive message she talks about the fact that when you get to doom laden communications about climate issues, you turn people off from taking positive action. so, nuance in these committee occasions matter. the science matters of course m. one of the that happens in the communications industry, the ad council's department is around gun violence, and our colleagues who have worked on that have said that using words like gun safety and responsibility helps people tune in, in a much better way

then when you say gun control. great example. that as it relats to the issues of preparedness and climate risk mitigation that we want audiences to take part in. i mentioned the florida power & light case stu. there is a number of resources we make available to our members . our members are attuned to issues of mis- and disinformation as relates to climate, and use of ai as it relates to our constituents. those resources are available at the links. we host a lot of case udies and examples from our members. happy to make those availae to all of you. on behalf of trsa, we are very happy to be here today. i couldn't think of a more important room to be in. i have two boys, two young men now, and when i think about the

world i want to leave them, these issues are front and center. so what you all are doing every day is not just helping a local community, helping one community get through a crisis, but really helping build the world that we all want to live in long term. and i'm happy to be a part of that. so, thank you very much. >> please welcome back to the stage justin to introduce today's keynote speaker. [applause] >> there we go. you have been so present and i am so thankful. i hope you have enjoyed all of our speakers pye all a round of. [applause] we have had ted talks style

conversations, panels, presentations all from the different viewpoints of how our colleagues are approaching this work. it is my esteemed honor and pleasure to introduce the spokesperson for our country, the white house press secretary karine jean-pierre. please help me welcome karine to the stage. [applause] ms. jean-pierre: hi, everybody. hello. it's good to see you all. thank you for your patience. the schedule has been a little crazy. happy pride. [applause] i'm a little jetlagged. we got back from france yesterday. it was such a great couple of

days in normandy. in paris for the state visit. i know many of you probably caught and saw the amount of coverage the president was able get. i couldn't be prouder to work with this president for this administration. it has been an amazing three and a half years and this past couple of days, you saw his world leadership, and it was important for everyone to see. thank you for the introduction, justin,nk you for all you do and your team to help people before, and obviously, during disaster. the work that you all do is so incremental and important. it means so much to so many americans across t. i am honored to be among such talented and dedicated community

leaders and communicators who are united in our shared goal to become trusted messengers when crisis hits. that is really important. trusted messengers. that is something we all do day in and day out on behalf of this administration. so, thank you for doing that. i am so impressed by the size and stature of this audience prayed we have some rain partners here from federal government, private and public and academia. that is the first thing i want to highlight. relationships are the backbone of effective communications and ensure we are communicating in a way that builds trust with the public. that's because the currency of communicators is indeed trust. you see the theme i am going through, which is trust . and if don't have anything.

we have seen the consequences of what happens when communities don't know where to turn for trusted information. there is calamity, chaos and catastrophe. i shared the podium behind the lectern many times with administratorell. because as we all know, we have over the past several years. unfortunately. from the fires on my to hurricanes across the east and gulf coast -- maui and hurricanes across the east end gold coast, we have seen one dangerous miscommunication drives a wedge between communicators and the american pele. we have seen how trusted communicators who meet people where they are, are able to break through that noise, and get people critical life-saving information. now when i address the press from the white house podium, the

only thing that stands between me and getting our message to the american public is whether the people sitting in those chairs, and the folks watching at home, feel like they can trust me. feel like the information i am . and that they can trust, obviously, that information. building that trust is not just about getting accurate information across the airways or onto livestreams, it's about rapport. it's about empathy. building relationships. everything i say at the podium, and i know many of you understand what i mean, you have to try to put yourself in the shoes■@ of the person or the people you're talking to. have that empathy. it is so key in communicating. so that people here exactly what it is that you are trying to share with them. important, critical information. even when we get it wrong,

because sometimes we get it wrong, like i said, we do, that trust assures them that we are always trying to get it right. now, at the same time, we know that building trust and communicating risk with your audience is more complicated today. as i started my remarks, i talked about misinformation and disinformation. it's not enough to communicate one message in one which -- language, on one platform. we have to up or adapt our approach. -- to adapt our approach bravely learned that lesson very much so during the covid pandemic prayed would prove successful in the president's historic vaccination effort when enlisting trusted senders in -- messengers in community's nationwide, whether that is doctors, community leaders, nurses, teacherss.

we are hearing a message from someone in wam7shington, d.c. is one thing. but hearing it from a member of our own community can make a big difference. can make all the difference. that's why i am always thrdd mee administrator criswell join me at the podium when disaster strikes. because she is able to talk about her experience. she is able to talk about what americans, people who are suffering. she goes directly to the disaster area and has that empathy. and represents the administration. and because of the work that has been done by all of you, by her, many in the administration. there is a trust that comes with the actions she is able to do on behalf of this administration. our nation is so lucky to have trusted messengers like you on the front lines.

very, very thankful for that. before i close. i want to take a moment and acknowledge that many of you in this room got to the place we are today because of a hero or luminary he looked up to. that is important trade to lift up our mentors. i am a the white house because of many people who inspired me. i know, and for those of you who may have followed my career a little bit, i say this a lot. i know that i stand on so many shoulders, so many people who came before me whodoor for me tm today. and i am incredibly grateful. i'm sure many of us do what we do because early in our lives, we were put on a path to public service. ■-■kwe had people in our lives t served others. people we trusted. so, we gather here today to think about the role models, as

we are here today, who paved the way for you to be communicators. i do think about those role models for me almost a daily. people ask me all the time, how does it feel to be at the podium? i always say to them, every time i go to work, i drive my car, i park it. i walk with the west wing lobby. i go to my office. my office is right in between the white house press briefing room and the oval office. as a young woman of color, black woman who grew up in an immigrant household. who was told by many people that i wouldn't make it. was told by many people that i was physically [indiscernible] it is always an emotional moment

for me. every single day, to know that i speak on behalf of this administration for the psi not t means to do the job that we do, day in and day out. it is an honor. it is a privilege. i'm thrilled to be doing that every this, we should think about the people we trust in to light our own path and help us find our way. because i wouldn't be here without those people who did that just for me. as we remember the lessons of our mentors, let us also commit to paying it forward. and i hope i got to do a little bit of that today by paying it forward to all of you. thank you so much for this opportunity. thank you for having me today. have ae. have a great rest of your summer. pp>> thank you, ms. jean-pierre,

for your leadership. the lessons apply to all the communicators in this room, as they lead conversations in their own communities. the daily work of the public relations profession is diverse and ever-changing. ne please welcome our colleague from fema's office of external affairs, matthew binkey, director of given occasion, sarah smith manager of listening and analytics and rashida mccoy, deputy media branch chief. [applause] >> hi, everyone. we are working on wrapping up this amazing morning. i want to thank all of our incredible speakers that also thank you all. i echo justin in saying, thank you for being present and being

part of these important discussions. we heard from some of the country's top communicators and focused on how to effectively engage with communities, understand their experiences, and utilize the channels and partners that help us meet people where they are. i think a common trend that i heard is that the concept of list engagement looks different for everyone. there is n■2■ao blueprint for wt we do. as you think about what you, go into your lunch break considering how can you expand on that, how can we start taking outside the box? because now more than ever we need to start getting creative. will handed off to rashida who will give you a look at what is coming up the rest of the afternoon. >> as you said, this morning was awesome. this afternoon we will shift our topic to crisis and risk communications, along with panel discussions, we will hear from experts specializing in not only

public health, meteorology, utilizing emergency alerts, working with businesses and responding to fires. i hope that over lunch, you take the time to mix and mingle, chitchat, and talk about the great ideas and discussions mentioned today. please take that time to do so. don't forget to network. >> thanks, rashida. let's give a round of applause for all of our morning participants. thank you guys. [applause] our program will resume at 1:30. some of our fema staff will remain. don't leave anything valuable. have your name tag with you. it will make itcome back. please stop off at the tables outside. there is also maps for food options that are within walking distance. as well as, we external affairsg tables. with that, we willee you back here once again.

thank you for all of your participation. please enjoy lunch. [inaudible chatter]onal caption, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >>oness returns tuesday for giative business andotes. the house will spend most of the week working on 2020 five defense programsndolicy

legislation. legislatorarexpected to consider a resolution finding attorney general merrick garland in contempt of congress for refusing to provide audio files of special counsel robert hur. if all threere confirmed, the commissionou have a full complentwi docrats holding a-2 majority. later, a ve legislation t protect access to in vitro fertilizatn. watch live coverage of the house on c-span, the senate on c-span2, and watch all of our congressional coverage with our ee video app, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> tune in to c-span's live coverage of the 2024 national political conventions starting with republicans in milwaukee on

july 15. ■pnext up, catch the democrats s they convene in chicago kicking stay connected for an unfiltered glimpse of democracy at work. watch the republican and l conventions live this summer on c-span, c-span now are mobe online at . c-spanyour unfiltered view of politics. howard by cable. >> of government. we're funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> are you building just a community center? >> it's way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers to create wi-fi enabled lift zones so students from low income families can get the toolshey need. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving