Crisis Management Insights
Read up on our emergency preparedness advice for business owners and employees alike.
That’s a Wrap: The Resiliency Institute Completes Its First Virtual Resiliency Academy
In March 2026, The Resiliency Institute, TRI’s 501c3 reached an exciting milestone with the completion of its first-ever virtual Resiliency Academy.
Over two days, a dynamic group of professionals from across sectors came together to strengthen their skills in crisis management, business continuity, and all-hazards preparedness. What made the experience especially meaningful was not just the content, but the collaboration, participants sharing insights, asking thoughtful questions, and learning from one another in real time.
Quarterly Resiliency Forecast-Spring 2026
What we’re seeing now, more clearly than ever, is that the issue isn’t just the volume of disruption; it’s the gap between planning and execution. Organizations have plans. Many of them are thoughtful, detailed, and well-intended. But in a real event, when information is incomplete, systems are degraded, and decision-making needs to happen quickly, those plans often don’t translate. People hesitate. Roles become unclear. Communication slows down. And valuable time is lost trying to “figure out the plan” instead of moving forward..
What Andy’s Cow Patty Palace Taught Me about Community and Resilience.
But Andy’s was much more than a diner. It was a community hub. Locals started their mornings there with coffee and conversation, caught up on town gossip, bartered for goods, and even played poker (where the loser had to drive my sisters and me to school). Growing up in that environment, I came to understand how central small businesses are to the fabric of a community. When my dad was sick or when snowstorms or power outages hit, the diner couldn’t open. That didn’t just mean no income for the day; it left a gap in the community. Regulars missed their routine. Conversations and connections were put on pause. Everyone who relied on Andy felt the ripple effect—not just us, but the butcher who provided our meat, our dairy supplier, and the list goes on.
Critical Training for Active Assailant Response: A Personal Account and The Resiliency Initiative’s Mission
I've spent many years in the emergency management field, designing training programs and responding to every type of hazard imaginable—countless fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, explosions, train derailments, and even cyber hacks and ransomware attacks. Yet, there is one type of incident that cuts deep every time: an active shooter situation. For me, these are the most mentally taxing to manage, especially from the vantage point of being in an Emergency Operations Center, where I often watch the tragedy unfold from a distance, helpless to intervene. The harsh reality is that most active shooter incidents are over in less than five minutes. In those moments, all I can do is hope that the training we provided takes hold, guiding those caught in the crossfire to safety.
Tornado Reality Check: An Emergency Manager's Personal Experience and Preparedness Insights
I have responded to countless disasters of many different types, spent more hours than I have spent sleeping in some version of an emergency operation center or another and even had to use my life safety training, such as CPR, on more than one occasion. I would say that emergency response is part of who I am; even my initials are AED. However, though I have been in this field for half my life, I have always been the helper, NOT the one needing help.