Experience

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  American red cross, santa barbara county chapter

  Aug 2002 - Jun 2003

  Preparedness & response coordinator (americorps national service)

  Constructed a week-long disaster preparedness workshop for children that involved both hands on and technology-based work stations. Marketed and oversaw the implementation of a preparedness-based youth curriculum into three school districts. Deployed to multiple local and national disaster relief operations, providing direct service to those affected. Prepared and executed hundreds of presentations on community preparedness to diverse populations.

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  American red cross, santa barbara county chapter

  Sept 2003 - Feb 2011

  Supervised a team of employees and over 1,100 volunteers across two offices and two service locations. Developed and established operating policies and procedures; appraised and evaluated results to ensure effective service delivery; and leveraged community relationships to achieve maximum results. Implemented and administered innovative youth preparedness education program, including curriculum development, instructor training, and community outreach – reached 8,000 students annually. Designed and implemented volunteer engagement tracking tool, which resulted in greater departmental accountability for volunteer engagement, more organizational visibility into the utilization of volunteers across service delivery areas, and timely mitigation of under-engaged personnel. Directed Emergency Volunteer Centers during large-scale disaster relief operations which resulted in successfully processing over 1,000 emergent volunteers, providing just-in-time training to hundreds of volunteers, and deploying volunteer resources to the field. Successfully initiated a targeted outreach campaign that increased organizational presence in traditionally underserved communities by collaborating with trusted community leaders. Show less Managed volunteer program, which included recruitment, placement, recognition and retention. Coordinated a preparedness outreach campaign that resulted in 45,000 students in Santa Barbara County receiving fire safety information. Established a formal internship program to address key organizational needs. Planned and instituted a 10-week after-school preparedness program in Spanish for 50 mono/bi-lingual students and their families. Strengthened youth and young adult participation through intensive community outreach campaigns, partnering with schools and other youth focused organizations and sponsoring community events. Show less

  • Director of Volunteer & Youth Services

    Jan 2005 - Feb 2011

  • Volunteer & Youth Services Specialist

    Sept 2003 - Jan 2005
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  American red cross, central california region

  Feb 2011 - Dec 2011

  Regional director of community services

  Managed a team of employees as well as over 2,200 volunteers across four offices, two military installations, and a hospital. Utilized change management practices to successfully lead team through an organizational merger and department restructuring, which required the ability to successfully navigate challenging situations and behaviors. Provided critical leadership in addressing organizational needs and actively engaged stakeholders in the development of creative solutions to address existing and anticipated challenges. Implemented strategies that created more efficient business processes across the region, which reduced staff time required to complete tasks, improved customer wait times, and increased both customer and employee satisfaction. Led team through the build out of a new customer relationship management technology system and managed all aspects of the corresponding data migration project, which included project scoping, data evaluation and validation, and testing. Created data collection systems and statistical reports for high level executive reporting and prepared and monitored budgets for multiple programmatic areas. Managed complex, large-scale projects utilizing strong creative, collaborative, organizational, and motivational skills. Show less

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  City of carpinteria

  Dec 2011 - Mar 2015

  Volunteer & emergency services coordinator

  As part of the City Manager’s leadership team, developed strategic goals and objectives to increase the City’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and other emergencies. Advised City leadership of legislative agendas and developed strategies to address the situations. Led department through annual budgetary process, which included establishing budget allocations and project priorities and advocating for program areas. Worked with community leaders to address public concerns and implement creative solutions, which resulted in the creation of neighborhood evacuation plans and the establishment of an oil and gas regulatory review board. Successfully managed all emergency response capacity building projects, which included drafting comprehensive emergency response plans; identifying and acquiring resources; and recruiting and training volunteers to fill critical emergency response roles. Planned and organized community preparedness presentations and events with local businesses and organizations, reaching thousands of residents annually. Implemented new volunteer management technology system to facilitate recruitment, coordination, scheduling, training, and communication, which resulted in more effective volunteer engagement and improved data analytics. Researched, prepared, and drafted complex reports, including Staff Reports, and presented to City officials, including the City Council. Show less

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  County of san diego

  Apr 2015 - now

  Lead cross-functional teams in the development, implementation, and evaluation of operational policies, practices, procedures, and guidelines at the department, enterprise, and regional levels. Actively initiates opportunities to identify areas of growth and improvement within core operational processes, develops recommendations for improvement, and implements solution-oriented projects. Analyzes legislation impacting emergency services functions, interprets emergency management policies, and provides key recommendations to leadership regarding impacts and opportunities. Facilitated the development and implementation of a comprehensive department work plan program designed to drive department performance, measure program outcomes, and use meaningful data to evaluate success. Provides oversight and direction to Staff Duty Officers responsible for coordinating and monitoring the County's response to large-scale emergencies that impact the San Diego Operational Area. Initiates and manages contracts for critical services, including multi-year contracts for exercise planning and facilitation, emergency lodging, and emergency information and referral services. Regularly manages simultaneous high priority projects from initiation and planning through to execution and completion. Show less Planned and facilitated large-scale multi-agency, multi-disciplinary regional exercises, which included the engagement of hundreds of local, state, federal, military, tribal, and non-governmental agencies and thousands of participants. Analyzed and resolved difficult and complex emergency management issues and provided technical guidance to regional partners and stakeholders. Proactively identified gaps within emergency management programs and developed and successfully implemented plans to increase capabilities through training development and facilitation, resource capacity building, securing grant funds, and leveraging community stakeholders. Coordinated ongoing reviews and discussions with community stakeholders to ensure emergency planning and response efforts were inclusive of individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs. As a Staff Duty Officer, coordinated the County’s response to large-scale disasters, which required timely response to local incidents; strategic engagement with community stakeholders; response to and resolution of questions and inquiries from the public; and calm, decisive decision-making. Regularly coordinated and interacted with members of the public, community leaders, and public officials as well as representatives from government agencies, special districts, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. Show less

  • Group Program Manager, Public Safety Group Executive Office

    Oct 2021 - now

  • Group Program Manager, Office of Emergency Services

    Jul 2020 - Oct 2021

  • Senior Emergency Services Coordinator, Office of Emergency Services

    Apr 2015 - Jul 2020