I was recently selected as a new member of the Executive Leadership Committee for Evacuteer.org, and organization that helps New Orleans to implement the City Assisted Evacuation Plan in the event of a disaster that requires residents of the city to leave town. Evacuteer has been inspiring and engaging volunteers in New Orleans, mostly young professionals and students, since after Hurricane Gustav, and we have a strong partnership and a great deal of support from the City itself. I’ll be active with the Operations Team, responsible for helping recruit and train our Evacuteers, engage and sign MOUs with our community partners, and refine our Operations Plan so that we can better respond when needed and be sure our whole team is prepared to assist in the event of a disaster. This is a natural extension of my background in disaster response with the American Red Cross (no, I’m not leaving the Red Cross, this will be in addition to my volunteer work with them), and my coursework in humanitarian aid and disaster resilience, particularly with the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy. I’m looking forward to an exciting and productive year with Evacuteer.org!

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