Emergency Manager graduates from national aca

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough's Emergency Manager, Casey Cook, graduated from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Emergency Management Executive Academy at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) on September 11, 2014.

EMI, in collaboration with Harvard University’s National Preparedness Leadership Institute, University of Hawaii’s National Disaster Preparedness Training Center, the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security, and Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, has created the National Emergency Management Executive Academy to produce a comprehensive and innovative curriculum that supports the advancement of strategic and policy-level executive leadership.

Cook completed the four resident courses in the Executive Academy that includes Emergency Management—A Leadership Challenge; Integrating Science into Emergency Management Policies and Decisions; Emergency Management in the 21^st Century; and Exercising Emergency Management Executive Policy and Decision-making.  The Executive Academy also entails a considerable amount of outside reading, group collaboration, and project work.         

The Executive Academy is designed for emergency management executives in state, local, tribal, territorial and Federal government agencies; non-profit voluntary organizations; and the private sector.  Throughout the program, meta-leadership, critical thinking, strategic planning, innovation, and conflict resolution skills are developed and then applied to real-world, complex problems. Cohort members are also given the opportunity to work collaboratively on projects and participate in exercises involving cascading and catastrophic events.

The Emergency Management Professional Program (EMPP) curriculum is designed to be a lifetime of learning for emergency managers and includes three separate, but closely related, training programs. The National Emergency Management Basic Academy is a gateway for individuals pursuing a career in emergency management. The National Emergency Management Leaders Academy is designed for emerging leaders and mid-level managers who lead emergency management programs and want to advance their skillset. The Executive Academy is designed for senior-level executives who are responsible for making decisions that have a significant effect on prevention, protection and mitigation policy or the management of disaster response and recovery.

PHOTO: Casey Cook graduated from the National Emergency Management Executive Academy at EMI.  Timothy W. Manning, Deputy Administrator, National Preparedness and Protection, is shown congratulating Cook as he graduates.    M. Hughes/FEMA