Keynote Address
The Best Kept Secret
Monday, July 12, 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. MDT
The enemy of equity is the failure to acknowledge existing inequities. Now more than ever, it is critical that we—as a society—acknowledge the embedded bias that exists within all systems and structures, including emergency management and hazards mitigation.
So how can equity be cultivated? During this keynote address, Chauncia Willis will discuss the complex history of bias in disaster management, and why it must be exposed so that we can learn from past mistakes. The harmful impacts of disasters and climate change will continue to stress the system of disaster management beyond its breaking point, revealing the fragility of its current state. There is an urgency of now.
Willis, who is author of Stretching: The Race toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in America, will lay the foundation for adopting equitable priorities in all aspects of emergency management. She will offer strategies for identifying biases that are hidden in plain sight and provide perspective on human-centered approaches for organizations to create programs centered in disaster equity.
Chauncia Willis
Co-Founder and CEO of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management
Chauncia Willis is the co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM). Willis is certified as an emergency manager, professional coach, and cultural diversity professional with more than 20 years of experience. Her expertise includes disaster management, national security event planning, leadership coaching, immigrant and refugee outreach, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion training. Before co-founding I-DIEM, Chauncia served as an emergency manager in Tampa, Florida, where she developed successful programs benefiting marginalized populations. She has led national emergency planning efforts for political conventions, national football league games, and international award shows. In her role as CEO for I-DIEM, she leads the effort to integrate equity into all facets of disaster policy, programs, and practice with the goal of increasing cultural competence and mitigating the harmful impacts of bias on underserved groups. Regarded as a national expert, Willis has provided witness testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives on matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion on multiple occasions, as well as on policy implementation. She is the author of Stretching: The Race toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in America.
Chauncia Willis hails from St. Petersburg, Florida, and is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans and the Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.