The session
Human services leaders are used to planning and building programs addressing the conditions they see. Emergency managers build around the assumption that conditions will change and systems will be stressed when a crisis hits.
As disruption compounds, HHS leaders have more reason to think like emergency managers. The federal role is shifting, natural disasters are stronger and more frequent, and economic shocks arrive without warning. The agencies navigating these conditions successfully aren't necessarily better resourced. They're reconfiguring how they work as the situation demands it.
Deanne Criswell
Former Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Deanne Criswell is an experienced emergency management professional and served as the 12th Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
As FEMA Administrator, Deanne focused on making disaster response more equitable, addressing climate-related risks, and improving coordination with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments.
Brittany Christenson
CEO, AidKit
Brittany Christenson is the CEO of AidKit. Under her leadership, AidKit has distributed more than $440 million across 27 states, establishing new infrastructure for rapid, targeted aid during disasters and major policy transitions.
She is a recognized voice on the modernization of eligibility systems, public benefit delivery, and the policy frameworks that govern how aid reaches people when it matters most.
Kadeem Robinson
Partnerships Manager, AidKit
Kadeem Robinson brings experience across government affairs, public policy, and nonprofit management to their work building partnerships that expand the reach of disaster and disruption relief and recovery programs.
At AidKit, they have worked closely with local and national partners including Save the Children to connect communities with critical support.
What you'll walk away with
A clear picture of what is shifting in the federal landscape, what remains stable, and what state and local agencies will increasingly need to carry on their own.
An understanding of why human services leaders are natural partners to emergency managers, and how to initiate that relationship in your own jurisdiction before it's needed.
A framework for evaluating whether your current benefit delivery infrastructure can flex under pressure, including how eligibility, intake, and data systems hold up when conditions change fast.
Real examples from guaranteed income, wage supplement, and disaster relief programs showing what adaptability looks like when it's built in from the start.
A clear sense of what should be in place before a disruption hits, and what it costs when jurisdictions wait too long to address it.
One clear action to take in the next 30 days
Jamie Hackbarth
Senior Program Manager, AidKit
Jamie Hackbarth is a senior program manager at AidKit who works with local and state governments to design and implement cash assistance and economic mobility programs.
She has spent the last decade helping communities access resources and making government programs work for the people they are designed to serve, from building Colorado's Opportunity Zone program to leading stakeholder engagement for a $16B federal grantmaking office.