Days Until Our
2023 Conference!

Accelerating resiliency planning in communities across the Commonwealth

Resiliency Academy – Community Action: Tools for Resiliency Planning

Home » Resilient Virginia Events » Resiliency Academy » Resiliency Academy – Community Action: Tools for Resiliency Planning

Resiliency Academy – Community Action: Tools for Resiliency Planning

Home » Resilient Virginia Events » Resiliency Academy » Resiliency Academy – Community Action: Tools for Resiliency Planning

March 17, 2022

Resiliency planning can be a cumbersome and costly process for communities. For Session 2 of our Spring 2022 Resiliency Academy, we will be discussing tools that communities can use to aid in this necessary planning process.

We are pleased to announce that we have lined up 4 expert speakers for this session who will share a wealth of resources and knowledge to help communities plan for a resilient future.

Mari Radford

Mari Radford is the Community Planning Lead for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region 3 office. Mari and her team provide mitigation planning support to the six states and communities that make up Region 3; DC, DE, WV, MD, PA, and VA as required under the Stafford Act. In addition to planning she provides plan reviews and technical assistance, conducts training, and disaster response. She is a member of the Virginia Silver Jackets team.

Previously, she worked with the National Flood Insurance Program as a Planning Specialist and the US Department of State as a Community Liaison Officer.

Mari holds a M.S. degree in Community and Regional Planning from Temple University, and a B.A. degree in History from Willamette University.

Matt Dalon

Matt Dalon is the Program Manager for the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan for the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Matt joined DCR in 2021 after 14 years of waterfront engineering and consulting in the private sector to manage the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan contract that was led by Rear Admiral Ann Phillips (USN, Ret.), former Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection (SACAP).

Matt is a Professional Engineer, Certified Floodplain Manager, and has degrees in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University and Ocean and Coastal Engineering from Oregon State University.

Debbie Messmer

Debbie Messmer has worked for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management for 17 years as a Grants Administrator/Project Coordinator, and now as the State Hazard Mitigation Officer. She has managed over $100 million in mitigation grants across the Commonwealth ranging from acquisition and elevation of private residential properties to large-scale stormwater management projects to small educational opportunities. She is currently serving in the role of Earthquake Program Manager for the Commonwealth.

Prior to her time with VDEM, she worked for the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management managing over $80 million in mitigation grants through Hurricane Fran and Hurricane Floyd.

Shana Udvardy

Shana Udvardy is a climate resilience analyst with the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She conducts research and policy analysis to help inform and build support to increase resilience to climate change impacts. Prior to joining UCS, Ms. Udvardy provided consulting services on climate adaptation and flood risk management policy. She was also the climate adaptation policy analyst at the Center for Clean Air Policy, director of flood management policy for American Rivers, and water program manager at the Georgia Conservancy. Ms. Udvardy also worked at the Smithsonian Institution’s Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua.

Ms. Udvardy is a Certified Floodplain Manager, and holds a M.S. in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development from the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology and a B.A. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School.

Ms. Udvardy is frequently called upon to speak on climate adaptation and flood risk management, including two State Department speaking tours in Bangkok and Manila in 2014 and Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos in 2012.

Thank you to our Spring 2022 Resiliency Academy Sponsor:
Learn More:

For the Spring 2022 Resiliency Academy we are focusing on on the Components of a Resilient Community, covering Economic Activities, Community Action, Ecosystem Services, and Infrastructure and Buildings. Multiple expert speakers will join us for each session and information on the results of the 2022 Virginia Assembly and on new Federal programs will be presented.

Become a Member
Become a Sponsor
Become a Volunteer

Sign Up for E-News

Get news and notifications from Resilient Virginia.

The Resilience Calendar

  • UEDA 2023 Summit
    Date: October 8, 2023
    Location:

    The UEDA Summit will bring together national experts in leveraging college and university resources for greater economic development and community impact. These domain experts work within higher education, the private sector, economic development organizations,…

  • Lessons Learned: How We Adapt on the Road to Climate Adaptation
    Date: October 12, 2023
    Location:

    Learn from this expert panel as they reflect on the limitations and challenges they’ve encountered in a wide variety of climate change adaptation projects

    Learn more and register More details...

  • Virginia Clean Energy Summit
    Date: October 16, 2023
    Location:

    The Virginia Clean Energy Summit serves as a vital forum for presenting innovative clean energy technologies, policies, and business practices that are driving the transformation of Virginia's energy sector. The main goal is to…

Latest News & Resources

Economic Opportunities for Community Resilience in Virginia

We chose to focus this year’s Resilient Virginia Conference on the numerous economic opportunities that currently exist for building community resilience in the state. Let’s be clear – businesses and communities will increasingly face risks in infrastructure damage, supply chain disruptions, and the toll on workers. However, by taking advantage of economic opportunities, they can begin to address the risks they are facing.

Read More »

Lynchburg Rising Final Report

In 2022 and 2023, the  Lynchburg Rising  project, funded by the  US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Environmental Justice , engaged historically disinvested neighborhoods in the City, which are disproportionately impacted by these hazards, to better understand their risks and to develop community capacity to address them.

Read More »

Pursuing a Resilient Virginia

In this report, we look at the attributes of a resilient community, the various approaches Virginia communities have taken to build resilience, and how we can work together to become more resilient.

Read More »

Six Foundations for Building Community Resilience

A community is more than just homes, stores, roads, and sidewalks. It is also the people inhabiting that space and it is defined by their social relationships, culture, economic and governance structures, and shared activities and memories. This report from the Post Carbon Institute looks at 6 foundations for building long-lasting community resilience. It approaches resilience building as an on-going process and not as an end goal.

Read More »