2.13 On Disaster Mitigation and Recovery with Jennifer Gray Thompson

Jennifer Gray Thompson is a lifelong resident of Sonoma Valley in Northern California. She attended Santa Rosa Junior College and graduated from Dominican University in 2001 with degrees in English and History. After teaching high school for 10 years, Jennifer went on to earn a master’s degree in Public Administration from University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. Post graduate school, Jennifer worked for the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

She is the CEO of After the Fire, an initiative of 501c3 nonprofit Rebuild NorthBay Foundation (RNBF), which was founded after the devastating fires in the North Bay of San Francisco in October 2017. RNBF is an organization dedicated to helping the region rebuild better, greener, safer, and faster. In summer of 2021, RNBF created After the Fire USA in response to the prevalence of massive megafires in response to climate change and wildland imbalances. Our tagline remains “Recover. Rebuild. Reimagine.”

Jennifer is nationally recognized as a leader in the space of wildfire and has presented at several national conferences on the issue by invitation of the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, HAC, Fannie Mae, Brownsfield, Smart Cities, FEMA, and many more. She is cofounder of CANVAS, an association of professional leaders in disaster working together to “listen locally, act regionally, reform nationally.”

Jennifer is the creator and host of the How to Disaster podcast, which highlights proven and effective leaders with great ideas in the space of disaster. She is on the board of directors of La Luz Center, a nonprofit serving primarily the Latino community in Sonoma Valley.

Jennifer interviewed Amy Simpkins on How to Disaster on Enhancing Equity and Sustainability back in September of 2021.

Quotables

“Every single community can recover at the same rate as another community if they are offered the right tools and capacity and funding and support.” - Jennifer Gray Thompson

“Energy is also an ecosystem.” – Jennifer Gray Thompson

"What is good for the ecology is good for the economy." – Jennifer Gray Thompson

“The renewal of faith in humanity is really common in disaster places.” – Jennifer Gray Thompson

“The American culture is very good in a crisis and is very good at stepping in with heroics in a crisis. But what we’re bad at culturally is taking responsibility for our neighbors and our communities prior to the crisis.” – Amy Simpkins

“Disaster is a great leveler and a great teacher.” – Jennifer Gray Thompson

“There is a way forward and I believe clean energy is at the center of that.” – Jennifer Gray Thompson

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