Program Manager Baltimore Area UASI Baltimore Metropolitan Council
For years, many emergency management agencies treated preparedness grants as a technical funding stream managed by a small group fluent in THIRAs, core capabilities, and allowable costs. Programs like UASI operated in a contained space inside government. That separation is gone. Preparedness funding now sits at the center of political attention, public scrutiny, and executive level risk in jurisdictions of every size. This session examines how the grant environment has shifted and what that shift demands of today's emergency managers. While federal guidance still emphasizes risk based planning and capability development, priorities are increasingly influenced by national politics and evolving expectations of preparedness. Agencies are expected to pivot quickly, align across disciplines, and demonstrate measurable value to leaders focused on accountability. Meanwhile, the profession's scope continues to expand into public health, climate resilience, cybersecurity, infrastructure protection, civil unrest, and long term recovery, often without corresponding authority or structural alignment. The risk landscape has also changed, moving from discrete threats to cascading and concurrent crises. Are investments anchored in validated local risk, or shaped by available funding? This presentation focuses on practical strategies for strengthening governance, sustainment, and strategic grant stewardship in a shifting national environment.
