Doing More with Less: Expanding Emergency Management Capacity through Partnerships

When facing organization-wide budget reductions, public sector emergency managers must find innovative ways to sustain and grow our programs. This session shares the story of a strategic partnership between the California State University (CSU) and California Emergency Response Corps (CERC) that has expanded emergency management capacity during fiscal constraint.
Since 2023, this program has facilitated the addition of 27 full-time Emergency Management personnel across eleven campuses and generated nearly $100,000 in external funding. By embedding CERC members-often recent college graduates-into campus emergency management programs, CSU has strengthened preparedness outreach, enhanced operational support, and created a workforce development pipeline aligned with its mission of preparing California's future professionals.
In early 2025, CSU's CERC members deployed to the Los Angeles wildfires and gained real-world experience in supporting disaster survivors. Lessons learned through this experience will benefit CSU's Emergency Management programs for years to come.
Attendees will leave with practical strategies to leverage external partnerships, secure supplemental funding, and grow emergency management capacity-even in lean budget environments.