Ahead of a series of webinars around resilience, we found ourselves thinking about why the local government perspective has been missing from the conversation around resilience. Most agree that climate change is increasing the impact of disasters on our communities but the solution conversation is heavily dominated by the private sector. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce meeting this Spring about resilience featured zero local government officials. This started the wheel…

While the American Red Cross was founded in 1891, it was the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco that spurred a largely documented process of local companies with footprints in the area to lead relief efforts. In this case it was the Southern Pacific Railroad that provided emergency transportation services while financial institutions - local banks that grew from various natural resources plundering- contributed heavily to rebuilding efforts.

It really was not until the 1980s that we saw an institutionalization of relief, but it is no surprise to see the pre-disaster conversation led by the private sector. This brief discusses how a paradigm shift to local government can occur.