Christa M - Disaster Minded

A book cover image of "Love Rebels" with red and black lettering on a light yellow background, side by side with a reviewer quote

book-review

How to Organize When You're Not Good at It

A review of Love Rebels: How I Learned to Burn Things Down Without Burning Out

Another Unconventional Step in an Unconventional Career Path

How 2025 encouraged me to loosen my grip and embrace a softer, better rounded version of myself

community

Have Our Online Lives Eroded Our Communities?

And can we bring ourselves back from collapse?

community

If FEMA Goes Away, Could Communities Step Up?

Three books offer a vision of future disaster recovery – if we can come together in mutuality

Men in red lifejackets and helmets paddle a rubber boat full of rescued people through brown floodwaters

disaster-recovery

If Disaster Response Shifts to States, How Can Communities Respond?

Waiting for rescue probably isn't sustainable for any of us

Volunteers organizing food distribution at a long table filled with canned and fresh foods. Their faces are not in frame, only their arms and gloved hands.

community

Organizing in Community, Also When You Have No Experience

Stepping up isn't just about collecting training or experience. It's also about healing past trauma.

A group of five men wearing hardhats and safety gear discuss plans in a ramshackle house.

emergency-management

Taking Experiential Training When You Have No Experience

Learning as much as I can from people who know a lot better than I do... and my own instincts

A photograph of a rear view mirror reflecting the road and sunset scenery behind the traveling vehicle, whose windows are partially open.

disaster-recovery

Twenty Years After I Wrote About Emergency Management Topics, Where Do Things Stand Now?

The more things change, the more they've stayed the same, only maybe with more political urgency

emergency-management

What's a Girl Have to Do to Get Into a Graduate Program?

There's explaining why I want to get this degree. Then there's bleeding on the page.

emergency-management

How I Updated My Resume to Move Towards a Brand New Career

The way I was able to see and appreciate just how much I've accomplished over the years, and to frame it all in a way that felt the most authentic to me

disaster-recovery

Following the Action Steps in Navigating the Chaos

Now that I'm rebuilding my entire life from the ground up, I'm more feeling my way along than planning my steps

A person wearing all black clothing lies curled in a fetal position on a wooden bench.

emergency-management

Leadership, Trauma, and the Space for Connection Between Them

Rarely can we admit that our carefully crafted structures may not always be the right ones for the circumstances