Transforming Disaster Response
Much of the published work on disaster response has focused on specific disasters, highlighting what went wrong. Taking a new approach, this book explores ways in which transformational leadership principles may be applied to an organizations disaster preparation and response, moving the organization away from a competitive or top-down approach and toward a more collaborative one.
Rather than focus on commands emanating from the top, author William Lester offers readers a new paradigm, placing transformative and collaborative systems front and center to develop a sustainable disaster response system focused on the changes needed to build a system that can outlive any one leader. Step by step implementation plans to move from concept into workable, effective strategies that can be used immediately are included. Assuming no prior background in either organizational theory or disaster response systems, the book offers practical examples and hands-on explorations of the responses to Hurricanes Sandy, Harvey, Irma, and Maria, written by experts who know those disasters best delivering important insight into what elements make the best disaster response system.
William Lester is Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Jacksonville State University, USA.
ASPA Series in Public Administration and Public Policy
David H. Rosenbloom, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Mission: Throughout its history, ASPA has sought to be true to its founding principles of promoting scholarship and professionalism within the public service. The ASPA Book Series on Public Administration and Public Policy publishes books that increase national and international interest for public administration and which discuss practical or cutting edge topics in engaging ways of interest to practitioners, policy makers, and those concerned with bringing scholarship to the practice of public administration.
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Transforming Disaster Response
Federalism and Leadership
William Lester
Transforming Disaster Response
Federalism and Leadership
William Lester with Robert Wright, Michael Kemp, Michael A. Brown, and Jacob J. Dickman
First published 2019
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2019 Taylor & Francis
The right of William Lester to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lester, William, 1963- author.
Title: Transforming disaster response : federalism and leadership / William Lester.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018010902| ISBN 9781420094640 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780429463198 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Emergency managementUnited States. | Disaster reliefUnited States.
Classification: LCC HV551.3 .L47 2018 | DDC 363.34/80973dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018010902
ISBN: 978-1-4200-9464-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-46319-8 (ebk)
This book would not have come to fruition without the steadfast support and encouragement from Sharon Lester, my wife. Her belief in the value of this work for future disaster responses spurred me forward to completion. This book is dedicated to Sharon.
William Lester is a Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Jacksonville State University and also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University. His research interests include organization theory, leadership and ethics, public administration, disaster response, and public personnel. He has published in Public Administration Review and The Public Manager, among other journals and books, and is on the editorial board of Public Voices. He was named a 1999 Civitas Scholar and was also a 2008 participant at Minnowbrook III. In 2013 he was named a Fulbright scholar, teaching and researching in Moscow. He received his MPA and PhD from Texas Tech University with specializations in public administration, American politics, and political theory.
Robert Wright has over 20 years of experience in increasingly more responsible positions to envision, develop, and implement innovative programs/policies/grant acquisition strategies impacting public and private sectors, to organize people and events, and to communicate positive ideas and images intended to improve organizational productivity and support innovative decision-making. Dr. Wright has held senior management positions in the areas of public safety, emergency management, workforce development, and health care policy. Dr. Wright received his BA from the University of Chicago, an MPA from Suffolk University, Boston, MA, and a Doctorate in Public Administration from the University of LaVerne, LaVerne, CA. His research has focused upon the implementation of major federal programs. He currently teaches at Capella University, Minneapolis, MN as a Core Faculty in the Doctoral Program of Public Administration, School of Public Service Leadership. Areas of expertise concern Workforce Development, Program Evaluation, Public Sector Leadership, Public Sector Collaboration, and Emergency Management.
Michael A. Brown is the President of One World One Way, The O.W.O.W. Foundation, Inc, which is a 501.3c policy institute in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a Core Faculty Professor at Capella Universitys School of Public Service Leadership where he teaches graduate level emergency management and homeland security. Dr. Brown is a former United States intelligence and missile launch nuclear weapons officer. He has presented national presentations on many diversified topics, such as unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs), social vulnerability of African American Males at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the need for emergency managers to prepare for Radiological Dispersal Devices (RDD) and Improvised Nuclear Weapons (INW). Dr. Brown possesses an Associates of Applied Science degree in Intelligence and Imagery Analysis, a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Administration, a Masters in Humanities with a specialization in Emergency Management, and a Doctorate in Public Safety with a specialization in Emergency Management. He also has a certification in Critical Infrastructure Protection from FEMAs Texas & Engineering Extension Services (TEEX) program. His areas of interests are the use of new and emerging technologies, reducing social structural vulnerability, enhancing critical infrastructure, and building resilient communities.
