Blog
What’s on our minds
We share what we learn and what we’re doing so that others can learn from us and we can learn from others. Comments welcome!
Commemorating 9/13: Where it all started
It was two days after 9/11. Like many others, I needed to do something, but didn’t know what I could do.
I made a phone call. That led me to the local Red Cross office.
Eventually, it led me to a lifelong passion for disaster management, a profound faith in community, and a firm commitment to what I call “Five Ks of Being a Good Human Being”: Kindness, Caring, Compassion, Courtesy, and Consideration.
24 years later, the divisions exposed by 9/11 are on full display. Civil discourse is no longer civil. The violence and fear tactics we once condemned as tyrannical are increasingly normalized.
I still feel the need to do something. But, today, I know what I can do.
👉 I can lead by example, openly refusing to condone disrespect and violence.
👉 I can embody the Five Ks, and help everyone I encounter feel valued and treated with kindness.
👉 I can promote and support the dedication and efforts of my friends, partners, and colleagues around the world who dedicate their lives to bridging differences and strengthening communities.
👉 I can continue to build Creative Crisis Leadership, empowering people to stand with their neighbors — ALL of their neighbors — to prepare for and overcome crises.
Please join me in my quest to make the world a place where we laugh together rather than cry alone. Take your own actions: Embrace the Five Ks in your daily life, support your local community, and, if you can, consider making a donation to help us inspire action through fun, games, and imagination.
With heartfelt thanks for your support,
— Susanne
May 2025 Newsletter: From Nest to Fledgling
Read the latest update on our journey: From Nest to Fledgling.
And, thank you for being part of our journey and our family.
Free filing tracker for nonprofits!
We recently created a spreadsheet to ensure that we stay on top of our legal filing obligations. Then we learned that nearly one-third of California nonprofits are at risk of losing their business license or tax-exempt status because they’ve missed deadlines (according CalNonprofits)!
Here is a simple, customizable version of our spreadsheet to help others track their filing and key organizational dates, so they can focus on their mission with confidence.
Feel free to copy and adapt it for your organization’s needs. And share with others!
Disclaimer: We built this for our own use, it’s up to you to verify its accuracy for your organization and state requirements. 😇
Burning Truth #4: It’s the embers that will get you
This little ember went to your attic.
This little ember flew into your house.
This little ember had a pile of leaves under your porch.
This little ember had none.
This little ember cried “Wee! Wee! Wee!” as it burned down your home.
Yes, it’s the embers from a wildfire that set most homes on fire. Not the flames from the main fire. Nor the heat.
Think of embers as flying baby fires looking for a place to nest and grow. And, you don’t have just one to worry about. A wildfire will generate millions, and winds may throw hundreds of thousands of these micro-infernos your way. They can fly as much as five miles to your home where they just need a tiny bit of fuel to grow into mature bonfires.
The good news is that you can protect your home against these tiny predators.
Look around you. Do you see places where embers could get in or nest right now? Maybe you see an open window. Or an unprotected attic vent. Or some nice dry mulch next to the deck. Are there pine needles on your roof or in your gutters? These are open invitations for hungry embers to roost.
What can you do now to prevent embers from finding a home in your home?
If this post started you thinking, please think about
making a small donation
to make preparing for disaster fun and empowering.
For more insight on the dangers of embers:
- Embers happen!
- Here’s a stunning video of an ember-hardened house surviving an inferno that came right up to its front door.
- Here’s a checklist of things you can do to protect your home against embers: Prepare Your Home – UCANR Fire Network
Burning Truth #5: You can control the fire’s path to your home
Imagine that you are a raging wildfire, looking for things to consume.
Up ahead you see some mouthwatering homes. You throw some embers at them to see what you might catch. One lands in some tasty dry mulch. You munch along that and to a delicious wooden fence. Gleefully gulping your way along the fence, you run right up to a whole house. Dinner is served!
Still hungry, you try for another home. It too has a fence, but, sadly, there’s a wide cement walkway between the fence and the house. And there’s no vegetation anywhere around the house for you to snack on. There aren’t even any dried leaves or pine needles on the roof. There’s just no way you can get close enough to get a decent mouthful.
Guess you’ll just have to settle for the first one.
The news media delights in showing us pictures of one home left unscathed when everything around it has been destroyed by wildfire. Such as the famous red-roofed house of Lahaina.
We are amazed and think, “How lucky!” But it is not just luck. By blocking all the paths that fire can use to reach your home, you can change the odds of it being burned. A lot.
Look around you. What potential fire paths do you see?
If this post started you thinking, please think about
making a small donation
to make preparing for disaster fun and empowering.
For more insights on how you can keep wildfires from reaching and igniting your home:
- Change the odds, save your house
- Here’s a video about how Your Home Can Survive a Wildfire
- Here’s a checklist of things you can do to Prepare Your Home – UCANR Fire Network