Our mission
We spread the confidence, skills and mindsets that people need to act and work together in a crisis.
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What we do
We design live community learning experiences that combine crisis research, experiential education and disaster response to foster social resilience, and work with community organizations to get them to local communities.
LEARN MORE about our Projects →
What we do
We design live community learning experiences that combine crisis research, experiential education and disaster response to foster social resilience, and work with community organizations to get them to local communities.
LEARN MORE about our Projects →
Who we are
We are dedicated to helping communities to help themselves through science, learning, individual empowerment and fun. At the moment, we are small and mostly working in Northern California. With your help, we aim to grow into a nonprofit that helps communities around the world.
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In a nutshell
From fire to flood, pandemic to power outage, community crises increasingly affect everyday life. Official response systems strive to prepare and respond, but cannot be everywhere, instantly. Individuals and communities must be ready to help themselves.
Most people believe that being ready starts with functional resilience: having the knowledge of exactly what to do and a stockpile of supplies before a crisis happens.
We don’t.
We believe that being ready starts with social resilience: having the skills and mindsets needed to improvise with the people and resources at hand when a crisis happens.
We are developing a new approach to community training that strengthens social as well as functional resilience. Our learning experiences help individuals and communities prepare to be unprepared by providing them with opportunities to experience some of the chaos and confusion of a crisis, practice improvising, and discover what they can accomplish with the people and resources that happen to be available.
Individuals and communities recover from crisis faster and better when they help themselves. We envision a world where every community crisis is met with people who act, improvise, and overcome together. Because crisis doesn’t wait for them to be prepared.
See how it works
We’re working on
Project
Wildfire readiness
Our main focus right now is on working with a few local communities to develop a new learning experience to help community members be ready to support each other in the face of a wildfire threat — from possible evacuation through return to partially damaged homes.
LEARN MORE about the Wildfire project →
Project
Research Roundtables
Understanding crisis, collective action, and improvised leadership draws on many scientific fields. We are leading a series of roundtable discussions that bring together diverse groups of researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas and share insights.
LEARN MORE about Roundtables →
From our blog
Nine measures of disaster recovery
On the ninth day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … nine measures of disaster recovery.
Eight wishes for 2023!
On the eighth day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … eight wishes for 2023!
Seven Questions of Disaster Management — The Evolution of US Philosophy
On the seventh day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … seven questions of disaster management, and trace …
From our blog
Nine measures of disaster recovery
On the ninth day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … nine measures of disaster recovery.
Eight wishes for 2023!
On the eighth day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … eight wishes for 2023!
Seven Questions of Disaster Management — The Evolution of US Philosophy
On the seventh day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … seven questions of disaster management, and trace …
We are proud to work with
“Your program is really great and will no doubt, end up saving lives. The concept is unique, engaging, and very informative.”
— David Waxman, Neighborhood Wildfire Workshop participant