2017 has the potential to be great for the IAFC. We’re very excited about some new projects and initiatives that will be coming your way.
First, I want to remind everyone that we have a couple of major issues to resolve for 2017—we need to reauthorize the AFG and SAFER Grant programs and we need to reauthorize the U.S. Fire Administration. We’ll need your help in doing so. Please block off your calendar for April 5-6 and plan on attending the Congressional Fire Service Institute Symposium and Dinner. Plan to see your congressional delegation and help us inform the 115th Congress.
In December, the IAFC board of directors approved the formation of two new initiatives that I’m excited to announce.
The first of these is the Women Fire Chief Council (WFCC). Two great leaders from the fire service, Chief Kara Kalkbrenner, Phoenix Fire Department, and Chief Donna Black, Duck (N.C.) Fire Department, have agreed to colead the council. We purposely wanted leaders from both a volunteer and a metropolitan organization to see if there are different challenges they face.
All women fire chiefs who are also IAFC members will be invited to the initial meeting during Fire-Rescue Med in Henderson, Nev.
The second initiative is the IAFC Diversity Executive Leadership Program (iDELP). The IAFC is starting this program to prepare members from underrepresented groups for positions within the IAFC and the national fire service.
The program will establish small cohorts of IAFC Fellows who will spend two years on a journey to prepare them for leadership at a high level.
This program isn’t aimed at developing fire chiefs necessarily, even though that will most likely be an outcome. Rather, it’s aimed at preparing diverse leaders to seek IAFC leadership positions. Chief John Butler of Howard County (Md.) Fire and Rescue and Chief Nate Trauernicht from the University of California, Davis Fire Department, have agreed to colead and mentor this project.
I want to thank the IAFC board for their vision in authorizing these programs and our four leading chiefs for their willingness to make our great association and the fire service even better.
Fire Chief John Sinclair
President and Chairman of the Board