After attending the Southeast & Caribbean Disaster Resilience Partnership's 2023 Annual Meeting in Miami, FL, our CEO, Julie Shiyou-Woodard, participated in an invitation-only roundtable hosted by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University.

The event brought together those who work in resilience and those who work in disaster response and recovery. Attendees candidly discussed the challenges, potential solutions, and the role universities can play in supporting their work.

Two sessions were held. The first reflected on five years of lessons learned and opportunities for moving forward. They discussed experiences from recent hurricanes, wildfires, winter storms, droughts, tornados, and devastating floods and the strides made in climate resilience and disaster mitigation investment.

The second session focused on overcoming challenges in financing and funding resilience. Panelists named the most significant barriers communities face in accessing and managing funds and policy or technical solutions that may open doors to additional funding streams.

We are excited about the collaborations that will result from meeting over 30 other organizations focused on increasing the climate resilience of our nation.