Our Center had its Strategic Planning Session this year in a span of four meetings with its Advisory Board members, Senior Fellows, and staff members. We would like to thank Mark Todd who facilitated our sessions and helped format the structure of the meetings, which provided a wonderful and interesting topics for discussions.

At the Center, our goal is “to provide effective leadership and coordination that rapidly responds to the interests of educational institutions and workforce training needs of the HSEM (all-hazard) business and industry sectors across the state.” We want Washington State to be on the cutting-edge of our HSEM career pathway programs, which includes Criminal Justice, Cyber-Security, Fire Service, Emergency Medical Services, HSEM, and Occupational Health and Safety. We also want students graduating from these programs to be able to become industry professionals and experts. Our goal has never wavered, but expanded.

We know that diversity, inclusion, and equity are just as equally important. That is why our Center has a new goal to create practical ways to enhance diversity and inclusion into our all-hazard career pathways. It is important for our pathway programs to reach a more diverse student population, along with broadening curriculum to include topics such as systemic racism and implicit bias within the industries, and hire faculty of color that will help to enlarge perspectives of the programs.

Our 20-21 work plan will reflect the need incorporating more diversity and inclusion within the Washington State Community and Technical College system, while also partnering with organizations that can help us achieve our goal of recovering and eliminating systemic racism and implicit bias.

With our Advisory Board, our Center will look at how we can develop and deliver a social equity/social justice courses in collaboration with programs to our current faculty, staff, and student body to help colleges and programs. Our programs will lead with racial equity and recruit diverse individuals to help incorporate change in the culture. Overall, people want to see themselves reflected within education and organizational values.