MEMBER VOICES
Feedback on diversity and inclusion training
The IAWF partnered with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion to provide diversity and inclusion and unconscious bias training for our board and committee members, partners and association members who expressed interest. The course was well received and feedback was positive.
I completed these two courses . . . They were very informative and clear and the links to other resources were very good. It is a very worthwhile initiative and I recommend that it continues. [The courses] are ideal for anyone making decisions or recommendations in relation to IAWF business and activities – the board, committees, conference planning and programs, awards, publications etc. The time required is minimal and they are easy and enjoyable to do.
Thanks for the opportunity. It’s great to be involved in an organization that is providing leadership in this space.
Regards,
Trevor Howard
Australia
I completed the training [recently]. I found it to be very informative, and better than the same subject matter training we have utilised locally.
Very worthwhile, and I am thankful of the opportunity.
Kind regards
Mark Gunning, Commander
Country Fire Authority
Victoria, Australia
Appreciation for mentoring program
As a part of the IAWF mentoring program, we conduct periodic check-in calls via Zoom with our mentors and mentees. Here’s some feedback from one of our mentees.
Ireland is by no means a big player in respect of wildfires, but we do have our share and we need to measure up to this. We also have lot of other challenges that require strong leadership competence. Fire can show us the way to this.
Fire is a powerful catalyst for focusing co-operation, learning and for developing people. The global wildland fire community is evolving around leadership and positive values and the IAWF mentoring program facilitates direct engagement with people who are solid examples of these values – people to measure up to.
I have really enjoyed the experience as a mentee from the outset, and as a participant, I can really see the full potential of mentoring approaches like this.
I am extremely grateful to IAWF for making this possible and to my own mentor for sharing his valuable time, experience and insights.
Many thanks for your own warm encouragement and welcome from the outset.
Best regards,
Ciaran Nugent
Ireland
Follow-up on California 2020 story
In the Q1-2021 issue of Wildfire, Joaquin Ramirez wrote a story titled California 2020: Worst Fire Season Ever, Again. Now What? An effort to dissect the California Fire Quilt.
Ramirez took a strategic look at the California fire situation and invited IAWF members and readers to participate in the development of a SWOT analysis to help define strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
The best outcome, Ramirez said in the story, would be to create conversations that could help decision makers define strategies to improve the California wildfire situation.
To complete the project, Ramirez had the support of several of his California mentors. These individuals are seasoned experts – fire-behavior specialists with considerable scientific and practical experience fighting fires in the west.
Ramirez encourages IAWF members and all Wildfire readers to get involved by rating the importance of each item in the SWOT analysis and identifying the top factors for every category, to determine if the survey is robust and identify which factors apply to fire situations in other parts of the world.
Please take a few minutes and provide your input and expertise at http://bit.ly/CaliforniaSWOTForm
We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].
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