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Share the Wealth…
Industry Associations Bulletin Board

April 2010

NEWS AND EVENTS

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The National Safety Council
The National Safety Council saves lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the roads, through leadership, research, education and advocacy. By 2014, the council will save an additional 10,000 lives and prevent 1 million injuries. To achieve this goal, they will continue to partner with businesses, elected officials and the public to make an impact in areas such as distracted driving, teen driving, workplace safety, and safety in the home and community. They encourage businesses and individuals to get involved, and provide a variety of ways to do so.
www.nsc.org

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National Hydrologic Warning Council
The National Hydrologic Warning Council (NHWC), with membership across the United States and around the world, is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting emergency and environmental management officials by providing expert advice on the use of real-time, high quality hydrologic information from automated remote data systems, with the goals of protecting lives, property, and the environment.
www.hydrologicwarning.org

National Fire Protection Association
Established in 1896, the National Fire Protection Association serves as the world's leading advocate of fire prevention and is an authoritative source on public safety. In fact, its codes and standards influence every building, process, service, design, and installation in the United States, as well as many of those used in other countries. Its focus on true consensus has helped the association's code development process earn accreditation from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The mission of the international nonprofit association is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. Its membership totals more than 75,000 individuals from around the world and more than 80 national trade and professional organizations.
www.nfpa.org  

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Natural Hazards Research Center
Since 1976, the Natural Hazards Center has served as a national and international clearinghouse of knowledge concerning the social science and policy aspects of disasters. The Center collects and shares research and experience related to preparedness for, response to, recovery from, and mitigation of disasters, emphasizing the link between hazards mitigation and sustainability to both producers and users of research and knowledge on extreme events. A basic goal of the Center is to strengthen communication among researchers and the individuals, organizations, and agencies concerned with reducing damages caused by disasters. More than a quarter century of cultivating discourse among these groups has placed the Natural Hazards Center center-stage in both the national and global hazards communities. The Center is funded by a consortium of federal agencies (Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Science Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Forest Service) and the Public Entity Risk Institute.
www.colorado.edu/hazards

National Watershed Coalition
The National Watershed Coalition (NWC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Coalition (F.E.I.N. no. 84-1142882) (Dun & Bradstreet Number, DUNS, 09-053-1299) made up of national, regional, state, and local organizations, associations, and individuals, that advocate dealing with natural resource problems and issues using watersheds as the planning and implementation unit. It was formed in 1989, succeeding the older Watershed Congress, which traced its roots back to about 1951. The NWC:
  • Advocates using total resource management principles in planning, and believes the USDA assisted small watershed programs are among the best planning and implementation vehicles available for wise water and land management.
  • Represents the concerns and needs of watershed project sponsors at the national level.
  • Offers assistance on watershed planning when requested, sponsors biennial national watershed conferences, other specialty resource conferences, publishes a monthly electronic newsletter, “Watershed e-News” and conference proceedings.
  • Provides resource testimony before Congress on watershed programs and policy, and believes proper care of our nation’s natural resources a top national priority.
www.watershedcoalition.org

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) coordinates planning efforts by many voluntary organizations responding to disaster. Member organizations provide more effective and less duplication in service by getting together before disasters strike. Once disasters occur, NVOAD or an affiliated state VOAD encourages members and other voluntary agencies to convene on site. This cooperative effort has proven to be the most effective way for a wide variety of volunteers and organizations to work together in a crisis. It serves member organizations through:
  • Communication - disseminating information through electronic mechanisms, its Newsletter, the directory, research and demonstration, case studies, and critique
  • Cooperation - creating a climate for cooperation at all levels (including grass roots) and providing information
  • Coordination - coordinating policy among member organizations and serving as a liaison, advocate, and national voice
  • Education - providing training and increasing awareness and preparedness in each organization
  • Leadership Development - giving volunteer leaders training and support so as to build effective state VOAD organizations
  • Mitigation - supporting the efforts of federal, state, and local agencies and governments and supporting appropriate legislation
  • Convening Mechanisms - putting on seminars, meetings, board meetings, regional conferences, training programs, and local conferences
  • Outreach - encouraging the formation of and giving guidance to state and regional voluntary organizations active in disaster relief.
www.nvoad.org

Society for Risk Analysis
The Society for Risk Analysis is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those who are interested in risk analysis. Risk analysis is broadly defined to include risk assessment, risk characterization, risk communication, risk management, and policy relating to risk, in the context of risks of concern to individuals, to public and private sector organizations, and to society at a local, regional, national, or global level. Its goals are:
  1. Bring together individuals from diverse disciplines and from different countries and provide them opportunities to exchange information, ideas and methodologies for risk analysis and risk problem-solving;
  2. Foster understanding and professional collaboration among individuals and organizations for the purpose of contributing to risk analysis and risk problem-solving;
  3. Facilitate the dissemination of knowledge about risk and risk methods and their applications;
  4. Encourage applications of risk analysis methods;
  5. Promote advancement of the state-of-the-art in research and education on risk analysis; and
  6. Provide services to its members to assist them in developing their careers in risk analysis.
www.sra.org

Private & Public Businesses Inc
The Private & Public Businesses, Inc., (PPBI) is a not-for-profit Missouri corporation with a mission to link the private and public sectors in effective emergency management and disaster recovery planning. It will act as a clearinghouse for the exchange of information between private businesses and emergency management public agencies through communication, training and standards-setting in order to increase awareness of the economic viability of a community as an issue during recovery from disasters.
www.ppbi.org

Storage Networking Industry Association
Incorporated in December 1997,the Storage Networking Industry Association is a registered 501(c)6 non-profit trade association. Their members are dedicated to developing and promoting standards, technologies, and educational services to empower organizations in the management of information. It works toward this goal by forming and sponsoring Technical Work Groups (TWGs), producing (with their strategic partner Computerworld) the Storage Networking World Conference series, building and maintaining a vendor neutral Technology Center in Colorado Springs, and promoting activities that expand the breadth and quality of the storage and information management market. Its ability to accomplish these goals is directly attributed to the dedication and hard work of hundreds of volunteers from their member companies.
www.snia.org

Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma was founded at the University of Washington in 1999. It continues a mission begun nearly a decade earlier. The Dart Center is a global network of journalists, journalism educators and health professionals dedicated to improving media coverage of trauma, conflict and tragedy. The Center also addresses the consequences of such coverage for those working in journalism. Its mission is to:
— Advocate ethical and thorough reporting of trauma; sensitive, professional treatment of victims and survivors by journalists, and greater awareness by media organizations of the impact of trauma coverage on both news professionals and news consumers
— Educate working journalists about the science and psychology of trauma and the implications for news coverage through their website, academic research, seminars, workshops and training
— Serve as a forum for print, broadcast and Internet journalists to analyze issues, exchange ideas and advance strategies related to reporting on violence and catastrophic stress.
They also create and sustain partnerships among media professionals, therapists and others concerned with trauma, and nurture peer-support among working journalists.
www.dartcenter.org

Southern California Earthquake Center
The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a community of over 600 scientists, students, and others at over 60 institutions worldwide, headquartered at the University of Southern California. SCEC is funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey to develop a comprehensive understanding of earthquakes in Southern California and elsewhere, and to communicate useful knowledge for reducing earthquake risk.
 
Its goal is to understand the physics of the Southern California fault system and develop a model of key aspects of earthquake behavior. To do this, it organizes interdisciplinary research spanning all aspects of earthquake system science, disciplinary activities such as data collection and analysis, and special projects in information technology, earthquake predictability, and other applied research.
www.scec.org

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies was founded in 1985 for professionals to share information about the effects of trauma. It is dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge about policy, program and service initiatives that seek to reduce traumatic stressors and their immediate and long-term consequences. It is an international multidisciplinary, professional membership organization that promotes advancement and exchange of knowledge about severe stress and trauma. This knowledge includes understanding the scope and consequences of traumatic exposure, preventing traumatic events and ameliorating their consequences, and advocating for the field of traumatic stress. It provides a forum for the sharing of research, clinical strategies, public policy concerns and theoretical formulations on trauma in the United States and around the world. They are the premier society for the exchange of professional knowledge and expertise in the field.
www.istss.org