Lamar University’s Resilience and Recovery Research Group is hosting a full-day conference Aug. 4. The virtual event, titled “Building Tomorrow Summit” will feature open sessions with multiple presenters, followed by three breakout sessions and a panel discussion.
The focus of this year’s Summit will be Hurricane Harvey and other catastrophic events - lessons learned and growth from experience.
Approximately 100 participants are registered for the event which will feature presenters from across campus and throughout Southeast Texas including Texas State Representative Dade Phelan, Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick, Emergency Management Coordinator, Michael White and Public Health Director for the Beaumont Public Health Department, Sherry Ulmer.
“The purpose of the Summit is to bring community stakeholders and leaders together to discuss all aspects of recovery and resiliency,” said Judith Mann, an associate professor of psychology and a member of the leadership team for the Resilience and Recovery Research Group. “Anyone who was here for Harvey, or who has moved here since, will find the discussions relevant because we’ll cover topics from the impact on households to real estate values to the lingering effects of the storm and how to mitigate risks going forward.”
Interactive breakout session topics include community preparedness, healthcare and government and industry. The day will wrap up with a panel discussion featuring, Baptist Hospital of Southeast Texas Director of Nursing, Karen Garcia; Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Director, Russell Franques; City of Beaumont Planning and Community Development Director, Chris Boone; and CHRISTUS Southeast Texas- St. Elizabeth Director of Nursing, Paul Guidroz.
“Our goal is to start the dialogue with other stakeholders to build a resilient community in Southeast Texas regardless of the disaster,” said Mann.
The hosting organization, the LU Resilience and Recovery Research Group, is a multidisciplinary research group with representatives from nursing, social work, psychology, political science, geology, criminal justice, public health and the LU College of Business. The summit is sponsored by the Economic Recovery and Resiliency Program Center for Public Policy Study and the JoAnne Gay Dishman School of Nursing at Lamar University.
Social work and psychology will be providing continuing education credits for the presentation. Lamar University JoAnne Gay Dishman School of Nursing is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Louisiana State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. LSNA Provider No. 4002105