September 23, 2026 – Flagler County Emergency Management Planner Kelly Steffens graduated from the FEMA National Disaster & Emergency Management University’s National Emergency Management Basic Academy (NEMBA). The goal of the Basic Academy is to support the early emergency management careers through a training experience that combines knowledge of all fundamental systems, concepts, and practices of cutting-edge emergency management.
“I was very excited to take part in this academy,” said Steffens, who was recently promoted from Emergency Management Specialist to Planner. “It was a great learning experience.”
The Basic Academy consists of five classroom courses – Foundations of Emergency Management, Fundamentals of Threats and Hazards, Planning Emergency Operations, Public Information Basics, and Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Training Course, as well as 12 “independent study” prerequisites which had to be completed before course acceptance.
“I am so proud of her accomplishment,” said Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord. “Kelly joins other EM staff – myself included – in graduating from competitive-entry national Emergency Management academies.”
Manager Ryan Simpson graduated from the Advanced Academy in July 2026, and Lord graduated from the Executive Academy in August 2024.
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