The IAEM-USA Awards & Recognition Committee of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) is pleased to announce the IAEM-USA 2021 Career Excellence Awardee is Randy White. The award will be presented at the Monday Networking Luncheon and Awards Ceremony on Oct. 18, at the 69th IAEM Annual Conference & EMEX, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
White has guided the City of Simi Valley, California, through many incidents and built an excellent emergency services program. After thirty-one years of service, he left the city well prepared to respond to and recover from all hazards. During his career, he responded to a wide variety of incidents, from a presidential declaration wildfire to a presidential funeral.
White founded the City of Simi Valley emergency services program based on California’s state emergency management system, and then adapted it when the National Incident Management System was introduced. By partnering with the Ventura County Fire Department to offer Community Emergency Response Team training, he increased the city’s resiliency while also recruiting for the disaster service workers volunteer team he created in 2004.
When the 1994 Northridge earthquake destroyed the police station, he designed the new EOC. Additionally, he served as the city’s incident management system expert, training the EOC staff, city manager, city council members and police leadership. White mentored his agency partners, helping them build their programs. He served as a resource to California Emergency Services Association and IAEM members. When a mercury spill occurred in Simi Valley, he presented the lessons learned to the Ventura County Emergency Coordinators Council. White spent his career advancing emergency management through the service he provided others.
The IAEM-USA Career Excellence Award is awarded to an emergency management practitioner at any level (federal, state, tribal, local, academic, military, and private) as an employee, contractor, academic instructor or researcher, or volunteer who has made significant contributions throughout their career to promote and improve the emergency management profession in the United States.
