Creating a Culture of Safety in Pierce County
The 2023 Pierce County Safety Summit emerged when agencies across Pierce County, through the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), collectively identified school safety as a significant gap in preparedness efforts. The RCC heard those concerns and Pierce County Emergency Management (PCEM) quickly started working on developing the first annual Safety Summit.
PCEM established a multi-disciplinary planning team with members from Higher Education, K-12 and Law Enforcement. The team worked collaboratively to develop a platform for learning, networking, and sharing best practices. The planning team was creative in utilizing integrated programs such as Crisis Communications and the Scenes of Violence Program to provide drills and workshops to the event which leveraged existing programs and capabilities.
Future Safety Summits will build on the successes with a focus on the priorities established by the RCC for the County. Each day of the Safety Summit saw approximately 70 first responders, school officials, public information officers, administrators, and elected officials from across Pierce County in attendance. These individuals gained first-hand knowledge on best practices and developed communications and tactical skills through hands-on workshops and drills. The safety summit will continue to expand and include more hands-on learning experiences that extend to all agencies throughout Pierce County.
About the Presenters
Jacquelyn Meier is a seasoned professional with over 8 years of experience in emergency management and disaster preparedness across various sectors. She holds a Certificate in Community Preparedness and Disaster Management from the University of North Carolina and a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Management from San Diego State University. Jacquelyn recently graduated from the FEMA Advanced Academy in August 2023.
Currently with Pierce County Emergency Management, Jacquelyn oversees the Preparedness Section, enhancing partnerships, conducting outreach, and updating emergency plans. Previously, as Director of Campus Security and Environmental Health and Safety at Walla Walla Community College, Jacquelyn developed and implemented institutional policies, emergency operations plans, and safety programs. She maintained compliance with regulatory acts such as Title IX and the Clery Act and managed OSHA, WISHA, and L&I compliance. She also oversaw the college’s security operations and established the college’s Behavioral Intervention Team.
Emily Cunningham is the Training and Exercise Coordinator for the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management and has been a vital asset in ensuring the safety and readiness of Pierce County for the past six years. Emily earned her bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University in 2019 and is currently pursuing her Master Exercise Practitioner certification through the Emergency Management Institute.
Emily consistently demonstrates her dedication to enhancing community resilience by curating and facilitating exercises, trainings and summits for key community partners, agencies, and departments. Her work in the coordination of the county-wide exercise of the Mt. Rainier Plan through the distinguished Integrated Emergency Management Course at the National Emergency Training Center earned her a Standing Ovation nomination in Pierce County. She has been a leader in developing the annual Pierce County Safety Summit which has bridged gaps in school safety across the Region.
Katie Gillespie is the Director of Safety, Security and Emergency Management for Franklin Pierce School District. Franklin Pierce School is in Parkland, WA (Pierce County) and serves 8,000 students and over 1,000 staff. Katie leads the Franklin Pierce School District efforts in Safety. Security and Emergency
Management. She leads the collaborative effort to maintain current and comprehensive safety plans for the district and provide technical assistance to schools and departments to do the same.
Katie has 17 years of experience as an emergency management professional. She has worked at the local level for all 17 years in Western Washington. She has also been a member of a Type 3 incident management team and deployed to several incidents. Katie has spent the last eight years working for the Franklin Pierce School District and is proud to serve the 8,000 families of Franklin Pierce School District. She has been active in the development of All-Hazard Emergency Preparedness Schools with Lockdown, Situational Awareness, Threat Assessment, and Incident Command System (ICS) for local school districts. She has been instructing the curriculum for over 12 years.
Katie Gillespie serves, and the Co-chair for the Pierce County K-12 work group and the President of the Washington School Safety Organization.