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Strategic Planning

Overview

The Oregon Department of Emergency Management Strategic Plan is a shared vision for delivering the department’s mission, vision and core values.

Mission

Achieving the goals set forth in this Strategic Plan is dependent on the involvement of an empowered and informed whole community. In developing this document, we hope to achieve our mission to lead collaborative statewide efforts, inclusive of all partners and the communities we serve, to ensure the capability to get help in an emergency and to protect, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies or disasters regardless of cause. 

Vision

Our vision is an established, equitable culture of preparedness that empowers Oregon’s whole community to thrive in times of crisis.  

Values

We embrace five core values:

  1. Advocacy - We value the perspectives of our team, our partners and those we serve, and support their efforts to advance our shared interests.
  2. Collaboration - We value sincere, communicative and supportive partnerships that encourage trust and make us better than we are on our own. 
  3. Innovation - We value ideas that challenge current practices while we seek out and leverage new opportunities to improve our ability to serve.
  4. Leadership - We value opportunities to lead our emergency management and 9-1-1 communities with integrity, respect, courage and accountability, and to foster the development of leaders within our organization.
  5. Service – We value our partners and others we serve and strive to deliver excellence in all that we do.
Strategic Planning Engagement


Director Erin McMahon was appointed to lead the Oregon Department of Emergency Management (ODEM) on Aug. 18, 2023, and was confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 29, 2023. Immediately following her appointment, Director McMahon led an agency-wide assessment to review the operational effectiveness of ODEM, both as an organization and as a team, to document areas of growth and improvement that could be integrated into future strategic planning and further inform leadership decisions regarding resources and changes made across the organization to best support the Governor’s direction to lead the agency’s transition into an independent department for the state. In a letter dated Sept. 12, 2023, Governor Kotek​ stated:

 

“You arrive at a time of transition for the agency and for emergency management in Oregon. ODEM has increased in size and independence since 2021. It is called to respond with increasing frequency to heat, severe storms, wildfires, and floods. The agency must now mature its systems and culture to meet the needs of Oregonians in this moment. And it must maintain readiness even while it grows and transforms. While not an easy task, I am confident in your leadership, ability, and experience to guide the agency through this time of growth and transition.”

​

The initial climate survey​​ yielded 33 findings across seven lines of effort: 

  1. Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA)
  2. Personnel Management
  3. Training and Leadership
  4. Business Plans and Procedures
  5. Data and Systems Management
  6. Internal and External Communications
  7. Fiscal Management 

​Further analysis revealed two additional lines of effort: Operational Effectiveness and Service Delivery Model. ​​ ​​​​​

ODEM conducted a listening session for each line of effort where all staff were invited to participate and offer individual and departmental perspectives on opportunities for improvement. At the conclusion, feedback was reviewed and assembled into a Summary and Recommendations document containing the overarching goals, objectives and recommended actions for each line of effort which would become the foundation for the Strategic Plan Framework.

Summary and Recommendations Documents:

On March 27, 2024, ODEM hosted its first ever Strategic Planning Town Hall. The purpose of this live event was to guide participants through the ODEM strategic planning journey and promote an opportunity for the whole community to provide feedback on the draft framework for the agency’s 2023 to 2025 strategic plan. 


Meeting Resources:

Strategic Planning Documents to Review

ODEM Strategic Plan 2023 - 2025 DRAFT

ODEM has developed the initial draft of the agency strategic plan containing the final strategies, objectives and actions to bring them to fruition. The Strategic Plan outlines the specific activities ODEM will employ in the 2023 – 2025 plan year to deliver its goals and objectives.

Please review the document and provide feedback by May 10. The survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete and will help us craft the final version of the ODEM Strategic Plan 2023 - 2025 before submiting it to the Governor’s Office on June 1.




ODEM Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Framework

This framework outlines objectives and strategies for inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) as the foundation of (ODEM) internal culture, and in our relations and service provisions to the communities we serve. The plan provides an explanation of why an IDEA lens is critically needed in emergency management generally, followed by our agency-specific definition of equity, with corresponding principles guiding our departmental objectives.  

The objectives we describe in the plan, and detailed steps to achieving them, provide a roadmap for all ODEM staff, management and leadership to invest in this IDEA strategy, which will make our agency a leader in supporting whole community resilience. 



Supporting Agency Plans


2024 Strategic Planning Timeline


2024 Strategic Planning Timeline
 

The Path Forward 

ODEM will continue to engage internal and external partners as we measure the success of the strategic plan and look to the 2025 – 2027 strategic plan and beyond. We look forward to involving our whole community as we shape the future of emergency management in Oregon. 

Point of Contact 

Bobbi McAllister
ODEM Strategic Planner