Kathy Gerk
Kathy Gerk served as the Emergency Services Manager for the City of Richmond Fire Department Office of Emergency Services for 28 years. Ms. Gerk developed and implemented the REACT (Richmond Emergency Action Community Teams) in 1995. This program was developed from the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program, and then customized to meet Richmond's specialized needs and threats adding hazardous materials awareness, shelter-in-place instructions, as well as a communications component. The REACT program was groundbreaking, as training was implemented at Richmond High School. The program was awarded the Helen Putnam Award of Excellence for five consecutive years beginning in 1997.
Kathy has served on numerous committees across the city, county, state and nation including Chair of the IAEM (International Association of Emergency Managers) Access and Inclusion Caucus, Chair of the California Governors CERT Advisory Work Group, Chair of Contra Costa County Cities Citizens Corps/CERT Committee, Chair of City of Richmond PWD/E (People with Disabilities/Elderly) Work Group, among several others. She was instrumental in developing the C8 (Contra Costa County Cities Citizens Corps CERT Committee) promoting partnership efforts between emergency services agencies and the communities they serve. She has received numerous awards including FEMA's 2009 Honorable Mention for National Citizens Corps Achievement Award Celebrating Resilient Communities - one of five in the nation.