Jennifer Leighty

Background

About Jennifer Leighty

With over three decades in public safety, emergency management, and community resilience, I have dedicated my career to strengthening the foundational capacity of rural and Indigenous communities. I began as a volunteer firefighter & EMT, working within trauma centers & dispatch to protect lives & respond to crises. That experience grounded me in the urgency of preparedness, importance of coordinated response, & reality that safety systems must be designed to serve all communities. Over the years, my roles expanded to include Anti-Terrorism, Threat Liaison, & Infrastructure Liaison. As well as Disaster Loan Officer for the SBA. These diverse roles gave me a comprehensive understanding of the complexity between security, infrastructure resilience, & post-disaster economic recovery. Currently, I oversee initiatives that prioritize community-led mitigation, preparedness, & recovery efforts, supporting communities not only in addressing today’s risks—such as extreme heat, wildfire, flooding, & infrastructure failure—but also building long-term adaptive capacity for tomorrow. Our approach, rooted in cultural humility, equity, & inclusivity, acknowledging that uncertainty often stems from historical marginalization, inaccessible information, or systemic barriers that exclude rural and Indigenous voices from decision-making. Our work actively seeks to dismantle these barriers by ensuring that communities—not institutions—are the drivers of planning & action. By facilitating listening sessions, community workshops, & multi-format, multilingual trainings, we create space for shared understanding with localized problem-solving. A process that fosters trust, yields strategies that reflect the unique values, experiences, & priorities of those we serve. We integrate both technical expertise & traditional ecological knowledge to develop hazard mitigation plans, climate adaptation strategies, emergency action plans, & business continuity tools. These are not just checkboxes for compliance, but frameworks that help communities proactively reduce risk & recover faster if disasters strike. Our commitment to resilience encompasses the entire disaster cycle: mitigation, preparedness, response & recovery. We work to building foundational capacity & resilience within these communities by expanding their capabilities & strengthening their networks, helping communities establish legacies of safety & sustainability, working together to ensure these communities are not only included in national conversations on resilience & preparation—but are leading them.