Training and Exercises for Emergency Management and Cultural Inclusion

Ever sat through a training watching the clock? Left the training or exercise and soon forgot what was covered? Then a crisis hits or a service program changes and the scramble begins. Not when you work with us!

The Frew Group creates trainings and exercises that foster strong performance and enable participants to achieve organizational goals. We understand how shifting demographics, continual changes and expectations often lead to Blind Spots in work performance and program delivery.

The The Frew Group experience fosters an environment of learning that inspires, motivates and engages. Your team walks away fulfilling mandated training requirements while benefitting from an enjoyable experience and gaining new perspectives on their roles and core competencies.

We connect content to the job. Our goal is that when participants leave, what they learned goes with them and is immediately put into action in their job.

Trusted training partner of these government agencies and more

We deliver workshops, training, and exercises to federal, state, and local government agencies, and the private sector to prepare them for disaster management, social equity, and community resilience.

FBI Workshops and training for cultural competence

Department of Justice – FBI

State of California Workshops for emergency management and training for cultural competence

State of California

Workshops for Department of Homeland Security - FEMA

FEMA

Seal_of_Sonoma_County,_California

County of Sonoma

State of Hawaii Workshops for emergency management and training for cultural competence

State of Hawaii

Increasingly critical training for all disaster workers

What makes our training and exercises different from other facilitators?

We pride ourselves on engaging training and exercise methods. With us, you don’t get cookie-cutter training.

Participatory learning is our top priority, our goal is to ensure that participants are thoroughly engaged in our training deliveries. Our trainers bring your content and industry-mandated trainings to life.

Participants feel respected and encouraged because we use a variety of culturally appropriate and innovative research-based learning approaches and training methods that respect different learning styles. These proven processes are used by top innovative companies and universities.

Our instructional design is based on the human, not just the data or process (known as human-centered design). For example, we shake it up with Serious Games (a.k.a. gamification) to level the playing field and ensure every diverse voice in the room is both heard and engaged. Active storytelling and scenario role plays inject a sense of realistic field experience. Technology, such as using live polls through smartphones, keeps engagement vibrant. 

See an example of Serious Games “gamification” Suzanne helped create called Rim Sim: A Role-Play Simulation for USGS. 

Our foundational philosophy is cultural and social inclusion.

Our subject matter expertise, rigorous needs assessments, and design approaches are enhanced by our market differentiator – the integration of inclusion strategies in every step of the planning, delivery, and evaluation process.

Another The Frew Group differentiator is our unsurpassed ability to break through challenging cultural issues. Trainings suffer when the goals and approaches do not ultimately address the whole population being served.

In building community risk resilience, we often speak of whole communities but fail to be trained on how to operationalize this important concept. Or even truly understand what diverse populations mean. For any organization working across sectors and diverse populations, increasing cross-cultural effectiveness has become critical to program survival.

Building upon expedient yet detailed needs assessments, The Frew Group tackles issues internal to organizations and external to communities and target audiences. We build every training, exercise, and workshop on a commitment to cultural competency and innovative approaches that drives diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

What is our bench?

Participants benefit from our team’s decades of experience delivering trainings, exercises, and workshops. They learn from our team’s own personal field experiences, research, and personal passion.

Our training specialists have designed, conducted, and evaluated hundreds of capacity-building activities for all levels of government, organizations, academic institutions, and communities throughout the United States and around the world. (Check out our client testimonials for a few case studies!)

Our team reflects federally-certified Master Exercise Practitioners (MEP) deeply experienced in Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) compliant protocols, and private sector practitioners trained in design-thinking, human-centered design, cultural competency, and diversity.

Our training capabilities

Trainings: 2-3 hours; half-day and full-day; multiple days

Disaster Management Exercises

  Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) compliant

Workshops

Top Exercises

 – Functional Exercises

 – Full-Scale Exercises

Executive Leadership Programs

Retreats 

Workshops: 2-3 hours; half-day and full-day; multiple days. See our Emergency Management Workshop page for more information.

What our clients and attendees say

❝ Suzanne was a truly an exceptional instructor who is very tactful and able to reach across cultures. She demonstrated equity and inclusion in the manner in that she conveyed the lessons. Her passion for advocating for equity and inclusion in community resilience cam across clearly and has inspired me to carry on the torch she lit when teaching us. ❞
❝ I’ve worked with Suzanne on multiple projects. Suzanne assisted Impact360 to synthesize aspects of improv, storytelling, visual thinking, persona development, and journey mapping in our workshop and service development processes. She brings energy, insights, and approaches that are rare in our field. Her extensive experience with and in-depth knowledge of workshop design and facilitation is invaluable to us. ❞
Scott Miles
ED, Impact360 Alliance
Design thinking, research
❝ Your strategy and counsel have been invaluable in creating and rolling out our city’s Business Resiliency Program. You've encouraged us to “lean in” to the nuances necessary for meeting the complex cultural resilience needs of a community as diverse as ours. By sharing critical tools, guiding us through a rich selection of resources, and patiently walking us through a customized design process, we’ve now launched a successful program. And, through it all, you’ve truly been a part of our team. Thank you for empowering us to better serve our community! We look forward to continuing our work together. ❞
Peggy McQuaid
Vice Mayor, City of Albany
Business community resilience
❝ Very professional, knowledgeable. Would highly recommend her to anyone.” “Instructor's experiences were vital in the class setting ❞
US Navy IMAT training
❝ I just wanted to thank you again for the fantastic Opening Doors Through Social Media workshop you did for us on Friday! It was extremely informative, well-organized, and clearly presented. ❞
Rebecca D’Harlingue
President, Oakland/Piedmont Branch
AAUW
❝ Thank you for providing an instructor who is knowledgeable, experienced, and capable of getting the class' attention and involving students in class "play"! Highly recommended! In my 14 yrs of experience, this is the only instructor I have ever recommended. ❞
Opelika, Alabama
FEMA/NDPTC Natural Hazards for Community Leaders Course
❝ Suzanne was very personable and engaging. She was great at getting group participation and laying out the group engagement expectations right up front. ❞
Eldorado Hills, CA
❝ Very good instructor - Helped me think 'outside the box.' ❞
Mobile, AL
❝ Was able to answer all questions and explained in detail. Very good teacher. ❞
Galveston, TX
❝ Her calm demeanor made the info easy to understand. ❞
Roswell, NM
❝ Very welcoming, kind, and understanding of cultural practices of communities in Oeania. ❞
Skip to content