Snap Inc.
Community Meeting
with After the Fire USA
January 15, 2025 | 1:00 pm PT
ABOUT AFTER THE FIRE USA
After the Fire USA is a registered 501c3, nonprofit, dedicated to helping communities navigate megafires. Formed in 2017, when our own region suffered a megafire, we have passionately served our mission to support fire-impacted communities across the nation as they recover, rebuild, and reimagine a more resilient future. In the past 7 years, we have worked in virtually every megafire across four states, most recently supporting Maui. We deploy, educate, advocate, and convene wildfire leaders yearly.
We are the only national nonprofit solely focused on community recovery after megafire. We lead it because we've lived it.
We work closely with local government, federal lawmakers, NGOs (local and national), private sector, faith-based groups, and emergent leaders. See quotes below from Maui leaders. We are very trusted on Maui for our approach.
Sonoma County leaders share experience, lessons learned with visitors from fire-stricken island of Maui
Story by The Press Democrat. The trip was hosted by After the Fire USA as part of the nonprofit organization’s annual three-day Wildfire Leadership Summit in Sonoma. It’s an example of what Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Gray Thompson and After the Fire call “paying our lessons forward.” For the people of Maui, it may be too soon to…
SPEAKERS
Jennifer Gray Thompson, MPA
[email protected]
North Bay Fires (2017) Kincaid + Walbridge Fires (2019), Glass Fire (2020)
Founder & CEO, After the Fire USA; Executive Director, Rebuild NorthBay Foundation; Bipartisan Policy Center Disaster Response Reform Task Force
Subject Matter Expertise: Community Recovery, Long-Term, Federal Advocacy, Wildfire Leadership Network, Frontline Community Support, Local + Federal Government; Public Policy
Jennifer Gray Thompson, the CEO of After the Fire USA, LLC & After the Fire USA (501c3), has a remarkable journey rooted in community disaster. She graduated from Dominican University and earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. In 2017, after devastating fires in San Francisco’s North Bay, she became the Executive Director of Rebuild NorthBay Foundation (RNBF), a 501c3 formed to help the region rebuild. In response to the Era of Megafires, a relatively recent chronic climate-based disaster, RNBF created After the Fire USA in 2020.
Gray Thompson was named to Forbes’ 50 over 50 IMPACT List in 2022 and appointed to the Bipartisan Policy Center Disaster Response Reform Task Force in 2023, making policy recommendations to Congress. As a nationally recognized subject matter expert (SME) in megafire recovery, she presents at several national conferences, including US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Fannie Mae, Smart Cities, FEMA, MIT, UNC, and National VOAD. Jennifer has also been featured in local, regional, and national news outlets, including NPR’s All Things Considered, NBC News, Meet the Press, and CBS Evening News. She hosts the “How to Disaster” podcast, which amplifies best practices, survivor experiences, and mitigation measures to ensure safety.
Jennifer is a fierce federal policy advocate, helping to secure over $6B in direct tax relief for disaster survivors in 2024, and has 7 years of experience working on the Hill, working with lawmakers and agencies. Her commitment to equitable and resilient recoveries empowers wildfire communities and bridges the gap between those on the frontlines of disaster and those who create policies.
Valerie Brown
[email protected]
Fire Survivor, 2007 San Diego
Subject Matter Expertise: Long Term Recovery Groups + Insurance
Valerie brings over 30 years of nonprofit and grants experience, ranging from small nonprofits to a $26M organization with a portfolio of 45 programs funded by 60 government contracts and over 100 private, corporate, family, and faith-centered foundation grants. With nearly two decades of wildfire resiliency and recovery experience, Valerie is a highly respected leader in disaster recovery. She has expertise in federal and state programs and funding streams, charitable and faith-based resources, insurance, mortgage, and construction matters, and a proven ability to facilitate strong cross-functional collaboration.
Most recently, Valerie has served on the board of the Disaster Leadership Team, as Chair of San Diego County VOAD, Vice Chair of Northern California VOAD, and as Deputy Executive Director with United Policyholders. In these roles, she has supported long-term recovery through their Roadmap to Recovery® Program in Colorado, Hawaii, Florida, and California, including a complex multi-state virtual operation due to COVID-19 for the 2020 wildfires in Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington. Valerie is a graduate of Duke University.
In her new role, Valerie will serve as a Fellow specializing in California in partnership with After The Fire USA, a nonprofit focused on community recovery after megafires. Additionally, she will support SBP's growing Fellows program as a Subject Matter Expert, contributing to the success of other Fellows across the nation.
Michael is a seasoned Director with more than 20 years of industry experience serving clients throughout the United States in the scopes of Planning, Building, Code Enforcement, and Post-Disaster Development Recovery services. As Director of Development Recovery Services, Michael leads all infrastructure creation and implementation of 4LEAF’s development recovery programs. The programs provide permitting assistance to communities who have been affected by wildfires. Currently, Michael is leading the permit recovery efforts following the devastating series of fires that affected the County of Maui in August of 2023. Michael’s additional permit recovery programs include: Santa Cruz County, CA, Sonoma County, CA, Town of Paradise, CA, Jackson County, OR, and City of Malibu, CA.
Marshall Fire Survivor 2021 - Smoke Damage
Director, Superior Rising
Trustee, Town of Superior
Veteran (Army)
Subject Matter Expertise: Post-Disaster Community Leadership, Local Government (elected)
As Director of Superior Rising, a non-profit formed to support residents in their recovery from the Marshall Fire, Kaaoush has been advocating directly for them since the fire. This includes: streamlining government processes, sourcing funds and resources, pushing upwards to state and federal authorities to put people first, opening more funding, and removing obstacles that slow the community’s recovery and future planning efforts.
Kaaoush understands the high likelihood of another horrible event affecting Colorado in the future, and is using her knowledge, relationships, and experience to ensure other communities will not have to relearn all the lessons the Marshall Fire victims have garnered in the aftermath of this disaster.
Kaaoush currently serves on the Town of Superior Board of Trustees. She has also served on the Town’s Planning Commission, the Town’s Parks and Recreation Committee, and on the Board of the Democratic Women of Boulder County. Through her work as a Planning Commissioner and Superior Rising leadership, Jenn has cultivated collaborative relationships with local, regional, state and national community members. Kaaoush is a fourth generation Army Veteran and a Former Diplomat having served in embassies in the Middle East region.
Marshall Fire (2021 )
Survivor - Total Loss
Subject Matter Expertise: Digital Communities + Leadership; Post-Disaster Community Advocacy (State and Local)
Reina Pomeroy is a Marshall Fire total loss survivor, in the process of rebuilding her home. She co-founded Marshall Together, a grassroots non-profit organization built by fire survivors with the mission to get as many people home as possible.
Early in the Marshall Fire recovery, Reina leveraged her professional background in virtual community building and built a Slack and email list of verified fire survivors. This resource has become the source of truth for many who are in the process of recovering. Through organizing and partnerships, the Marshall Together organization has been able to advocate for tangible changes that have put millions of dollars back into the pockets of survivors and gotten more families home at an unprecedented speed of recovery.