The 2023 Hurricane Season officially came to a close last month, rounding out a season of above-average activity in the Atlantic despite initial season forecasts. According to forecasters, this season’s unpredictability was largely due to the counterbalance of record warm sea-surface temperatures and a strengthening El Niño event. Winter season outlooks predict El Niño conditions to persist through spring 2024, creating wetter-than-average conditions across large portions of the South and East Coast as drier and warmer-than-normal conditions continue throughout much of the Far West and northern tier of the United States (US).
As El Niño conditions can cause a range of cascading impacts, including severe flooding and droughts in certain locations, it is crucial for communities to ensure they are well-positioned to respond to potential disasters and emergencies. Today, we are highlighting members of our Response Team to discuss their career paths, professional experiences, and important lessons learned while working as emergency response professionals.
1. Tell us about yourself and how your career path led you to Hagerty.
Terri Bennett: I was drawn to purpose-driven work from a young age but struggled to decide what direction to take. A mentor helped me break down my options into three potential career paths that would position me to support the work of our most important societal pillars—health, education, or government—and dedicate my efforts to structures and systems that serve the greater good. My career began in academia, where I studied geography and focused on international development, urban planning, and research design. I spent numerous years teaching and took breaks from the classroom to work in nonprofit disaster relief. Ultimately, I gravitated back to emergency response and joined Hagerty at the recommendation of a former colleague.
Kendall Cappadoro: I began my journey into the emergency management field in 2016, working for the AmeriCorps Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Corps and then directly for FEMA for two years. Starting in 2019, I began working as an independent contractor, working on several federal contracts. Through this work, I was put in contact with Hagerty employees and introduced to the types of contracts and work that Hagerty supports. After completing my Master of Public Health (MPH) program in 2022, I applied for a Hagerty Data Analyst position in Southern California and have served in several roles since.
Justin Kemp: With a background in research and project management within the environmental sector, I have dedicated my efforts to mission-driven organizations, focusing on projects related to natural resource protection. Joining Hagerty as a humanitarian response professional appealed to me as an opportunity to be part of a technical team, contributing my skills to data analysis and operations for a clearly defined critical need in my community. Having lived here in San Diego since 2018, I am particularly attuned to the challenges at the Southwest border, which were further amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nick O’Neil: Like many of life’s most rewarding journeys, my path to a career at Hagerty was neither obvious nor direct. Previously, I worked in sales, finance, and business management and wore many hats in the start-up world. I found things I loved and honed transferable skills with each of them. Once in management, I developed a deep appreciation for nurturing capacity and growth in others and found I had an ability to quickly assess a business landscape for weaknesses and identify systems and processes for improvement.
Still, something was missing from a personal perspective, and I felt limited by the fact that most of the “good” that resulted from my labor solely benefited my employer or their shareholders. I started looking beyond the sectors I had been working to one where my contributions might serve individuals and communities. That search led me to emergency management and, luckily, to Hagerty.
2. What do you find most rewarding about working in the field of emergency management, specifically response?
Terri Bennett: One thing I have learned while working in emergency response is I am not forced to choose one job path, and it has been rewarding to have a diverse career supporting a range of missions. I have worked in public health, serving communities grappling with a cholera outbreak and a pandemic. I have responded to natural disasters and helped rebuild homes. I have successfully advocated for better worker safety standards post-disaster. Currently, I am working with a local government to innovate and provide an effective model to help new Americans build their lives.
Kendall Cappadoro: The most rewarding part of my job is seeing the direct and indirect impact that my work makes–from knowing that my input in an After-Action Report (AAR) will lead to a more efficient future response to seeing the relief your presence makes on a client’s face. I almost always prefer the fieldwork that comes with response work, getting to be boots on the ground at a site and directly seeing the impact your role can have in response.
Justin Kemp: The most rewarding aspect of this project for me has come from working directly on-site and using the breadth and depth of everyone’s experience to provide the individuals served with the greatest impact. I strongly believe that working in response where we have the opportunity to help others is a great privilege and, whilst challenging, has been incredibly rewarding.
Nick O’Neil: The thing I love most about emergency management response is knowing that my work benefits individuals in their time of need, vulnerability, or crisis. Using the skills I have built throughout my career to help improve the lives of others is intensely rewarding. This tangible impact on people’s lives imparts a sense of responsibility, contributing to a culture of collaboration and excellence I have not seen in other fields. I have had the honor of working alongside an incredibly diverse and capable group of professionals at Hagerty – from many backgrounds who bring so much to the table – each of us united and driven towards our shared goal of serving the greater good.
3. What steps can individuals and communities take before a disaster strikes to ensure they are equipped to respond efficiently post-disaster?
Terri Bennett: Individuals and communities can equip themselves to respond efficiently post-disaster by doing the same things emergency management professionals do – identifying the risks they face, taking account of resources available in their time of need, assigning roles and tasks to those who will lead the response, and maintaining effective communication. The difference is that developing these tools on a community level requires being involved in your community. Becoming active in local organizations, building relationships with neighbors, and working together on shared goals helps individuals build social capital and a strong safety net.
Kendall Cappadoro: Before a disaster strikes, it is important to review local and federal preparation recommendations. Growing up in Florida, it has always been drilled into me to have a personal Go Bag ready at home during hurricane season. I also keep one in my car and account for the potential addition of at least one other person. Each year, I also work with my family to ensure we have the appropriate apps and evacuation routes to stay informed in the event of a disaster.
Justin Kemp: Before a disaster hits in the US, individuals and communities can prepare by making emergency plans, packing disaster kits, learning evacuation routes, and running community drills. Understanding the most probable types of emergencies will help to prepare more effectively for different scenarios and make post-disaster responses more effective. People should strive to establish communication channels and stay in the loop with local and state recommendations on preparedness measures to prepare further.
Nick O’Neil: Individuals can become involved in their community locally – personally, politically, and in service. A connected community is a resilient community, and established lines of communication and coordination will greatly benefit professional responders when they arrive on the scene of a disaster.
4. What is one important lesson that you have learned while working as an emergency response professional?
Terri Bennett: Emergency response is well served by the structures that underpin it, such as the Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS), but a response professional’s core task is to adapt and apply these structures to the ever-changing, always diverse needs of the emergency at hand. I have found I am a person who is grounded amidst chaos and urgency, and invoking that ability to assist others in stabilizing, rebuilding, and moving forward during a crisis is as exhilarating as it is rewarding.
Kendall Cappadoro: I have learned it is best to always assume the worst-case scenario and work backward from there. I have responded to the worst-case outcomes of a disaster enough times to know it is always a possibility. I operate under the “plan for a week without water and hope for two days” type of planning.
Justin Kemp: A crucial takeaway from my experience in emergency management so far is the importance of taking care of yourself and, if you can, your colleagues around you. Given the demanding nature of the job, taking care of your own well-being will better equip you to serve others effectively and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Nick O’Neil: One important lesson is to build situational awareness as rapidly as possible. Response professionals must adapt and respond to new developments in real-time, and a strong response is built on a rock-solid understanding of the who, what, when, where, and why of the situation. Any assumptions or preconceptions you may have going into a response mission should be replaced with situational awareness early and often.
5. What is the best concert you have ever attended?
Terri Bennett: The best concert I have ever attended is Neko Case at the Appel Room at Lincoln Center. The combination of her big voice, the acoustics of the space, and the backdrop of New York behind the performers created a truly hypnotic experience.
Kendall Cappadoro: I attended a Brandi Carlile band concert with my mother in 2012. It was an “unplugged” concert in a small, intimate theater. To hear songs you love in the acoustic version and in such a small setting was a unique experience! And they have gained a huge fan base since then, so getting that experience would probably never happen again!
Justin Kemp: The best concert I have attended was seeing Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes in a now closed-down venue in London. The show was in the Old Vic tunnels, which were a labyrinth of disused underground train tunnels; the atmosphere, intimate space, and surprisingly good acoustics make this a tough one to beat!
Nick O’Neil: My best concert experience was seeing the Pogues in Boston in 2011. Shane MacGowan was in fine form and stirred the audience to a fever pitch within minutes of taking the stage.
To learn more about Hagerty’s work coordinating facilities and personnel to serve disaster-impacted communities, visit our Response page.
Terri Bennett is a Response Professional with 15 years of experience in disaster response, community outreach, and relief operations. At Hagerty, Ms. Bennett has held multiple leadership positions, including overseeing COVID-19 therapeutic operations for a state health department, leading day-to-day operations, and providing legal support to vulnerable individuals on a large-scale humanitarian mission. Ms. Bennett also co-founded a disaster relief non-profit to address public health and rebuilding needs following Superstorm Sandy.
Kendall Cappadoro is a Response Professional supporting Hagerty’s humanitarian response operation as a Data and Grants Specialist. Prior to joining Hagerty, she worked with FEMA’s Continuous Improvement Program (CIP), supporting an ongoing AAR assessing disaster response posture and policies. Ms. Cappadoro earned her MPH in Global Health Practice from the University of South Florida (USF).
Justin Kemp is a Response Professional and data analyst with strong project management skills and a passion for scientific and environmental research. At Hagerty, Mr. Kemp coordinates data projects for distributed teams of operational analysts, overseeing data collection, management, storage, and reporting for a large-scale humanitarian mission. Mr. Kemp received his master’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Cambridge.
Nick O’Neil is a Response Professional with experience in emergency management, disaster response, and project management. At Hagerty, Mr. O’Neil has supported multiple clients in response roles, including vaccine clinic planning and operations for a state health department during the COVID-19 pandemic and as an emergency response planner and Planning Section Chief for a state interagency humanitarian mission.