Over the past several years, the state has experienced an unprecedented number of emergencies and disasters. As these climate-driven natural disasters become more severe in California, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) staff have met each new challenge head-on.
The nearly 2,000 staff at Cal OES have responded to increasingly complex disasters in fresh and innovative ways, strengthening the foundation of emergency management to prepare for, respond to and recover from all types of emergencies and disasters.
This week, Cal OES welcomes you to learn more about Omar Ochoa, a Program Analyst for Listos California at Cal OES. As a Program Analyst for the Listos California Grant Program, Omar leads the new-grantee onboarding, supports them with questions, sets agendas for monthly meetings and has developed a one-hour hazard-preparedness “train-the-trainer” course to be integrated into new-grantee onboarding and offered to external partners.
Anchored at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) since 2019, Listos California has engaged a statewide network of community-based organizations, Tribal Governments and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) across the state to boost resiliency, provide accessible in-language information and advance a new culture of disaster preparedness.
“What I like is the communities that we serve,” Omar said. “A lot of the times, these communities are hit the hardest. They are historically marginalized and have the hardest time to recover. My job makes me feel like I’m making an impact – like I’m making a difference for all Californians.”