Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

Foreword In 2010, the White House issued the National Security Strategy as a response to the growing terrorist threats around the globe. 1 One key component in the National Security Strategy was that resilience could be achieved through public and private partnerships. Summit on Resilience: Securing Our Future through Public Private Partnerships On January 12, 2012, Pace University hosted its first Summit on Resilience. The focus of this Summit was on the strategy of achieving resilience through public-private partnerships. The rationale for this focus was that it had long been recognized that these two sectors have different perspectives: the public sector is risk adverse, while the private sector recognizes the value of taking risks; the public sector has authority, but lacks resources, while the private sector has no authority, and all of the resources. The challenge given to the speakers and panelists at Pace's first Summit was to explore how likely it was that the public and private sector, with competing perspectives, could work together to achieve resilience. It is important to take a moment to define resilience. Webster's dictionary defines it as "the ability to bounce or spring back, as well as recovering strength, spirits and good humor." 2 Prior to September 11, 2001, most professionals recognized this word in terms of a perspective involving victims of crime or some other mental health trauma that focused on the person's ability to recover, such as possibly laugh again. Post 9/11, resilience has now taken on a broader definition, such as in the business sector, where it is referred to as a risk management strategy. 3 One of the goals of the first Summit on Resilience was to start a dialogue on how best the country could adapt to future adverse conditions. To achieve this goal, experts from a variety of public and private disciplines were invited to participate and share their perspectives. Among the key speakers were the first secretary of Homeland Security, Thomas Ridge, and the special representative of the United Nations, Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström. 4 They and other panel experts agreed that while there were many challenges to public private partnerships, it was imperative that all work together. David Kaufman, director of policy for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, hinted at the challenges we faced when he noted, "FEMA recognizes the need to put life-sustaining commodities on the ground for 1.5 million people in 72 hours. How are we going to do that? That is not we FEMA, that is not we the feds, but WE as a nation." 5 Pace University's goal is to continue the discussions generated by the first Summit and explore how best we as a nation can achieve resilience. A mere 10 months after the first Summit, one might wonder if FEMA had a premonition of what might happen; that is, on October 20, 2012, New York City was hit, not by a hurricane, but what is now referred to as Superstorm Sandy, which resulted in approximately $65 million in damages. 6 4

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