The Alt-CERT curriculum for community-driven climate disaster preparedness, response, & recovery in California is being developed by a collective of facilitative leaders convened by UC Irvine Community Resilience including:

• Leyla Dualeh, California College of the Arts (Oakland)

• Rosa González, Facilitating Power (Salinas)

• Esme Hic, People’s Climate Innovation Center (WDC; Coachella)

• Karla Juarez, Cooperación Santa Ana (Santa Ana)

• Mextli Lopez, UC Irvine Community Resilience (Santa Ana)

• Jenna Perez, Orange Coast College (Santa Ana)

• Abby Reyes, UC Irvine Community Resilience (Irvine)

• Kim Tablit, Stockton Service Corps (Stockton)

The intention in developing the Alt-CERT curriculum is to offer training for trainers who would then organize an Alt-CERT workshop series in their own California communities. Disaster preparedness & response, and mutual aid approaches in particular, depend on the collaboration and cooperation of multiple community-based entities, which could include: 

• Community-based organizations (base-building groups as well as service providers)

• Community resilience hubs

• Community land trusts

• Community centers and artists collectives

• Cooperatives

• Faith institutions

• Health clinics

• Libraries

• Local government agencies that partner with community-based organizations

• Schools (K-12, Colleges, Universities)

• Small businesses

To this end, the curriculum is designed for formal and informal community organizers, educators, stewards, caretakers, service-providers, and all those who are most connected within communities at the margins of conventional emergency response. Alt-CERT's roots are in a statewide cohort of 12 community-academic partnerships and a subsequent exchange among leaders from eight additional communities. We therefore anticipate that the trainers' training will include a robust mix of geographies and sectors, guided by the strength of local partnerships and coalitions.