NCA joining forces with Fire Services Training Institute (FSTI)
National CERT Association Members and Partners,
As we close on the 2024 National CERT Conference, the NCA is excited to finally announce that going forward, the NCA will be joining the Fire Services Training Institute (FSTI).
As we close on the 2024 National CERT Conference, the NCA is excited to finally announce that going forward, the NCA will be joining the Fire Services Training Institute (FSTI).
About the Fire Services Training Institute (FSTI)
The Fire Services Training Institute (FSTI) was established in 2005 in California to support the volunteer firefighting community by providing training, leadership development, management skills, recruitment, and retention services. Over the years, FSTI has expanded its scope to include the development and ownership of Deer Valley Press wildfire publications, as well as the LISTOS program. Please see the attached document for a welcome letter from FSTI with more information about the organization.
Why join FSTI
The NCA was created in 2019 in partnership with FEMA by a 20 CERT Leaders across the US. The purpose of the NCA was to work with FEMA to increase the communication and resource sharing for CERT programs across the US. The NCA has also planned and executed National CERT Conferences in 2022, 2023, and 2024 and supported the planning and execution of the 2021 National CERT Conference.
Over the last 5 years, the NCA has found that with the current leadership structure, we are missing critical aspects of being a successful organization. The NCA leadership is great at CERT traning and program manager. It is great at collboration. It was not great with accounting and taxes. The structure was also putting a huge liability strain on the president and vice-president, as they were signing large contracts for National CERT Conferences. Joining FSTI allows the NCA to hand off the business side of the house and gives the NCA leadership more time to focus on the CERT projects. FSTI has proven their ability to manage large grants and a successful preparedness training program in LISTOS.
Over the last 5 years, the NCA has found that with the current leadership structure, we are missing critical aspects of being a successful organization. The NCA leadership is great at CERT traning and program manager. It is great at collboration. It was not great with accounting and taxes. The structure was also putting a huge liability strain on the president and vice-president, as they were signing large contracts for National CERT Conferences. Joining FSTI allows the NCA to hand off the business side of the house and gives the NCA leadership more time to focus on the CERT projects. FSTI has proven their ability to manage large grants and a successful preparedness training program in LISTOS.
NCA Leadership
The existing NCA Leadership team voted to approve the NCA joining FSTI. The leadership team also voted Suu-Va Tai to remain the NCA president after the merger. Suu-Va will retain all programatic control of the NCA and FSTI will manage the financials, book keeping, and contracts.
The NCA Board of Directors will transition to an Advisory Group. The NCA is currently working a new system to elect members to the Advisory Group. The intent is to provide representation for CERT programs across the US as well as different areas of CERT such as youth, business, CERT for non-english speaking communities, etc.
The NCA Board of Directors will transition to an Advisory Group. The NCA is currently working a new system to elect members to the Advisory Group. The intent is to provide representation for CERT programs across the US as well as different areas of CERT such as youth, business, CERT for non-english speaking communities, etc.
Membership Portal
Part of the transition to FSTI includes a new membership portal. The previous membership portal fell well short of our expectations and did not provide the functionality that we desired. The new platform promises to provide key functionality that will allow the NCA to communicate with our membership, and allow members to communicate with each other. We will also finally be able to provide a space for members to share and download resources.
The new membership platform will be live in August. Once it is live, a webinar will be schedule to provide an overview of the platform and answer any questions that members might have.
The new membership platform will be live in August. Once it is live, a webinar will be schedule to provide an overview of the platform and answer any questions that members might have.
Membership Fees
The NCA is currently suspending membership renewals. Please note – If you are getting a request for membership renewal, this is coming from our previous vendor, NEP. Please ignore these emails. We have asked NEP to disable the emails to our members and they are having a hard time figuring that out…
The NCA plans to resume membership renewals in September 2024. An email will be sent to all members when this happens. Existing members are currently being migrated over to the new platform. Previous memberships will carry over and all members will receive a notification via email to renew when their annual member is up. Members will no longer automatically be charged for their annual membership dues. Members have the option to turn on automatic renewal.
- Suu-Va Tai, NCA President
The NCA plans to resume membership renewals in September 2024. An email will be sent to all members when this happens. Existing members are currently being migrated over to the new platform. Previous memberships will carry over and all members will receive a notification via email to renew when their annual member is up. Members will no longer automatically be charged for their annual membership dues. Members have the option to turn on automatic renewal.
- Suu-Va Tai, NCA President