Alert Conversation - 6
Date: 20 May 2026, 17:00 – 20 May 2026, 18:00
Place: Online. Register here:https://forms.gle/B8yWBC2A28mwtQsz5
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Cari E. Guittard serves as Strategist for San Mateo County Emergency Management, where she leads the development of the department's and County’s first comprehensive crisis communications strategy and trust architecture framework for public alert and warning across an operational area of 20 cities and 18 unincorporated communities. Here, her portfolio spans alert and warning policy, crisis communications, multi-jurisdictional partnerships, and the integration of red teaming into emergency planning and exercise design. She approaches public information as a behavioral problem first and a messaging problem second. Prior to her work in emergency management, Guittard spent more than two decades at the intersection of national security, crisis management, and strategic influence. Also, for 15 years she developed and teached graduate-level courses in Crisis Management, Persuasion and Strategic Influence, Corporate Diplomacy, Geopolitical Risk, and Global Leadership at Hult International Business School, the University of Southern California Center for Public Diplomacy, and the University of San Francisco. With a background in geology and climatology, Ryan Reynolds built his career studying how systems fail before their consequences become visible. In his current role as Assistant Director of Emergency Management for San Mateo County (California), he applies that same systems-based approach to crisis communication and public warning, supporting 775,000 residents in one of the most hazard-exposed regions in the United States. Under his leadership, the county modernized its warning infrastructure by strengthening system resilience, expanding public reach, and improving message precision. His approach also includes piloting AI-enabled tools for operational decision-making and integrating advanced forecasting and climate intelligence through strategic partnerships with research institutions such as the University of California San Diego’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E).