Pamela Berkowsky is former federal and state government official with expertise in disaster preparedness and response. She is president of Blue Sapphire Strategies, a public affairs business consultancy and a founding member of inWEM, the International Network of Women in Emergency Management. Pamela Berkowsky served in senior Pentagon positions during the Bush I and Clinton Administrations and now focuses on defense innovation and resiliency issues, including the intersection of the climate and coronavirus crises. There are many similarities between the two, including the urgency for rapid and sweeping action to limit exponential growth, the dangers they pose in overwhelming key response systems -- healthcare on one side and disaster response on the other, the need for whole-of-society solutions, and the requirement for short-term sacrifices to ensure long-term benefits, among others. The differences are striking as well – including the timeline (changes occurring in days to weeks vs years to decades), the causality (clear vs diffuse) and the impact of the threat (rapid onset and personal vs slow and seemingly impersonal). One climate expert has called the coronavirus pandemic “climate change on fast forward” and it is clear that our personal and collective responses to both must rise to meet the challenges they present.
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AuthorA resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands since 2002, Pamela B. Berkowsky took her most recent governmental management role in 2007, becoming Deputy Chief of Staff to Gov. John de Jongh Jr. Thriving in this position, in which she managed daily Government House and Cabinet operations and policy development and implementation, she was promoted to Chief of Staff in 2011. Archives
September 2020
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