The California Resiliency Alliance (CRA) was born out of a growing recognition that resilience requires collaboration, insight, and trust. Since its founding, CRA has evolved alongside California’s changing risk landscape—always focused on strengthening connections, closing information gaps, and empowering planners, responders, and decision-makers to act with greater clarity and confidence.
Our Origins
In the early 2000’s, in the aftermath of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Iowa floods, and major California wildfires, communities across the nation began to recognize the critical interdependencies between public and private sectors.
In response to this growing awareness, the Business Executives for National Security (BENS) launched several regional partnership councils across the U.S.—beginning with New Jersey in 2003, followed by Georgia and Kansas City (2004), California’s Bay Area and LA/Orange County (2005), Iowa (2006), and Colorado (2007).
Here in California, the devastating 2007 Southern California wildfires further highlighted the need for a more formal and coordinated statewide public-private partnership. These events helped lay the foundation for what would become the California Resiliency Alliance (CRA).
In 2009, the CRA was established out of one of the BENS councils as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to building a more resilient California by fostering public-private collaboration. In its early years, CRA worked with over 100 companies to support California’s emergency management, public health, and homeland security agencies—before, during, and after disasters. Notably, CRA played a key role in the formation of the Business Operations Center (BOC) within the State Operations Center, establishing a vital mechanism for integrating private sector support into public sector response efforts.
Adapting & Evolving
As California’s risk environment and emergency management structures evolved, so did the CRA. The creation of the California Office of Emergency Services’ (CalOES) Office of Private Sector and NGO Engagement in 2015 marked a key pivot point. With the State assuming a more active role in operational coordination with the private sector, the CRA strategically shifted its focus from supporting response operations to strengthening strategic preparedness, resilience planning, and cross-sector information sharing.
As a trusted convener at the intersection of sectors, the CRA began concentrating on bridging cross-sector divides and closing knowledge gaps—helping planners, responders, and decision-makers understand not only the threats and hazards they faced, but also how risks could cascade across interconnected systems and supply chains. This required a new level of insight: curated, trusted information that individuals could rely on to navigate complexity before it turned into crisis.
As global events increasingly produced local consequences, we expanded our scope and deepened our information-sharing capabilities. From pandemics and geopolitical instability to infrastructure vulnerabilities and climate-related disruptions, CRA recognized that resilience could no longer be planned in silos.
Some highlights of our evolving impact include:
COVID-19 Pandemic: We released our first COVID-19 brief on January 21, 2020—weeks before the WHO declared a global pandemic—initiating a regular stream of timely, localized updates that supported operational decision-making across California.
Wildfires & Utility Shutoffs: As wildfire seasons worsened and public safety power shutoffs expanded, we provided situational briefs with tailored context to help organizations stay informed and adjust to changing conditions.
Supply Chain Brief: Recognizing the growing importance of supply chain stability, in 2023 we launched a monthly Supply Chain Information Brief to explore vulnerabilities that span transportation, food, energy, and beyond.
Global Dependencies: In 2022, we published a brief that explored how the war in Ukraine could impact U.S. infrastructure, underscoring how seemingly distant events can ripple through global dependencies and impact local operations.
Mini Exercise Scenarios: In 2024, to encourage forward-looking planning, we began publishing Mini Exercise Scenarios—short, thought-provoking vignettes designed to spark internal discussions, challenge assumptions, and explore resilience gaps in a manageable, practical format.
Through each of these shifts, we stayed true to our core purpose: bridging the public and private sectors with trusted information and insights. We also matured into a foresight-focused organization—one that helps its network not only respond to today’s threats, but also anticipate and prepare for what lies ahead.
Continued Impact and Looking Ahead
Since our founding, the CRA has grown from a few dozen collaborators to a trusted network of over 1,200 subscribers— reaching stakeholders across government agencies, private-sector partners, and resilience-focused organizations throughout and beyond California.
Today, the CRA is a recognized connector across California’s public and private sectors, serving emergency managers, business continuity professionals, public health leaders, critical infrastructure partners, and more.
From developing earthquake toolkits and supporting wildfire response to enhancing awareness of food security risks and global infrastructure dependencies, CRA continues to empower California’s organizations to anticipate, adapt, and prepare.
Building a Resilient Future
Guided by our mission to increase awareness of threats and hazards, close knowledge gaps, and bridge cross-sector divides, the CRA continues to evolve alongside California’s risk landscape—helping planners, responders, and decision-makers anticipate what’s ahead and build a more resilient future.
