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| Upcoming Events: | | | 2/20
(4 days) | | | 3/6 | | 3/12
(3 days) | | 3/13
(4 days) | | | More |
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Meet Our New Membership and Conference Directors
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SARMA is pleased to introduce Paula Copperthite (pictured, left) as our new Director of Membership & Outreach and Laura Johnson (right) as Director of Conferences & Events.
Paula Copperthite is an independent consultant with over 25 years of experience. She will serve as SARMA's Director of Membership & Outreach, overseeing marketing and communications strategy development and membership recruitment and retention programs in alignment with the SARMA Strategic Plan.
As a contractor with Integrity Consulting since 2006, Paula has served the Program Management Office of the All Hazards Consortium, a 501(c)(3) non-profit facilitating regional collaboration and integrated planning and systems between private sector operators, federal agencies and state/local governments on key homeland security and emergency management issues such as critical infrastructure protection, communications interoperability, information sharing and catastrophic evacuation planning. In her role as public/private sector liaison, she built and managed a highly regarded membership program for private-sector, higher education and non-profit partners, connecting key stakeholders and delivering quality programs and services.
Educated at the University of Maryland, Paula spent her early career with the U.S. Soldier's and Airmen's Home in Washington DC as Chief of Program Administration, where she led a comprehensive program for over 400 members, and served as liaison official representing the facility and its programs. She later joined the Xerox Corporation, where she developed and managed numerous commercial accounts.
Throughout her career, Paula has successfully addressed challenges by developing innovative and effective strategies, programs and initiatives and maintaining a strong focus on communications. Areas of expertise include strategic planning, project management, stakeholder communications, new business and partnership development, account management, and marketing and campaign strategy.
Laura Johnson will serve as the Director of Conferences & Events for SARMA. Laura's primary area of expertise is her extensive knowledge of the meetings-management industry combined with her in-depth product development skills, including researching content and producing/marketing conferences and training geared to both commercial and federal clients.
Laura served as Vice President, Training and Strategic Development for Homeland Defense Journal for six years, and President for its sister company, Government*Horizons, for two years. In these roles, she was responsible for expanding the companies' training product line, forming industry partnerships, and fiscal responsibility and management oversight for all details related to training. Laura also created and managed the companies' private training department and worked with clients to create customized workshops tailored to their needs.
Prior to joining Homeland Defense Journal in 2003, Laura served as Manager of Training Programs for ABS Consulting and provided overall leadership in planning, budgeting, producing, and administering 175 courses nationwide annually, as well as achieving marketing targets. She managed all staff related to program development, course planning and administration, course production, and hotel contracting. She was responsible for the strategic direction, management, and growth of departments training seminars and for maintaining course content on e-commerce websites. Her responsibilities also included speaker selection and liaison, marketing oversight, and sales and quality performance.
Laura earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication from University of Maryland, College Park and was awarded the "Outstanding Educational Partner" in 2008 by the Federal CPIC Forum, as delivered by Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite. Laura is also a graduate of the Montgomery County (Maryland) CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program and is trained in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations. She regularly volunteers her time to the CERT program, the Montgomery County Police Training Academy and other emergency-related organizations, and runs her own company, Training Outreach.
We are grateful to Paula and Laura for offering their time and extensive expertise to help SARMA create value for the security risk profession. For descriptions of all 16 SARMA Committees, including the ones they now will direct, please visit the Committees page of our website.
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