2025 Annual Conference: Professional Development

Friday, October 17th, 8:00 - 11:30 am | Morning Session
Friday, October 17th, 12:30 - 4:00 pm | Afternoon Session

Professional Development: Leadership Development General and Wildland Focus
Erik Litzenberg, Liderazgo Consulting & Senior Wildland Fire Advisor for the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC)

Session Description
The purpose will be to explore leadership, primarily in emergency response organizations in government. Topics will include history of emergency service organizations and change, change management and social identity theory, leadership research and theory, and organizational theory. The session will focus not just on emergency response organizations, but also on their place in government organizations and communities. It will examine the leader's place within an organization, workforce development, the spectrum from followership to leadership, and aspects of a good (or bad) leader. After a broad view, the session will explore different facets of leadership in the wildland and wildland urban interface environment. It will start with a historic review of the problem. and statistics-based frame setting, Next, it will review all aspects with which leaders in emergency response organizations and government can make a difference - in providing safe and effective emergency response, building fire adapted communities, and landscape scale management. After a high level review the presentation will dig deeper into the response component of this model and include sessions on building a wildland fire program, training and standards, the national wildland fire scene (National Interagency Fire Center, National Wildfire Coordinating Group. federal and state agencies, non-profits, etc); Incident Management Teams, and resource utilization in general. We will also look at tools that are available to help leaders serve their community such as Ready, Set, Go!, evacuation planning tools, and effective partnership opportunities. It will conclude by exploring technology and philanthropy in wildfire management. This will be highly interactive and include videos, surveys, and story-telling as methods for learning together.

Erik Litzenberg, Liderazgo Consulting & Senior Wildland Fire Advisor for the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC)

Erik Litzenberg is the owner and lead consultant for Liderazgo Consulting, which focuses on government, leadership, and team building, and the Senior Wildland Fire Advisor for the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). In his IAFC role, Erik serves as a primary member and Vice-Chair of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group Executive Board, and as a liaison to the National Multiagency Coordinating Group at the Interagency Fire Center. Erik served the majority of his career in the City of Santa Fe Fire Department, completing his time in the City as Fire Chief and City Manager before returning to the Santa Fe County Fire Department where his career began. Through 25 years of service, he has also worked for New Mexico State Forestry and as part of multiple Incident Management Teams, and for many years owned Santa Fe Wildfire, which provided resources for large scale incident management and response. Litzenberg is the past Chair of the IAFC Wildland Fire Policy Committee and a past principal member of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council.

Erik holds a MPA from the University of New Mexico (UNM), a MS in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a PhD in sports administration from UNM. His research focused on organizational culture and leadership, as well as physiology and performance. He lives in Santa Fe with his wife and kids and enjoys participating in triathlons as a route to maintain physical and emotional health.