FEMA Collaboration: phase 1 complete!
Good news! We're on-track to formally file our Form C and open our campaign by this time next month. Keep watching your inbox!
In the meantime, please join me in celebrating the first major milestone in our collaboration with FEMA! Enclosed is a “sneak peek” of the jointly-developed deliverable. I kindly ask you not to share/post this just yet - soon, FEMA will make a formal announcement on official channels.
In this first phase of the collaboration, we worked with experts across government, insurance, and non-profit sectors to develop the enclosed fact sheet. In follow-on phases, we will develop more materials, including an "app" for financial preparation, and we will participate in FEMA workshops with community organizations.
Ultimately, we aim to apply the parametric model for disbursement of FEMA Individual Assistance Grants.
Why are we doing this?
It's true, collaborating with FEMA does not directly result in sales of our insurance policies. However, it is a major achievement for parametric insurance to be endorsed the government agency in charge of disaster readiness and response.
FEMA actively encourages the public to prepare for disaster, including financial readiness. The more prepared we are, the less reliance on public aid. Therefore FEMA brings visibility to initiatives that get people financially prepared - particularly ones like Jumpstart that are affordable and provide post-disaster funds immediately.
By way of context:
In June 2019 Dr. Daniel Kaniewski, then-senior deputy administrator of FEMA, asked us to meet with his team in Washington, D.C. to discuss parametric insurance in general and Jumpstart in particular. In his public speaking engagements, “Dr. K” (as he is known) had been routinely mentioning Jumpstart as an affordable, private-sector solution for individuals to prepare financially.
Dr. K then encouraged his team to work with Jumpstart to help spread the word about how parametric insurance helps financial preparation. Together with the FEMA project team, we jointly planned the current three-phase project.