Women’s History Month focuses on empowering women to continue leading in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. 

March 5, 2024 – SACRAMENTO, CA – Recognizing the crucial role women play as changemakers and leaders, Governor Gavin Newsom today launched Listas, a campaign to empower women with emergency resiliency knowledge during Women’s History Month. 

From March to April, the Listas Campaign, through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), provides a comprehensive outreach effort – more than 70 pieces of unique digital assets, including social media graphics, informational videos and a dedicated webpage honoring women in the household. This initiative serves to empower women with usable knowledge they can confidently put into practice through clear, informative, and relatable tips. 

“The research is clear: the role that women play before, during, and after disasters is critical. Mothers, grandmothers, and primary caretakers often make decisions about the safety of their families and loved ones every day,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “As a nationwide leader in disaster preparedness, California’s Listas Campaign is yet another innovative and first-of-its-kind effort to provide life-saving information and resources directly to communities.” 

Educating women in communities statewide, the Listas Campaign provides the knowledge needed for women to lead their families during natural disasters, such as wildfires, earthquakes, floods, and mudslides.  

Efforts from this Campaign include: 

• Community-focused phone banking teams calling nearly 400,000 women heads of households. 
• Creative social media including more than 70 unique digital and video pieces featuring California women highlighting how they prepare their families. 
• Video assets with key California women leaders providing helpful preparedness information to other families. 
• Dedicated web-based resource hub with all the consolidated information. 

Through statewide research, Cal OES found that that women under 50 in California who are Hispanic, Black or Asian American and Pacific Islander are among the most likely to view themselves as primarily responsible for their family’s emergency preparedness among all age, gender and ethnic groups. 

“Women in California’s numerous diverse communities often take on a leadership role within their households during a crisis situation,” said Cal OES Director Nancy Ward. “It is vital that we acknowledge the critical role these women have – and empower them with impactful survival tools that can reach them in traditional ways as well as through culturally-specific channels.” 

Cal OES has developed hundreds of downloadable resources in multiple languages related to disaster preparedness, response and recovery, including videos, social media graphics, flyers, one pagers, quick guides and indigenous language videos on general preparedness and flooding. These free helpful resources are available here. 

This Campaign is part of an ongoing effort by Cal OES, through Listos California, to enhance disaster resiliency statewide in at-risk, disaster-prone areas by engaging thousands of community partners, non-profit organizations, tribal governments, Community Emergency Response Teams and other local organizations. 

Resources 

• Listas Campaign Social Toolkit here 
• Listas Campaign Page here 
• Listas Campaign Videos on Youtube here 
• Listas Campaign Rollout Presentation here 
• Local Emergency Alerts page link here 

Source: Cal OES