2026 CRHNet Symposium

In an era of cascading crises, interconnected risks, and workforce fatigue, the next frontier of continuity and resilience is not built on plans, policies, or technology alone — it’s built on people. Human-Centered Continuity Planning reframes the traditional business continuity and emergency management lens by putting individuals — employees, students, communities, and leaders — at the heart of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts.

This presentation explores how leaders and practitioners can design continuity strategies that reflect human realities, emotional capacity, and adaptive potential. Drawing on real-world examples and emerging best practices, it argues that resilience is not just an organizational attribute; it’s a culture — one grounded in empathy, communication, inclusion, and trust.

Traditional continuity planning has long focused on assets, operations, and technology. We map our systems, document our processes, and create redundancy for infrastructure and data. But disruptions — whether a cyber breach, weather-related hazard, or organizational crisis — inevitably impact people first.

The COVID-19 pandemic made this truth impossible to ignore. When supply chains fractured, offices closed, and families juggled remote work and caregiving, the greatest determinant of continuity wasn’t the robustness of IT systems — it was the resilience, adaptability, and well-being of people. Employees became emergency responders, communicators, and problem-solvers in their own right.

Yet, many continuity frameworks still treat people as an operational resource, not as the core of resilience. Human-centered continuity planning challenges that paradigm. It insists that a plan cannot succeed if the people it depends on are burnt out, unsupported, or excluded from its creation.

In other words, a resilient organization starts with a resilient workforce.