05/15/2025
Public information officers and communication professionals from the county, municipalities, utilities, nonprofits, and state and federal agencies, along with local media, convened on Monday for the 6th Annual Monroe County Communications Symposium before the beginning of hurricane season on June 1. The six-hour event focused on strengthening collaboration, sharing best practices, and improving public messaging during emergencies and day-to-day operations.
The symposium was hosted by the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County’s Jennifer Lefelar and Alison Kerr. It included an update on Monroe County Emergency Management operations by Emergency Management Director Shannon Weiner, a severe weather briefing from the National Weather Service’s Jon Rizzo, a social media panel with the City of Key West’s Alyson Crean and Community Health of South Florida’s Marianne Finizio, highlights from TDC campaigns from Chad Newman, an overview of the Joint Information Center with Monroe County’s Kristen Livengood, a panel discussion on AI tools, co-led by Livengood and The College of the Florida Keys’ Amber Ernst-Leonard, and a media panel with Keys Citizen’s Chris Seymour, Keys Weekly’s Mandy Miles, and US1 Radio’s Nick Wright.
“We as communicators put a lot of emphasis on making sure the public is aware of what is going on, especially during times of crisis, like the recent wildfires in the Everglades, or when we are threatened with storms,” said Monroe County Public Information Officer Kristen Livengood. “We want to stress following reliable and trusted sources for information, and I think we all agree that we are very proud of the partnerships we have created across our island chain.”
During a storm, Monroe County’s Joint Information Center can be found at www.monroecountyem.com/JIC. It is updated with county, municipal, state, weather, utility, bus, evacuation, reentry, and other important information as it becomes available. It’s never too early to be prepared: www.monroecountyem.com.
PICTURED:
Front row from left: Liam Rodriguez (FWC), Dave Dipre (FWC), Jon Rizzo (NOAA/NWS), Chip Kasper (NOAA/NWS), Wyatt Ingram (Coast Guard), Nestor Yglesias (Homeland Security Investigations), Ben Sanker (Coast Guard), Alison Kerr (DOH-Monroe). Back row from left: Mary Moeller (Monroe County Fire Rescue), Megan Bosi (Keys Health Ready Coalition), Amber Ernst-Leonard (CFK), Shannon McCully (Key Largo Wastewater District), Danette Baso Silvers (NAS KW), Marianne Finizio (CHI), Alyson Crean (City of Key West and KWPD), Linda Pirozek (Womankind), Cali Roberts (Womankind), Nancy Klingener (Monroe County Public Libraries), Kristen Livengood (Monroe County BOCC & EM), Mimi Young (City of Layton), Amy Halstead (RHN), Chad Newman (TDC), JoNell Modys (TDC), Oleg Sokolov (Homeland Security Investigations), Mary Haban (TDC), Nick Wright (US1 Radio), Rachel Spencer (MCSD), Julie Brown (FDOT), Adam Linhardt (MCSO), Stefanie Peel (Islamorada, Village of Islands), Brad Lutz (LKMC/Keys Medical Group), Tiffany Pellicier (United Way of Collier and the Keys), Michelle Nevel (AHEC), Maj Johnson (Guidance Care Center), Michael Stapleford (Magnum Broadcasting), and Jennifer Lefelar (DOH-Monroe). (Not pictured: Alex Ramos DOH-Monroe IT)
