Sarah Geydarov, a 2009 alumna, moved to NYC in 2010 to begin her career in local government. She found a love of Human Resources in graduate school and began as an Assistant Manager for Human Resources at the flagship Build-A-Bear Workshop, overseeing HR activities and training for over 100 store staff and area managers. From there she moved to HR and then training positions at fashion/retail companies. However, she always knew she wanted to work in the public sector, specifically in Learning and Development or Emergency Management.
In 2014, she found the best of both working for the NYC Emergency Management (NCYEM) Department. The staff there have a unique opportunity to have two roles – day to day and emergency. Day to day, Sarah is the Director of Training. She leads a team of four training specialists who train NYCEM staff as well as other City agency staff, private-sector, and non-profit partners who play a role in disaster response and recovery efforts. This includes training related to working in the NYC Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and in the field.
When Sarah began at NYCEM, there was a focus on operational training and little in the way of soft-skills training. Seeing this gap, she created professional development training programs for all levels of staff, a Mentor Program, and coaching programs. Additionally, she spearheads many organizational change initiatives, such as creation and implementation of agency Core Values, EOC Competency Models, and developing a learning culture.
In times of emergency, she is Planning Section Chief for one of NYCEM’s on-call teams. In this role, she supports EOC team leadership and executive decision makers and leads a team of EOC Action Plan/Situation Report Coordinators who create Situation Reports, ensure a common operating picture in the EOC and field, activate emergency plans, create staffing patterns, etc.