Bishop again honored as Emergency Management Professional of the Year

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Brandy Bishop has been honored with the Oregon Tribal Emergency Management’s Professional of the Year award for the second time since 2023.

“The Tribal Emergency Management Professional of the Year award is such an honor to receive,” Bishop said. “I never thought I would get the first one and to be nominated once again for a second time…is remarkable and so humbling. I work with all nine of the Oregon Tribes as well as many state, federal and other organizations and agency emergency management professionals and have learned so much from them over these last nine years.”

Bishop received the honor Wednesday, Oct. 8, at the department’s conference in Bend.

“It's been quite an adventure with Brandy starting out part-time nearly 10 years ago as emergency management assistant to now, running the day-to-day of the emergency management section of the Emergency Services Department,” Tribal Chief of Emergency Services Steve Warden said. “Emergency management is unique in that it seems to be a catch all for everything that doesn’t quite fit in other public safety disciplines. Besides planning and preparation, the most important aspect of emergency management is developing relationships. At the Tribal level and throughout the emergency management community, Brandy has gained respect, developed long lasting relationships and regularly engages other communities in order to better serve our own community.”

He continued, “Brandy continues to grow and develop our programs and makes efforts to bring understanding to what we do and how we will help manage in a major event.”

Bishop was nominated for the award by Bureau of Indian Affairs Regional Emergency Management Specialist Herbert Paul Gray.

“Brandy’s dedication, innovation and leadership within emergency management have set a high standard not only for her own Tribe, but also for neighboring Tribal nations across the state,” his nomination email said. “Over the past year, Brandy has devoted countless hours to training and preparing her staff to operate within an emergency operations center. She recognized the importance of building depth and resilience within her team and took the initiative to revamp position-specific job training.”

Gray further noted that through Bishop’s efforts, staff members are now cross trained across multiple roles in the department.

“This comprehensive approach has strengthened her team’s ability to respond seamlessly during emergencies, regardless of the challenge or disruption,” he said. “For these reasons, Brandy Bishop exemplifies the very best qualities of an emergency management professional. She has elevated the standard of preparedness, created a culture of learning within her Tribe and extended her leadership to strengthen others across Oregon.”

Bishop, 43, is a Tribal member and has served as the Tribe’s Emergency Preparedness Coordinator since 2017.

“I personally like to stay behind the scenes and try to go unnoticed but receiving this award has blessed me with the recognition and confirmation that I am doing what I set out to do: That is building a network of resources and a program that will be dependable to prepare for, mitigate against, respond to and recover from any and all emergencies and disasters here in Grand Ronde and for all my relations/people,” she said. “This award means so much to me, especially because I do not do the work I do for recognition, I do it because I have a passion for building preparedness and resiliency.”