Museum Association
of Arizona

In January 2025 approximately 75 representatives of cultural organizations (museums, libraries and archives) and emergency management professionals met at the S’edav Va’aki Museum in Phoenix for the inaugural Planning Forum for the Arizona Alliance for Response (AzAFR).   

Our goal was to create a mechanism for developing partnerships across the state  to undertake collaborative local planning, response and recovery operations for disasters, both natural and man-made, that could harm or destroy Arizona’s irreplaceable cultural and historical treasures.

Following the Planning Forum a number of participants agreed to work together to identify how we might move forward.  We formed a Steering Committee, comprised of museum, library, archives and emergency management professionals, that has been meeting monthly. 

Over the last year the Steering Committee has worked on several projects, including:

 - Create Your Organizational Disaster Plan Workshop (April 2026)

 - Informal meeting for cultural organizations and emergency managers in Flagstaff (February 2026)

 - Updates to the AzAFR webpage on the national Alliance for Response section of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) website

 - Creation of disaster planning and response resource lists on the Museum Association of Arizona website

-  A Google Group listserv to provide a communication network for Arizona cultural organizations and emergency managers.

Membership in the Steering Committee is open to anyone in the Arizona cultural heritage and emergency management communities.   Please send an email to arizonaafr@gmail.com if you are interested in joining.

Planning Forum Agenda

Create Your Organizational Disaster Plan Workshop handouts

Create Your Organization Disaster Plan Slide Deck