STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Ryan Akers recently graduated from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

As an associate Extension professor with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Akers manages the organization’s youth preparedness programs, including Ready in the Middle and the Mississippi Youth Preparedness Initiative, or MyPI. These programs teach preteens and teens how to help their communities before, during and after disasters. He is also responsible for Extension’s efforts in delivering the Save the Children Program, called PREP Rally, and The Pillowcase Project, an American Red Cross program.

The executive academy consists of four courses and is the last in a series of professional programs offered by FEMA to senior emergency management specialists. The academy brings together experienced emergency management leaders and facilitates problem-solving through exercises based on complex, real-world problems.

Academy participants enhanced their skills of negotiation, conflict resolution, critical thinking and strategic planning. They also learned more about issues, debates and new and emerging public policy in emergency management.

For more information about MyPI, visit the National Youth Preparedness Initiative website.