JAMESHA COX

8:30-10:00 Wednesday Room WFD 125
1:15-2:45 Wednesday Room WFD 125
“Leadership Action Plan: Lessons from the Disaster Recovery Playbook”

This highly interactive session uses the disaster recovery planning process to explore how public leaders can navigate uncertainty, set priorities, and move organizations forward. In disaster recovery and mitigation, communities must develop an Action Plan that identifies priorities, engages stakeholders, allocates resources, and charts a path toward long-term recovery, resilience, and reduced risk from future disasters. Whether responding to a hurricane, budget cuts, staffing changes, community concerns, or shifting public expectations, leaders need a practical roadmap for making decisions, aligning people, and moving work forward under pressure.

Drawing from her experience leading disaster recovery efforts at the state and federal levels, Jamesha Cox will share how the Certified Public Manager (CPM) program shaped her leadership journey through a career spanning state government, federal service, and consulting. Participants will then work in teams to respond to complex, high-pressure public sector challenges by developing and presenting Leadership Action Plans using the CPM competencies they have learned throughout the program.

Through discussion, collaboration, and problem-solving, participants will apply concepts from across the CPM curriculum to the kinds of challenges public leaders face every day. As teams share their Leadership Action Plans, participants will compare approaches, exchange ideas, and discover that while every challenge is different, the principles of effective leadership remain remarkably consistent. The session concludes with a collaborative debrief that connects these shared leadership principles back to the CPM experience, leaving participants with practical strategies and a repeatable approach for leading through complexity, change, and uncertainty throughout their public service careers.

Session Handout: Leadership Action Plan Worksheet

Jamesha Cox is an educator and independent consultant with more than a decade of experience in disaster recovery, public policy, regulatory compliance, and organizational leadership. She serves as an Adjunct Instructor in Florida State University’s Florida Center for Public Management Certified Public Manager (CPM) Program and as an Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University School of Business.

Through her consulting work, Jamesha helps public sector organizations strengthen disaster recovery programs, improve operations, navigate compliance requirements, and address complex implementation challenges. She also teaches courses focused on leadership, career strategy, and professional development. Jamesha is passionate about helping current and emerging leaders translate management concepts into practical strategies they can apply within their organizations.

Throughout her career, Jamesha has served in leadership roles with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Florida Department of Commerce’s Office of Long-Term Resiliency. In these roles, she led initiatives involving disaster recovery, policy development, audit and fraud risk management, constituent services, and operational improvement. Her earlier public service experience includes serving as an Inspector General Auditor, legislative aide, and legislative specialist, providing a strong foundation in governance, accountability, and public administration.

A proud graduate of the Florida Certified Public Manager Program, Jamesha credits CPM with strengthening her leadership philosophy and equipping her to navigate increasingly complex roles across state government, federal service, consulting, and higher education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Applied American Politics and Policy from Florida State University, where she also earned a Graduate Certificate in Public Administration with a concentration in Policy Analysis and Evaluation Methods. She is also a Project Management Professional (PMP).