The award recognizes leaders and innovators who are advancing resilience, continuity, and crisis management.
Haley Cifizzari, MS, continuity and preparedness programs manager in the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Office of Emergency Management, has been named Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI) International’s 2026 Program Leader of the Year for Nonprofits. The award honors leaders and innovators in continuity management, technology recovery, crisis response, and risk management.
“I'm really happy to be a part of this team and to have our work being recognized at this kind of level,” Cifizzari said. “Our whole team is very unique and we all have such different personalities and such different strengths. Everyone really feeds off of everyone's strengths.”
The recognition highlights not only Cifizzari’s leadership, but the growing role of resilience planning in protecting the University’s research, operations, and community. Ironically, the team’s workload nearly prevented the recognition from happening.
“When I initially was nominated, the DRI official said, ‘If you can't attend the gala — which was a part of their conference — then you can't win the award.’ I’m not a member of the DRI and not involved with their programs [she was nominated by a colleague]. So at first, I forfeited the award. But they came back to me and suggested, ‘Maybe if you could send in an acceptance video and we could reconsider.’ That’s how it happened.”
Disaster Recovery Institute International provides education, accreditation, and leadership in business continuity, disaster recovery, and cyber-resilience. Founded in 1988, the organization has certified more than 20,000 resilience professionals worldwide, including professionals from 95 percent of Fortune 100 companies.
The nonprofit sector award goes to individuals or programs that make their institution “more resilient, by strengthening relationships between service suppliers, insurers, and continuity professionals, as well as developing creative, effective approaches to continuity planning and promotion.”
Christopher Stanton, MS, director, Emergency Management, sees the award as deserved. “Continuity planning means everyday needing to think about potential ‘bad days.’ One of the best parts of working with Haley is that she makes this difficult work feel purposeful and she energizes our whole team. She has a rare ability to combine big-picture thinking with the practical details that make programs actually work. I see this award from DRI as a well-deserved recognition of the impact she makes every day at UMB.”
Cifizzari credits her predecessor and her team’s collective work with setting the stage for the award.
“My predecessor, Hayley Markman, had a strong focus on infrastructure and campus resilience because it's our biggest hazard and the one that happens the most frequently. When I shifted into this role, I felt like we hit this as much as we could, and maybe we could start shifting focus into research continuity. How do we focus on research continuity? How do we reach people? How do we get this information into the hands of researchers?”
“We needed to reach those people that are truly in the labs and that are really being hands-on in their research because they're the ones that know their research in and out. They're the ones that are in the best position to try to protect it. We decided to create a self-paced online training that was approachable, kind of fun, and engaging.”
Ethan Donnelly, an associate in the Office of Emergency Management, has worked with Cifizzari since joining UMB in summer 2024. Like his colleague Stanton, he sees the award as well deserved.
“It is no surprise that Haley won this award, as she consistently raises the bar in improving continuity at UMB. She has transformed the Universitywide continuity program into an accessible, data‑driven process through UMB ReadyOps [UMB's incident management and continuity platform] that guides departments, schools, and units step by step through the Continuity of Operations planning process.”
Donnelly also cites Cifizzari’s qualities outside those cited by the DRI award as worthy of recognition.
“Haley leaves a lasting impression on everyone fortunate enough to work with her, meeting people exactly where they are. She leads with a deep commitment to integrity, service to others, and a shared purpose — an authentic embodiment of UMB’s core values and a living example of the WISER Principles in action.”
Nominations for DRI awards are submitted by individuals and peers within the emergency management community. Winners are typically announced at the gala dinner held at the conclusion of the annual conference. In rare cases — such as this year — DRI makes exceptions when nominees are unable to attend because of their responsibilities at their institutions. All of which goes to show why they made the right choice in Cifizzari and her team.