APCO 2021’s Distinguished Achievers Breakfast recognized APCO members and contributors on Tuesday, and the audience in San Antonio heard the inspiring keynote address by a champion adventure racer about overcoming obstacles and taking charge of change in life and work. The breakfast was sponsored by Comcast.
“APCO International believes in honoring excellence, and this morning we’ll recognize some of the many accomplishments of our members and partners,” APCO Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Derek Poarch said in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.
Poarch thanked corporate sponsors of APCO 2021, including Diamond Sponsor FirstNet built with AT&T.
He then introduced graduates of APCO’s leadership development programs, the Registered Public-Safety Leader Program and the Certified Public-Safety Executive Program.
“The program is designed for individuals interested in developing a solid foundation of management and supervisory skills necessary for successful PSAP operations,” Poarch said of the RPL program. “Since its inception in 2007, more than 700 individuals have earned the right to place the RPL designation after their names.”
The CPE curriculum builds on the RPL program.
“Drawing on resources from renowned leadership professionals and distinguished academic sources, the CPE Program allows participants to explore the difference between management and leadership, models and theories of leadership, leadership styles, public safety leadership issues, and how to execute and lead change,” Poarch said.
Poarch recognized agencies newly accredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies. Maya Mitchel, the Communications/Organizational Development Manager of CALEA, said that CALEA has an online Public Safety Communications Accreditation Manager Course for the CALEA Accreditation process. She said currently 188 centers are enrolled in the online accreditation course and 139 are accredited.
Poarch also recognized ECCs that have joined a partnership program with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The program promotes the adoption of best practices to:
- find missing children,
- reduce child sexual exploitation, and
- prevent child victimization.
“Compliance shows that a 9-1-1 center has demonstrated a commitment to protecting children by incorporating these best practices into its policies and training,” Poarch said.
Poarch congratulated 100 APCO volunteers for pitching in to help the San Antonio Food Bank this week. “Their volunteerism will impact a variety of programs and resources available to families, individuals, seniors, children and military members in need in 29 area counties,” Poarch said. “Great job, APCO, for coming together to support the local community that has hosted us all week.”
After the recognition ceremonies, it was time for Robyn Benincasa to take the stage. Benincasa is a San Diego firefighter who also happens to be a world-class adventure racer and who started a charity to help disabled people participate in rugged outdoor sports. She explained how her adventuring translates into workplace accomplishments.
“I’m so glad to be here with my public safety tribe. Are you kids ready for an awesome adventure?” Benincasa asked. She told APCO members she would answer the question: “How do we create change and embrace change as a springboard to future success?”
Adventure sports require days of racing hundreds of miles in some of the world’s most inhospitable environments using only non-motorized means of transportation. She said the racers get about an hour and a half of sleep every 24 hours. Through several days of grueling travel, teammates can never be more than 50 yards apart. Becoming an elite adventure race team requires lots of teamwork and innovative solutions.
Those who looked for new ways to finish the race often crossed the finish line first. She described how one of her teammates had the idea of connecting canoes together and using kayak paddles instead of canoe paddles to overtake competitors. In another race, her team redistributed packs to give heavier loads to faster runners and lighter ones to slower runners while also using tow lines so slower teammates could keep up. The idea was to make sure “everyone suffered equally,” Benincasa said. The result was a faster and more efficient team.
As the redistribution of suffering shows, teams work better when teammates help each other. Benincasa highlighted a time when one Japanese adventure racing team literally carried a teammate over a mountain on their backs and across the finish line on their shoulders when her injury made it impossible for her to walk.
After years in the sport, Benincasa was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, and she underwent six hip replacement surgeries when the first four were unsuccessful. Unable to continue adventure racing, she switched to long-distance kayaking. She also founded a charity, the Athena Foundation, that “helps survivors of medial or traumatic setbacks live their dream.”
The beneficiaries of her charity and Benincasa herself illustrate one of her mottos: “You’re not defined by your setbacks, you’re always defined by your comebacks.”
Arduous activities like hiking across the Grand Canyon in a day and returning along the hiking trail the following day is among the adventures on which she guides charity participants. They are no longer survivors but adventurers, Benincasa said.
The lesson Benincasa wished to impart to fellow first responders is that thinking big pays off, as does playing to win rather than not to lose.
“Here’s to you guys,” she said. “Be a leader that inspires everyone else to race.”
