MEET THE CFM - JEANNE RUEFER Interviewed and Written by Kayla Kelly-Slatten, JD, CFM* Jeanne Ruefer is no stranger to the floodplain community. As previous FMA Board Chairwoman and a current FMA board member, Ms. Ruefer has shown her commitment to floodplain management in the most prominent of ways. Nevertheless, it is not the titles alone that demonstrate her passion for the field. It is her ability to see opportunity in a world of loss, opportunity that leads to change and inspires floodplain professionals to act. In 1998, the United States fell into a recession, triggered by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Like many economic crises, numerous individuals found themselves fallen on hard times, jobless and unsure of what the future would hold, Ms. Ruefer one of them. Encouraged by her peers, however, she used the loss to shift her focus away from consulting, becoming the State of Nevada’s Floodplain Administrator in April of 1998. Although armed with a Master’s in hydrology and hydrogeology, Ms. Ruefer had little experience in actual floodplain management. So, within a month of securing her role, she was sent to the ASFPM conference, thrown into trainings, and dove headfirst into the floodplain community. Any ordinary individual may have balked at the complexity of floodplain management, but Ms. Ruefer continued to find opportunity in its intricacies, supported by supervisors and newly acquainted colleagues. From state governance to local water resources management, from private industry to federal advising, Jeanne Ruefer shaped her career through the lens of a CFM, even before it became a national standardized accreditation.
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Within three months of entering her role as a floodplain administrator, Ms. Ruefer became a beta-tester for the ASFPM’s pilot Certified Floodplain Manager program. And when ASFPM officially rolled out its CFM test at the 1999 Portland conference, Jeanne Ruefer became CFM number 34. She continues to maintain her good-standing in the program, recognizing both its institutional and personal significance. To Ms. Ruefer, becoming a CFM was more than just a smart career move. Of course, from a floodplain administrator’s perspective, she believed it would lend her greater authority and credibility in the eyes of the communities she served. More importantly, perhaps, Ms. Ruefer saw the CFM accreditation as a personal accomplishment in the wake of loss. Prior to transitioning to floodplain management, Ms. Ruefer witnessed firsthand the devastation of an atmospheric river and the hope sprung from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). With her home severely damaged by the 1982-83 El Niño event, Ms. Ruefer found a new appreciation for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its application of the NFIP. In her own words, she grew “a soft-spot for the NFIP.” So, in a small way, obtaining her CFM became a form of repayment to the NFIP, as well as a personal commitment to serve the floodplain community and those individuals suffering loss.
