FEMA Seeks Volunteers for the BRIC Virtual National Review Panels
FEMA is accepting expressions of interest to participate on the fiscal year 2022 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Virtual National Competition Panels to review competitive grant subapplications for funding.
Event Details
FEMA is accepting applications for volunteers to assist with the virtual National Review Panel for the fiscal year 2022 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, also known as BRIC. BRIC is a competitive FEMA grant program to support states, local communities, tribes and territories. The panel reviews submitted subapplications for hazard mitigation projects that aim to reduce the risk from disasters and natural hazards.
Once the application period closes on Jan. 27, 2023, FEMA will begin the review and selection process. Per the Fiscal Year 2022 BRIC Notice of Funding Opportunity, FEMA will convene a virtual National Review Panel of volunteers from state, local, tribal and territorial governments and other federal agencies to review subapplications that are submitted to the National Competition that required a qualitative panel review.
The virtual panels will run from March 13- April 7, 2023. We ask that panelists be available for a minimum of one week. Prior to the start of the virtual National Review Panels, panelists need to attend a two-hour mandatory training on how to review subapplications for the qualitative criteria and score them accordingly. Additionally, panelists will receive a handbook as a read ahead to prepare for their participation.
The application period for state, local, tribal and territorial representatives to submit expressions of interest to participate in a panel is opened until Jan. 15, 2023.
If you or someone you know is interested in serving on these panels and meets the panel participant criteria, complete an Expression of Interest Form.
FEMA will announce the selected panelists at the end of February.
Panelist Requirements
- There will be no compensation for participation
- Provide own computers
- Must be a government employee at the federal, state, local, tribal or territorial level
- Must attend virtual training to go over how to review subapplications and score accordingly
Dates that The National Review Panel Will Review (Dates and Times Subject to Change)
FEMA anticipates that participants on the virtual National Review Panel will commit to 5 hours per day over the course of 5 business days. During that time participants will review and score subapplications according to the established qualitative criteria. Panelists will participate in subapplication discussions when prompted.
Each daily session is expected to be 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
- Week 1 March 13-17, 2023
- Week 2 March 20-24, 2023
- Week 3 March 27-31, 2023
- Week 4 April 3-7, 2023 (If needed, not guaranteed to run)
BRIC National Review Panelists will participate and contribute to the decision-making process for BRIC program review while having the opportunity to engage with other fellow panelists for networking, knowledge sharing and partnership building.
Summary of the Qualitative Scoring Process
More information on the background, evaluation process, scoring, and criteria can be found here: BRIC Qualitative Criteria Program Support Document. Additional information will also be provided during the two-hour mandatory training that each panelist will attend.
Qualitative scoring has a total of 115 possible points. The qualitative criteria are narrative submissions to allow subapplicants the flexibility to fully explain the strengths of the proposed project.
Qualitative evaluation criteria have graded scales of point scoring. The six criteria include the following:
- Up to 35 points: Risk Reduction/Resilience Effectiveness
- Up to 10 points: Climate Change and Future Conditions
- Up to 15 points: Implementation Measures
- Up to 25 points: Population Impacted
- Up to 5 points: Community Engagement and Other Outreach Activities
- Up to 15 points: Leveraging Partners
Event Contact
If you have additional questions, email the BRIC Team