Executive Certificate in Crisis and Risk Management

Learn the methods and strategies to effectively lead through crises with the knowledge, skills and efficacy to influence stakeholders, leverage resources, and enhance business processes.

Program Overview

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Career Impact

Sharpen decision-making and communication skills before, during, and after a crisis
Build goals and benchmarks to navigate your organization through uncharted territory
Learn to make effective decisions to sustain operations, limit liability, and protect an organization’s reputation during crises
Use collaborate insights from simulation exercises to learn from peer networks
Guide others successfully through organizational and professional change

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Program Options

In-Person (Terry Executive Education Campus)

Executive Certificate in Crisis and Risk Management

Dates:

March 18–20, 2026

Program Format:

In-Person

Program Fees:

$3,450 (includes all digital materials, resources and meals — breakfast and lunch)

Program Overview

This in-person program focuses on strategies and principles exemplifying excellence in crisis management and leadership, and guidelines to identify and navigate proactive and resilient strategies that emerge amidst a crisis.

The program supplies participants the knowledge, skills and efficacy to lead through crises, influence stakeholders, leverage resources, and enhance business processes. Additional case studies, peer-to-peer learning, and a simulation exercise improve individual and team performance.

After completing the executive certificate, participants will have the skills and confidence to lead others and enhance decision making authority to sustain operations, limit liability and protect an organization’s reputation during a crisis.

What You’ll Learn

Topics in the program include:

Strategic Decision Making & Critical Thinking

Explore the strategic decision-making processes
Understand the roles of uncertainty and biases
Engage in issue and crisis management principles and best practices
Outline crisis management processes
Examine the role of social media in managing issues and crises
Alignment of a company’s mission and goals with strategic communications
Alignment of a company’s mission and goals with strategic communications

Crisis READINESS™

Understand the READINESS™ framework and its key pillars: Multi-level Efficacy, Mindset and Dynamic Processes
Examine key competencies integral to each pillar
Engage in the READINESS™ process and how its contributes to essential business outcomes
Explore the role of leadership at team and top C-levels, and how each aligns improving the evaluation or organizational performance by achieving increased precision, planning and execution

Risk Management

Understand how risk management is an ongoing process that extends across the pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis phases
Examine the critical role of legal risk throughout an organization
Learning how the role of cross disciplinary learning increases crisis READINESS™ and effectiveness
Exploring international risk management frameworks and best practices
Adapting various mitigation opportunities to corporate strategy

Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity

Discuss the threats and power of artificial intelligence
Explain the tenants of ethical AI usage to include transparency and strengthening the ability to harness the tools to act in a state of READINESS™ during a state of uncertainty
Discussing the multi-layered cybersecurity approach integrating best-of breed solutions for enhanced protection, visibility, and efficiency.
Understanding strength through integration by exploring a hybrid security strategy
Explaining the processes around harnessing AI to accelerate response times to an incident
Outlining the critical nature of responding with speed and coordination for a precision-driven response

War Room Simulation Exercise

The War Room simulation exercise will encompass all executive training module learnings into a simulated scenario where participants will work in interdisciplinary groups on a customized crisis READINESS™ response plan to present to peer networks and facilitators for feedback and critique.

Who Will Benefit

Those in professional leadership seeking to build or improve crisis management skills while learning how crises can impact their organization. Discover how to communicate management plans to stakeholders and create an interdisciplinary crisis management approach.

Takeaways

Participants will be awarded an Executive Certificate in Crisis and Risk Management from the Terry Executive Education Center at the University of Georgia.
Understand the required skills to be an effective leader through organizational crises by utilizing the READINESS™ framework.
Be able to harness strategic decision-making principles through external (industry-level) and internal (firm-level) analyses.
Implement the READINESS ™ framework through a crisis simulation exercise to implement principles learned to build and strengthen READINESS™ as both a process and outcome at individual, team and leadership levels.

Potential Instructors

Mike Pfarrer, PhD

Associate Dean for Research and Executive Programs and the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Distinguished Chair of Business Administration, Terry College of Business

Yan Jin, PhD

C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership; Professor of Public Relations; Director of Crisis Communication Think Tank; Associate Director of Center for Health & Risk Communication, Advertising & Public Relations, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Jason Epstein, JD, MBA, MSPP

Lecturer, Terry College of Business

Greg Trevor

Public Safety Communications and Outreach Coordinator, University of Georgia

Rod Smith, CIC, CRM

Associate Director of the Risk Management and Insurance Program, Terry College of Business

Patrick D. Conner

Senior Lecturer, University of Georgia School of Law

Kate LaVail, PhD

Segment General Manager for PR, Communications, Media and Government, LexisNexis

Jeff Hill, EMBA

Global Director, MSSP and Service Providers, Stellar Cyber

Want to Learn More?

We’re here to answer any questions you may have about the Executive Certificate in Crisis and Risk Management or other programs provided by the Terry College of Business Office of Executive Education.

Jordan King

jordanking@uga.edu (404) 467-5130

Director of Conferences & Open Enrollment Programs, Executive Education