The Jim Riley Leadership Award was created in 2016 to honor of it’s first recipient, Jim Riley (NJ-TF1). Jim was instrumental in the development of the SUSAR Alliance. His vision was for an organization that would encourage the sharing of ideas and discussion about Urban Search and Rescue. He reached out to representatives from Task Forces across the country to come together to form what is now the SUSAR Alliance. He set in motion a series of events that has led to the development of our annual SUSAR conferences and the establishment of dialog with the federal US&R system.

Jim Riley has served as the President of the SUSAR Alliance Board of Directors and served on the Board as a member for many years. His leadership is a model for the US&R community.  Each year, the SUSAR Alliance will take nominations for the Jim Riley Leadership Award. The award will be presented at our annual conference. Each recipient will be honored with a plaque and their name will be listed on the SUSAR website.