My name is Jerad Wright. I currently work for the Kentucky River Area Development District in Hazard, KY as the GIS Manager and have been a member of KAMP for 2 years. I have been in this role for a little over a year, and previously served as a Geospatial Intelligence Imagery Mission Supervisor in the United States Air Force for 11 years.

While I was performing in this role, I supported combatant commanders and troops across the world using GIS. This encompassed everything from operations to humanitarian missions, working closely with figures such as the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, and the President of the United States. I worked with several Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft and satellite platforms, as well as multiple sensors such as Multi-spectral, IR, EO, Optical Bar Camera, and many more.

In my current role, I support our 8 county region with mapping systems such as water and wastewater, roads, disaster recovery, and the like. Currently, I am assisting the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority in transitioning the Water Resource Information System from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro and AGOL.

Although I haven’t been a member of KAMP for as long as others, I am passionate about the organization and look forward to furthering our mission to my greatest ability regardless of my position. As a member of the board, my natural leadership skills and deep knowledge of the work we do could be fully leveraged to promote our public image and help grow understanding and appreciation of our community.

If I were to be voted into the position, I would like to bring KAMP into the spotlight, spreading and demonstrating what the mapping community is all about. I would also like to create outreach programs, especially for our students in middle school and high school. These are the foundations of the future for GIS, and sadly, not many know about the opportunities and impact of this profession. By combining these two tactics, I feel as though we can grow our community, enhance the world around us, and plan for a brighter future.

View my video here.