From unfathomable national tragedies to unrelenting natural disasters, the age of crisis is here. In 2017 alone, extreme weather and natural disasters caused a total of $306 billion in damages across the U.S. – the most expensive year on record. Additionally, two million employees are victims of workplace violence each year, costing American businesses between $6-$36 billion annually.

And one of the saddest realities of this generation is the ability to easily name off a handful of mass shootings from recent memory: Newtown, Pulse, San Bernardino, Aurora, Las Vegas, and now Parkland, Florida.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), more than 40 percent of businesses never reopen after a disaster, and for those that do, only 29 percent were still operating after two years. On a personal level, up to 15 percent of the workforce experiences an increase in mental health problems in the aftermath of a critical incident or traumatic event. This age of crisis calls for brokers and consultants to take on a new role: to become strategic partners in crisis readiness.