KFRTI Director Jennifer Johnson credits team after receiving IFSAC Organizational Excellence Award
LAWRENCE — Jenn Johnson, director of the Kansas Fire & Rescue Training Institute (KFRTI), was awarded the Organizational Excellence Award by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) on April 10. The distinction has been given approximately three times in the past 15 years.
IFSAC is an international, peer-driven organization that accredits fire service training programs around the world, with member entities spanning from the United States to Kenya and beyond. The Organizational Excellence Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated "leadership, professional competence, innovation or significant accomplishments over a sustained time period" within their organization and whose work has elevated "the overall standard for other accredited entities to follow."
For Johnson, the award is bigger than her.
“Well, I was the one that stood up and they handed the plaque to. I think it really reflects on our staff,” she said. “Nobody in our group is doing anything by themselves. We are very collaborative. We’re very much a team. We’re pretty tight.”
That culture is by her design. Johnson described a leadership approach shaped by three parts of her life: her father, her decades of coaching high school athletes and her career in the fire service — first with the Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department, where she served for 22 years in roles including battalion chief and accreditation manager, and now at KFRTI.
“When you’re coaching, you need your athletes to be whole in mind, body and soul because they only perform well if those three things are ticking. And your work team is very similar,” Johnson said. “When you’re on a crew in the fire service, you’re family."
She brings that framework to the office.
“I know that my people need to be healthy and happy and feel supported,” she said. “And that’s more than just making sure that they have the right desk and a good salary.”
That support comes in many forms, including humility.
“As a leader, you’re not going to get it right every time. And being able to say, ‘You know I messed up on that one,' that’s important,” she said. “It gives your people permission to own their mistakes if you own yours.”
Johnson also leads by example.
“I’ll vacuum, I’ll take the recycling out, I’ll clean the sink. There’s not a single job done on our team that I’m above doing,” she said.
Along with doing the chores, Johnson credits laughter.
"Everything that happens in your life can be handled with some laughter if you look at it from the right perspective. I don’t know that I’m particularly funny, but I like to hear my people laugh.”
Ken Fowler, assistant director of KFRTI, whose fire service career is approaching 40 years, sees it from the other side.
“In our world, I would say she’s the best chief I’ve ever worked for,” he said. “Her title is director. But to us firefighters, she’s the best chief I’ve ever worked for.”
He described her leadership in a single phrase: “If I was to assign a mantra to her, it would always be people first,” Fowler said. “She puts her people above everything else that takes place here. She listens. She understands.”
“I am just grateful that we all get to work together,” Johnson said, “and how really rewarding it is to be in the same space with them.”
Under her leadership since 2020, KFRTI secured re-accreditation for 22 certification levels through IFSAC and added new certifications to meet emerging needs across Kansas. Johnson now oversees a $3 million annual budget and represents Kansas in national conversations with the National Fire Academy, the Department of Homeland Security and the North American Fire Training Directors. She is an NFPA 1000 Technical Committee member, an IFSTA Validation Committee member and is a graduate of the IAFC Fire Service Executive Development Institute.
KFRTI, a program within Jayhawk Global at KU, provides training, certification and credentialing services to fire and rescue personnel across Kansas.