Legal & Compliance
501(c)(3) Compliance by Design
Signal & Response is structured from the ground up to produce exclusively educational and research outputs. Government employees can participate freely. No attendee signs or endorses anything. No legislative action is called for.
Organizational Structure
Who is responsible for what.
| Entity | Role | EIN / Status | Program Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMERGENZ Corporation | Producing organization, CE program director (EMSA #127), publisher of all Summaries of Findings | EIN 93-4070519 Delaware 501(c)(3), March 2025 Candid Platinum 2026 |
Program lead. Controls all program decisions, all publications, and all CE provider relationships. ATEC reimbursed for defined services under a separate executed MOU. |
| Allied Training & Emergency Consulting (ATEC) | Federation member CE partner — NJ OEMS submission, CE administration, facilitator coverage, 3 event staff, clinical co-director on EMSA application | EIN 92-1932911 501(c)(3) Nonprofit |
Partner organization, not a co-recipient. Reimbursed for CE administration ($350) and event staff labor (up to 3 staff at $40/hr, 10 hrs per event). Not a co-equal producing organization — all program decisions rest with EMERGENZ. |
501(c)(3) Compliance
Education and research only. Advocacy by design is not possible.
Summaries of Findings — Not Advocacy Documents
All published outputs from Signal & Response are Summaries of Findings — factual educational and research documents that report what participants said, identified, and documented. They do not include policy recommendations, calls to legislative action, or positions on contested policy questions. EMERGENZ's role ends at publication. Advocacy organizations that use these findings to advocate are independent actors acting on their own behalf — not on EMERGENZ's.
Government Employee Participation
Government employees at all levels — federal, state, local — can participate in Signal & Response without signing or endorsing anything. Attendees' perspectives are attributed to the event itself, not to their individual employers or agencies unless they specifically consent to individual attribution. Consent forms distinguish between: anonymous (contribution not attributed), general (attributed as "a dispatcher" or "a federal official"), and named attribution (full name and title, if consented).
CE Content — Educational Only
Continuing education content produced under Signal & Response is framed as AI literacy and professional education — foundational knowledge that practitioners need to make informed decisions in their own contexts. It does not advocate for or against specific products, vendors, policies, or legislative positions. CE content is submitted to NJ OEMS (via ATEC) and EMSA (via EMERGENZ as registered provider) for accreditation review as educational programs, not advocacy programs.
Pay-What-You-Feel Registration
Events are free to attend. The optional pay-what-you-feel contribution at registration ($25–$50 suggested, $0 minimum) is a voluntary contribution to EMERGENZ, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It is not a ticket price, a registration fee, or a condition of attendance. The Presidio's nonprofit per-attendee ticketing fee ($0.50/person for non-profit ticketed events) is budgeted separately. Any revenue from contributions goes toward Year Two program development under EMERGENZ's 501(c)(3) purpose.
No Individual Conflicts of Interest
No board member, staff, or partner organization receives undisclosed financial benefit from Signal & Response. Board member Eamon Daul's academic and government program affiliations (Bergen Community College, JEMSTAR/University Hospital of NJ / NJ DOH State Police program) are disclosed and he serves in an uncompensated volunteer capacity. No speaker receives a fee or honorarium. No vendor pays to participate in the demo floor — vendor participation is self-funded and independent.
No Lobbying, No Political Activity
Signal & Response does not include any lobbying activity, political activity, or participation in any campaign for or against any candidate or ballot measure. The event is explicitly educational and research-oriented. EMERGENZ does not engage in lobbying as a primary purpose and the program is designed to stay well within the limits applicable to 501(c)(3) organizations under IRC §501(h).
Methodology Statement — Included in All Published Outputs
Every Summary of Findings published under Signal & Response will include the following statement or a substantively equivalent version: "This document is published by EMERGENZ Corporation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization (EIN 93-4070519), as an educational and research output of the Signal & Response: The Public Safety AI Symposium series. It documents the perspectives, themes, and findings expressed by participants across the event program. It does not constitute an advocacy document, a policy recommendation, or an official position of any participating organization, agency, employer, or individual unless specifically noted. Participant perspectives are attributed to the event unless individual consent to named attribution was provided. EMERGENZ's role ends at publication."