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Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator, Victoria Office of Emergency Management
Victoria, Texas, USA
I received my Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from the University of Houston-Victoria, and continued on to complete my Master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Homeland and International Security. I originally had my sights set on going into law school, but after careful thought, decided that public safety was where my heart truly belonged. I began in the Public Health Emergency Preparedness/Strategic National Stockpile Coordinator position with the Victoria Office of Emergency Management in February 2016. I was later promoted to Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator in July 2019, and have been in this position since.
A project I am most proud of was the opportunity I had to work with local, regional, and state response partners to establish and successfully carry out a mass COVID-19 vaccination site in Victoria. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was uncharted territory for everyone, we worked together to develop and refine a process to provide seamless and timely prophylactic care to thousands of community members. A defining moment for me at the mass vaccination site was the privilege to vaccinate someone who had traveled from Canada to little Victoria, Texas to receive their vaccines because they had heard such great things about our operations and had trouble accessing a vaccination elsewhere.
A roadblock for women in the emergency management industry is the misconception that women are incapable of leading a charge in a predominantly male career field. Women’s abilities, working knowledge, and expertise of the emergency management field is too easily dismissed despite the significant skillsets that women can bring to the table, including increased emotional intelligence and strategic, methodological planning abilities amongst several others. I think that as women become increasingly exposed to the EM field, their abilities to lead and work in this field will become more widely recognized and appreciated.
Equip yourself with knowledge as early and as often as you can. Your knowledge and education can never be taken from you. As women become more prevalent in the emergency management field, it is a more important time than ever to blaze a trail and find innovative, more efficient ways to do the EM job. Additionally: DO THE HARD THINGS. No great success story ever started or ended on Easy Street.
Learn to meet people where they are. Bridging the gap between your individual expectations and someone’s viewpoint is paramount in building a conducive, team-oriented environment. Sometimes it can be as simple as changing HOW you say something, rather than what you’re trying to say. Also, learn to be coachable. You won’t always be right.
I think by increasing communications about the “jobs” to be done in emergency management, individuals who may not have even thought about EM as a career can envision themselves working in the field.
Through initiatives like WTFem. Having an ability to connect with others in similar situations and circumstances is refreshing when you’re able to exchange words of wisdom, empowerment, and lift each other up.
I try to stay engaged with my community through attending community events, networking, and even providing some community preparedness training through a work capacity. It is so much easier to establish working relationships with community members on blue sky days rather than gray sky days!
Organize your priorities. Create a “Plan of Attack” every day, and try to pace each day to task yourself with a reasonable amount of things to do. It is easy to get overwhelmed.
I played softball from the age of 4 until I graduated college! The sport taught me so much about life, teamwork, and perseverance, and I am forever grateful for the opportunities the world of softball provided me.
Engage with our LinkedIn group. Volunteer! Volunteers can review resumes, facilitate or speak at events, join the grants committee, be interviewed for the 10Q series and so much more. We invite organizations (public and private) to join us as a host and/or sponsor too. Reach out to learn more.
To increase the representation of women at every level of emergency management in order to achieve the industry’s objectives of building resiliency and of effective and equitable planning, response and recovery.
To provide easily accessible resources and content that supports women as they explore, engage, and grow in emergency management careers.
Engage women in the emergency management and disaster response industries in order to support professional development and the industry’s objectives of building resiliency and of effective planning, response, and recovery.
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