IEM Empowers the Emergency Preparedness Intelligence of Young Women by Sponsoring HERricane
At IEM, we believe in the importance of a talented and diverse workforce, representing the best America has to offer. That is why we’re proud to support programs that support the next generation of emergency managers and leaders in disaster recovery. Recently, IEM sponsored a unique program to introduce emergency preparedness to young women. HERricane is designed to encourage young women, ages 13-17, to explore careers in emergency management and allied fields.


As of 2014, women occupied only 34% of emergency management staff jobs, and only 8% of those employed held director-level positions within the field. HERricane empowers women as leaders in their community while also highlighting emergency management as a potential career track. The Arlington Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management created HERricane Arlington in 2017. Arlington partnered with the state of Florida to support HERricane’s landfall in Leon County June 2018 and its landfall in Walton County June 2019.



As the largest woman-owned homeland security and emergency management firm in the world, IEM is proud to support HERricane, having sponsored HERricane Arlington and both landfall sites for HERricane Florida. IEM exists today because a woman believed she could, so she did. IEM CEO, Madhu Beriwal, founded IEM in 1985; her innovation in this field has been recognized through her induction into the International Women in Homeland Security and Emergency Hall of Fame as well as having been named an Enterprising Women of the Year by Enterprising Women Magazine. IEM looks forward to continuing its partnership with HERricane and supporting the program’s expansion for years to come.