Leadership

Shannon Strother, PhD
Director

Ms. Strother is the Director, National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies Institute (NIMSAT) at the University of Louisiana – Lafayette. She brings over 20 years’ experience in non-profit leadership and management with expertise in emergency management, social policy, resilience, urban environments, poverty alleviation, and vulnerability analysis. She is responsible for overseeing NIMSAT programs supporting emergency management initiatives supporting the public, private and non-profit community in Louisiana as well as the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center. Ms. Strother is a Registered Nurse and holds a Master of Public Health, Master of Science in Urban Studies and a PhD in Urban Studies.

James "Jim"Williams
Public-Private Partnership Officer
 

James “Jim” Williams leads the state's public-private partnership program, the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center that supports businesses before, during, and after a disaster.

The program is a partnership between the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Louisiana Economic Development, and the NIMSAT Institute at UL Lafayette.

Williams brings strategic expertise and real-world experience from his extensive military career to contribute to the team delivers “Research for a Reason” in sectors such as homeland security and emergency preparedness; cybersecurity and critical infrastructure; supply chain risk and vulnerability assessments; healthcare and data science; and community education. He participates in the Louisiana Cybersecurity Commission to advise the needs of the private sector as it applies to cyber incident preparedness, response, and recovery.

Williams is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with 27 years of military service, with the Active Army and Louisiana Army National Guard. He served two deployments to Iraq; he also led and participated in numerous all-hazards responses in Louisiana, including hurricanes, ice storms, and flooding.

He is a graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana with a bachelor of science degree in Industrial Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University, Shreveport.

Jim Williams Joins State Incident Management Assistance Teams (IMAT)

Jim Williams, the Public-Private Partnership Operations Officer at the Informatics Research Institute, is now certified by the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to be a part of the next generation of rapidly deployable emergency response teams called Incident Management Assistance Teams (IMATs).

According to FEMA, IMATs are full-time, rapid-response teams with dedicated staff able to deploy within two hours and arrive at an incident within 12 hours to support the local incident commander.

As a Liaison Officer Member, he and the team will be dispatched within 2 hours and arrive at the incident within twelve to various areas of the state during times of emergency to provide relief to the incident commander and team. They will provide situational awareness for federal and state decision-makers.

The teams are fully compliant with the National Incident Management System and the Incident Command System, and they train and exercise as a unit. When not deployed, the teams focus on building relationships with public and private sectors through planning, training, and education.

Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center provides support to the business community in times of disaster. Our goal is to assist Louisiana businesses and non-profit organizations in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts to ensure community stability, resilience, and economic revitalization. For more information, please visit LABEOC.ORG
and join our network today.