Executive Director, Evacuteer.org
Potentially 35,000 New Orleans residents will use the free, public option that Evacuteer.org provides, which is working with their strong volunteer core based on a network of businesses and organizations to train and prepare to activate during a mandatory evacuation. In addition, Evacuteer.org works to better prepare the local community for evacuation through several preparedness programs including EvacuKids (a program designed to demystify climatic weather) and the Partner Program (which aims to support and collaborate with businesses, nonprofits, academic institutions and faith-based and community organizations.
As of May, Jennifer Hardin became the first executive director of Evacuteer.org.
“Our core mission is to streamline City Assisted Evacuation. It is increasingly crucial that we meet our training goals and specialize to cover gaps,” she says. “Preparing our community is a year-round operation.”
Having received the Most Innovative Emergency Preparedness Initiative award from the Center for Disease Control, Hardin is looking forward to “completing the second phase of the Evacuspots project (statues around town, like the one Hardin is pictured with here) and sustainably lighting these sculptures so they’re visible at night.”
Every day Hardin aims to empower residents to participate in emergency preparedness, and we should, too.
