Kristen Carr, MA, IAEM-CEM
Kristen Carr, MA, IAEM-CEM, is an accomplished emergency management professional, educator, and public sector leader based in Mount Holly, New Jersey. She currently serves as the Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator for the Burlington County Office of Emergency Management, where she plays a key role in strengthening preparedness, response, and recovery efforts across the county. In this capacity, Carr supports all 40 municipalities by coordinating training and exercises, reviewing and improving local emergency plans, conducting preliminary damage assessments following disasters, and assisting communities in securing funding for recovery efforts. She is also responsible for activating and supporting the County Emergency Operations Center and serves as an instructor in training programs in partnership with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management.
Carr’s path into emergency management began unexpectedly. Originally pursuing business studies, her interest shifted after taking a terrorism awareness course during the final stages of her bachelor’s degree. Having long been interested in global conflicts and national security issues and influenced by exposure to military operations through a family connection to an Army Corps installation responsible for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense, she developed a strong interest in emergency preparedness. After sharing a class assignment with a commanding officer who later used it as the basis for an operational exercise, Carr realized she had found her calling. She has since built nearly a decade of professional experience in the field along with additional years of volunteer service. One of her most meaningful professional experiences was deploying to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, where she supported response and recovery efforts. That experience reinforced her commitment to helping communities during times of crisis.
Throughout her career, Carr has demonstrated strong initiative and leadership in improving emergency management systems. One of her proudest accomplishments was independently developing a streamlined emergency operations plan template for municipalities across Burlington County when a state contracted solution faced delays. She successfully completed 37 municipal emergency operations plans at no cost to the county, reducing documents from more than 300 pages to approximately 80 pages while maintaining essential operational guidance. In addition to her government service, Carr is passionate about mentoring the next generation of emergency managers. She serves as part time faculty at Columbia Southern University, where she teaches emergency management courses and helps prepare students from diverse backgrounds for careers in the field. Carr earned her Master’s degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Security from Arizona State University, graduating summa cum laude while raising three children, and recently began pursuing a Doctorate in Emergency Management. As a Certified Emergency Manager, she is committed to advancing professional standards, fostering resilience, and encouraging greater representation of women in a field where they remain significantly underrepresented.
• Certified Emergency Manager (CEM)
• Professional Development Series
• Homeland Security MicroCert
• Leadership Essentials
• Principles of Fire Investigation
• Fire Investigation for Fire Officials - Motor Vehicle Fires
• Fire Investigation for Fire Officials - Youth-Set Fire Concentration
• Fire Investigation for Fire Officials
• Advanced Professional Series Certificate
• Arizona State University - MEMHS
• Ashford University - BSRM
• Ashford University - AA
• International Associations of Emergency Managers (IAEM)
• New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Association
• Animal Shelter Support
• American Cancer Society
• March of Dimes
What do you attribute your success to?
I don't procrastinate whatsoever, and I know when my due dates are due. I like the paramilitary environment, so I give myself deadlines that are before what's actually requested. That discipline to sit here and do what you have to do, or go somewhere and do what you have to do, is so beneficial within this field - even any job really. It's about having that structure and holding yourself accountable to get things done ahead of schedule.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Take time to figure out what you want to do first. If you need to take time and not go to college right away, don't do it. I didn't start college until I was older. Take time for yourself if you need to. Don't go into a profession that you have no passion for, because that would just lead to misery, and you will not like your job. Find a hobby that you can make into an occupation. A lot of times people do that. They find these hobbies, and they're like, yeah, I'm making this into an occupation. Just find that passion in your life and work towards a job in that. Like, my son was looking at computer science. I was like, there's a lot of jobs in it. Is that what you want to do for the rest of your life? He's like, no. I'm like, okay.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Right now, because there's not a lot of job opportunities, it's kind of hard when you're getting started in the field. People think of emergency management like firefighting and emergency medical services, and that's not what we do. I think just getting that grounding and getting yourself settled and maturing in the field takes time - you'll get a lot of information thrown at you, and you just have to adapt. Especially being females, it's definitely hard. It's definitely hard to get noticed, especially when you have male counterparts that are police officers. Our state is run by New Jersey State Police, so the Office of Emergency Management is through them, and a lot of times you get overshadowed by them. Getting females in leadership positions is a real challenge - in New Jersey, there's only one county OEM coordinator that is actually a female. I know I was up for a county OEM coordinator position, and they decided to hire a male that has no emergency management experience. A lot of people say that they have these experiences and they can handle it, but you really have to plant your feet down and just know what you know and keep your head up, because people will jump over you, skip over you, come from the outside because they believe where they come from or they're connected somehow that they are more experienced. But you just gotta keep your head up and keep trying for any job possible. Somebody's gonna give you a break.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Standing up for what's right and maintaining my morals are essential to me. I think just being honest and being humble within the field gets you a long way. Some of these coordinators will Google you, and if you do not stand up to your LinkedIn profile or stand up to anything that you say you have done, they will call you out on it. You just have to be humble, know what you know, know what you don't know, and ask for that help when you need it.