Title: Senior Director

Company: FEI Behavioral Health

Location: Milwaukee, Wisc.

Every day brings something new to Terri Howard, senior director at FEI Behavioral Health, as she believes it’s her sense of wonder that inspires her to connect with a variety of people. Through FEI Behavioral Health, she aspires to contribute more on a global basis and “preach” cultural competency when it comes to emergency preparedness. Her daily goal is to impress people with the need to be prepared and to recognize the return on investment that being prepared can mean. Ms. Howard easily gains trust and is known for motivating others, thinking outside the box and for creating paradigm shifts.

This field has always been male dominated and most of Ms. Howard’s peers come from law enforcement; she an outsider, a women, and had to work hard to prove my credibility. She is proud to have made such a smooth transition into this field from her career in education, but continues to educate adults. She has earned a master’s degree in human services administration and emergency management, which she is pursing further by earning a Ph.D. Ms. Howard’s advice to young women would be “Don’t be afraid to fail, as they grow success, and keep to this as a lifelong learner.”

The FEI Behavioral Health parent company, Families International, is a not-for-profit and Ms. Howard helps support many charities through the United Way Worldwide. Personally, she participates with American Society of Industrial Security, International Society of Industrial Security and the Disaster Recovery Journal. She as also recognized by Homeland Security for her restoration work after Hurricane Katrina. During her free-time, Ms. Howard enjoys spending time with her husband and dog.