The primary responsibility of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) is to better prepare the State of Illinois for natural, manmade or technological disasters, hazards, or acts of terrorism. Our goal is a "better prepared state." IEMA coordinates the State's disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery programs and activities, functions as the State Emergency Response Commission, and maintains a 24-hour Communication Center and State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). The SEOC acts as lead in crisis/consequence management response and operations to notify, activate, deploy and employ state resources in response to any threat or act of terrorism. IEMA assists local governments with multi-hazard emergency operations plans and maintains the Illinois Emergency Operations Plan.
IEMA is also responsible for protecting Illinois residents from the potentially harmful effects of ionizing radiation, administering more than two dozen programs to protect citizens and the environment. Programs include extensive emergency planning and response efforts and training for local responders for accidents involving radiation; inspecting and regulating radioactive materials licensees; registering and inspecting radiation producing equipment and facilities statewide; accrediting medical radiation technologists; and certifying mammography facilities. IEMA also monitors 11 nuclear power reactors at six nuclear stations licensed to generate electricity in Illinois and inspects and escorts spent nuclear fuel shipments.
Vision
Always Ready
Mission
Prepare, protect and assist the citizens of the State of Illinois through planning, prevention, training, mitigation, response, and recovery to all hazards, natural or manmade.
Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau
Alicia Tate-Nadeau was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker to serve as the Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and Illinois Homeland Security Advisor in January 2019. In her capacity as Illinois Homeland Security Advisor, Tate-Nadeau serves on the Executive Committee for the Governor's Homeland Security Advisor Council. Tate-Nadeau also serves on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) Cybersecurity Advisory Committee, as Regional Vice President of the Homeland Security Committee for the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), the Cybersecurity Committee for the Council of Governors and is nominated for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC).
Tate-Nadeau brings more than three decades of experience in national security, emergency management, and public safety issues. Prior to this appointment, Tate-Nadeau served as Executive Director of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications where she implemented and managed the third largest 9-1-1 call center in the nation and procured all information and technology for public safety in the City of Chicago.
Ms. Tate-Nadeau was the first female general in Illinois history and completed her military service as the Assistant Adjutant General for the Illinois National Guard with a concurrent assignment as the Deputy Commanding General, Army National Guard, United States Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, as well as overseas tours in Iraq and Israel. Ms. Tate-Nadeau was the first National Guard liaison to Israel serving a three year tour to the Israel Home front Command.
Tate-Nadeau is also active in several civic organizations. She serves on the American Red Cross of Chicago and Northern Illinois Regional Board of Directors. In her capacity as Retired Brigadier General, Tate-Nadeau, is a member of Mission: Readiness, the nonpartisan national security organization of over 700 retired admirals and generals who strengthen national security by ensuring kids stay in school, stay fit, and stay out of trouble.
Deputy Director Scott Swinford
Scott R. Swinford has served as the Deputy Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) since February 2019. In his role as the Deputy Director, Swinford has oversight for the development and day-to-day conduct of the IEMA divisions of Nuclear Safety, Operations, Recovery, and Logistics. He was responsible for the management of all state responses to disaster over that period. These included two tornado touchdowns, several flash floods, two major fires, the longest Mississippi/Illinois River flooding in Illinois history in 2019, six separate responses to civil unrest including deployment of the Illinois National Guard to the City of Chicago for the first time in over 70 years, and the greatest pandemic in a century – the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to joining IEMA, Swinford served as the Division Chief for Disaster Planning and Readiness for the Illinois Department of Public Health. For two years, he was responsible for oversight of $20M in federal grant programs funding Illinois hospitals and health departments in order to increase emergency medical preparedness throughout the state.
Swinford retired as a Lieutenant Colonel with more than 34 years of military service. He was commissioned via the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1983. In 1999, he became a full-time active duty Guardsman with assignments focused on homeland security, strategy development, and international affairs. In 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force serving as the US Operations Liaison of the 82nd Airborne Division to the Polish Brigade Task Force White Eagle. Among his numerous awards and decorations Swinford has earned three Meritorious Service Medals, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Meritorious Service Medal, the Silver Medal of Republic of Poland and the Bronze Star.
