To support and assist Texans and local officials through the implementation of recovery operations, long-term recovery plans, and federal grant programs while coordinating resources and integrating personnel with our federal, state, and local partners.
When Texans, Texas Communities, and businesses are affected by a disaster, assistance may come in a variety of ways, including government and/or nonprofit, volunteer, and faith-based organizations. TDEM’s Recovery Division works closely with local jurisdictions, state agencies, and federal partners to ensure Texans successfully navigate recovery processes and become more resilient for future disasters.
Sherri is the Division Chief for Recovery, Disaster Finance and State Disaster Reimbursement (also known as State Mutual Aid). As Division Chief of three pivotal sections, she oversees the emergency contracting and procurement during disasters and is responsible for the recovery operations during activations and the federal and state disaster recovery programs, including Individual Assistance (IA), Public Assistance (PA), and Fire Mitigation Assistance Grants (FMAG). Further, she oversees the reimbursement process to local and state entities responding to state-assigned mutual aid missions.
Sherri has worked for the Texas Division of Emergency Management since 2008, where she began her career in response as a Regional Liaison Officer. As a District Coordinator for Region 2 in North Texas, she responded to numerous disasters throughout the State, including wildfires, floods, winter storms, hurricanes, and the Ebola crisis. She was then promoted to Section Administrator for Recovery and Mitigation for Region 4 in Houston.
Sherri earned a Bachelor’s degree in Emergency Administration and Planning from the University of North Texas and she also holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington. Additionally, she is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) and a Certified Texas Emergency Manager (TEM).
Drew Canham is the Section Chief for Recovery Operations. He joined TDEM in 2024, serving as one of TDEM’s first four Watch Commanders. Drew currently leads the Recovery Ops Team, providing leadership over ESF-16 Recovery for State Operations Center (SOC) activations, preliminary damage assessments, disaster declaration requests, and the federal Individual Assistance (IA) and Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) programs.
Prior to joining TDEM, Drew previously served full-time with the Texas Military Department on Operation Lone Star-Border Surge (OLS-BS). Before that, he worked for approximately 20 years in college administration at Texas Tech University and McLennan Community College, and as adjunct faculty for Texas Tech University and Tarleton State University. Drew earned his law degree at Ohio Northern University and his Master's and Ph.D. at Texas Tech University. He is working on a Master of Public Service and Administration (EMPSA) degree at Texas A&M University.
Drew is a United States Air Force veteran who served as an air traffic controller. He is currently a member of the Texas State Guard.
Zachary M. Hood serves as the Section Chief for Recovery Grants at the Texas Division of Emergency Management. In this role, he leads the administration of federal and state disaster recovery funding programs that help Texas communities rebuild and strengthen resilience following major events.
With more than 15 years of experience in emergency management, Zachary has held leadership roles at the local, state, and federal levels. His prior appointment as a county emergency management director provides a valuable local perspective, where he was responsible for coordinating response and recovery operations for multiple state and federally declared disasters. His leadership encompassed strategic planning, interagency coordination, public engagement, and grant management—efforts aimed at bolstering community preparedness and long-term resilience.
Zachary also served in instructional and operational roles with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Disaster Medical System and the Center for Domestic Preparedness, supporting national training and operational response supporting nationally declared disasters and national security special events.
He holds a Master of Science in Emergency Management from Jacksonville State University and is dedicated to advancing public service and delivering impactful recovery programs across the state.
Kyle Wong is the Section Chief for Disaster Finance responsible for emergency contracting and procurements at the State Operations Center during an active incident. Additionally, Kyle is responsible for all Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance grant projects. Kyle Wong has been with TDEM since 2019 and has been in his current role since December 2021. Prior to joining TDEM, Kyle spent several years in Market Research tracking brand and reputational health for Fortune 100 companies. Kyle holds a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego State University.
William Doyle is the Section Chief for State Disaster Reimbursement. In this role, he ensures the administration of TDEM’s state mutual aid. He is a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Texas Contract Developer, and Certified Texas Contract Manager.
Doyle joined TDEM in December 2023. Prior to TDEM, he was the Senior Director of Federal Audits at the Texas Education Agency for 7 years. He has also worked for the City and County of Denver as the Head of Internal Audit for the Department of Human Services. He started his career as a Performance Auditor for the Legislative Service Office in the State of Wyoming.
Cody Hays is the Unit Chief for Disaster Finance at the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
He joined TDEM in 2019 after spending 13 years at the Texas Comptroller’s office. During that 13-year timeframe, he was introduced to emergency management and tasked to deploy to the Texas State Emergency Operations Center serving as the Procurement Unit Leader for dozens of state and federally declared disaster responses. In his current role at TDEM, he is responsible for the Disaster Finance operations and procurement processes during state disaster response. He has served in some of the most historic disasters Texas has ever seen, including Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Harvey, 2015 Memorial Day floods, COVID-19, multiple ice storms, wildfires, and countless severe weather events.
Cody is a native Austinite along with his wife and two children. After graduating from James Bowie High School, he served a short time with the Menchaca Volunteer Fire Department. Cody spent several years chasing a childhood dream playing professional minor league baseball. Several years later he resumed his academic career, graduating from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics.
Mary Medina is the State Disaster Reimbursement Section (SDRS) Unit Chief at the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). She has over 20 years’ experience monitoring state and federal funds.
Prior to joining TDEM, Mary worked for the Texas Education Agency for 12 years in the Audit and Fiscal Accountability and Federal Reporting Unit monitoring the state and federal funds awarded to school districts and charter schools. She had the opportunity to monitor the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) data collection, validation, and reporting process.
Before her work with the Texas Education Agency, Mary worked with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Texas Homeland Security State Administrative Agency for over 3 years monitoring the state and federal funds awarded to cities and counties. In this capacity, the had the opportunity to monitor the border security funds and the Homeland Security Grant Program funds.
Most recently Mary has worked with the Texas Division of Emergency Management’s State Disaster Reimbursement Section for over 8 years monitoring the funds reimbursed to entities that respond to in-state and out-of-state mutual aid missions. During this time, she monitored the reimbursement process for Hurricane Harvey, COVID, Hurricane Laura, and countless severe weather incidents and wildfires.
Mary graduated from the Texas A&M International University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in Accounting.
Aaron Humphrey is the Unit Chief of Recovery Operations at the Texas Division of Emergency Management. He joined TDEM following a successful career in commercial lending, nonprofit development, and service in the United States Coast Guard.
Aaron began his emergency management career by leading hazard vulnerability and incident management efforts on active duty, and now serves in the Coast Guard Reserves, where he continues to contribute to national security and disaster response. At TDEM, he helps lead Recovery Operations, overseeing individual assistance, public assistance, and recovery programs. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Texas A&M University. A lifelong Texan, Aaron enjoys volunteering and serves as a director on several community organizations.
When he’s not serving his state or community, Aaron enjoys watching sports, fishing, and spending time on or near the water with his family.
Robin serves as the Deputy Unit Chief for Disaster Finance. In her current role, she has responded to various types of incidents, including cybersecurity, floods, fires, ice storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and water outages. Additionally, she serves as a Finance Section Chief on Type III Incident Management Teams.
Robin began her career at TDEM in March 2014 working for State Disaster Reimbursements, processing mutual aid reimbursements for Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid Assistance (TIFMAS), Incident Management Taskforce (IMT) and Texas Task Force 1 (TXTF1). A few years later, she became the Regional Disaster Finance Coordinator for Region 8, teaching the T-600 course at State Agencies, Colleges/Universities and Independent School Districts across Texas. She also assisted with the trainings at the local jurisdiction level. During that time, Robin responded as the Deputy Finance Section Chief for Hurricane Harvey at the State Operations Center.
Robin graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Tarleton State University Central Texas, now known as Texas A&M University—Central Texas.
In her personal life, Robin has been married for 19 years and has three boys. All three are in band, and their marching competitions and concerts keep her extremely busy. When she isn’t working or attending band concerts and competitions, she enjoys spending time outside, including camping, hiking, swimming and relaxing.
Pat McGraw is a Deputy Unit Chief of Disaster Finance at the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Having accrued over 16 years of experience in disaster recovery and financial management, she boasts a deep understanding of state and federal recovery programs.
Throughout her tenure, Pat has served in critical roles under response and recovery operations for an array of disasters in Texas, including nationally known incidents such as Winter Storm Uri, the COVID-19 Pandemic, Hurricane Ike & Hurricane Harvey. Through her success, she has established herself as a true subject matter expert in emergency management.
Pat holds a Bachelor of Science in Technical Management from DeVry University. Outside of work**,** she enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her grandchildren.
Aja Varnado is the Assistant Manager of the Recovery, Disaster Finance & State Disaster Reimbursement Division at the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). Since joining TDEM in 2018 as a Budget Analyst in the Finance Division, Aja has steadily advanced into leadership roles, demonstrating a strong commitment to public service and financial stewardship. In this role, she supported numerous Preparedness Grants and played an integral role in financial operations related to the COVID-19 pandemic response. From 2022 to 2024, Aja served as the Unit Chief of Quality Assurance, collaborating closely with Public Assistance and Mitigation programs to oversee and improve grant administration processes.
She assumed her current role in August 2024.
Aja holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and a Master of Business Administration from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She is currently pursuing her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification to further enhance her leadership and project coordination skills.
Outside of work, Aja enjoys spending time with her family, attending concerts, and reading.
Darren Roberson joined the Texas Division of Emergency Management as a Contract Administrator in January 2020 and is currently the Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) Coordinator for Disaster Finance.
Over the years, he has responded and deployed to multiple incidents, including COVID-19, Operation Lone Star (OLS), and Hurricane Beryl. In October 2024, he deployed to Nashville, Tennessee, on an Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) mission to assist the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency's Finance Division with tracking costs due to damage from Hurricane Helene.
Before his time at TDEM, Darren spent 20 years as a Purchaser and Contract Specialist for Procurement and Contract Services at the Department of Public Safety.
In his free time, Darren enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing pool, grilling, going to the beach, and coaching high school baseball.
Jennifer currently serves as the Executive Assistant for Division Chief Sherri LaCour. In July 2024, she made her debut serving as the Finance/Admin Section Chief for the IST (now Incident Management Team) during Hurricane Beryl. Prior to beginning her career at TDEM, Jennifer worked in the Texas Legislature as a Legislative Director and a Policy Analyst. She spent four years working for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Texas Attorney General’s Office, progressing from an Administrative Assistant to Case Manager to Fraud Analyst.
She received her Master of Arts in Diplomacy & International Law from the American University in Paris, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Houston, and Bachelor of Arts in German from the University of New Mexico.
Jennifer has lived most of her life in Texas and spends time enjoying the Hill Country with her husband and two dogs.
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