Title: Chief Executive Officer
Company: ICEBUDDY Systems LLC
Location: Wailuku, Hawaii, United States
Pamela S. Norris, chief executive officer at ICEBUDDY Systems LLC, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Executives for dedication, achievements, and leadership in emergency preparedness.
With over four decades of experience to her credit, Ms. Norris established a distinguished career in the field of emergency preparedness. She has excelled as chief executive officer of ICEBUDDY SYSTEMS LLC since 2005. The company specializes in creating innovative products designed to aid in disaster preparedness and emergency situations. They uniquely focus on solutions for keeping medications, biologicals and food cold during power outages or other crises. In addition, Ms. Norris is a contributing author of “Disaster Spiritual Care: Practical Responses to Community, Regional, and National Tragedy.” In light of her impressive, innovative and impactful undertakings, she has received several awards. They include the Best of Laurel, Maryland Award for Medical Equipment 2015-2017, the 2016 U.S. Small Business Administration InnovateHER Competition held in Maui, Hawaii, was showcased at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in The Hague in 2019, and received the Top 100 Healthcare Visionaries Award from the International Forum on Advancements in Healthcare (IFAH) in 2021.
Laying a solid foundation for her success, Ms. Norris earned a Bachelor of Arts in early childhood education and teaching from Tufts University and a Master of Social Work in policy, planning, and administration from Clark Atlanta University. Reflecting on her career, she has dedicated decades to providing disaster and humanitarian relief, working with organizations such as The American Red Cross and The Salvation Army. Throughout her career, she has provided post-traumatic counseling to disaster survivors in addition to her social work duties. Through her experiences, she identified two critical ongoing problems in disaster response: the unmet need to keep medications requiring refrigeration cold and the unmet need to provide Kosher and Halal-certified products for individuals with specific religious dietary requirements. To solve these problems, she developed the ICEBUDDY System, a product manufactured in the USA. This two part innovative system includes the QOOLER, designed to keep medicine, biologicals and food cold for up to three days without electricity and the QPACK, a specially designed backpack that transports water, ice, or other essential supplies. The QPACK is uniquely configured to fit on wheelchairs and walkers, providing inclusive preparedness equipment for individuals with disabilities.
When offering advice to others aspiring to work in her industry, Ms. Norris emphasizes that fortitude is essential because emergency preparedness is not considered glamorous, despite its critical importance. She advises those entering the field should be prepared to face resistance and skepticism, emphasizing the importance of staying committed to one’s vision and delivering excellence. Ms. Norris states it is essential to never give up and maintain a steadfast attitude. Having often been the only woman in the room throughout her career, she highlights the importance of being exceptionally knowledgeable and having confidence in your expertise and contributions. She closed with the admonition to never let intimidation deter you.
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