About Us

HazAdapt is a motivated graduate student group-turned-startup building the next evolution of emergency and public safety engagement technology.

Our Story

HazAdapt Founder and CEO Ginny working on a whiteboard with teammates.

For over a decade, our Founder and CEO, Ginny, has worked on and researched the frontlines of the world’s most challenging public health and global health problems. Her focus is on the dynamic relationship and communication channels between citizens and local emergency and public safety response.

The idea for HazAdapt came while engaging community members about earthquake preparedness as emergency management. Seeing so much unmet need, she realized the underlying problem: today’s emergency communication technology was not designed for community engagement or diverse communities. This meant that many people in the community, especially the most vulnerable, did not have access to the emergency information or resources they would need.

A woman on a mission for solutions, Ginny began her PhD at Oregon State University to research and develop technology that facilitated the needed engagement in our emergency and public safety sectors.

Ginny met HazAdapt’s co-founders in a human-computer interaction course taught by inclusive technology pioneer Dr. Margaret Burnett. She was given the opportunity to present the idea of HazAdapt to her class as a term project, and her mission resonated with two classmates, Uday and Omeed, Masters students in Computer Science who joined Ginny in founding HazAdapt in July 2019.

HazAdapt's founding team. From left to right: COO Omeed, CEO Ginny, and CTO Uday.
HazAdapt's founders holding their price at the Imagine Corvallis 2040 event.The HazAdapt team working with Mike Bamberger, OSU's Emergency Preparedness Manager.

Since the very beginning, we've connected and worked closely with local communities, emergency managers, and public safety authorities to design the most efficient emergency communication solutions with real and proven potential to bolster engagement, boost adaptive capacity, and provide more confidence for everyone involved before, during, and after an emergency.

Our Mission

Empower humanity with the tools they need to adapt to life's hazards.

Our Vision

Build the world's most trusted and humanity-friendly technology for emergency communication and public wellness.

Our Core Values

Boost Adaptive Capacity
Design Inclusively
Innovate for the Community

The Team

Meet our team of leaders, dreamers, innovators, critical thinkers, and creators.
Ginny Katz, MPH

Ginny Katz, MPH

Founder | CEO | Head of Innovation

Disasters and Response Systems & Resilient Community Engagement Technology

Disasters and Response Systems & Resilient Community Engagement Technology

Omeed Habibelahian

Omeed Habibelahian

Co-Founder | COO | Acting CTO

Carlos Rodas

Carlos Rodas

Business Planning Advisor

Cristy Miles, MPH, MBA

Cristy Miles, MPH, MBA

Lead Hazard Researcher

Public Health, Chronic Illness, Vulnerable Populations, & Human Economies

Public Health, Chronic Illness, Vulnerable Populations, & Human Economies

Anna Pelevin, PhD

Anna Pelevin, PhD

Emergency Management Strategist; Hazard Researcher

PhD Emergency Management, First Response, & Fire Expert

PhD Emergency Management, First Response, & Fire Expert

Parker Twiss, DPEM

Parker Twiss, DPEM

Emergency Management Strategist

Emergency Management, Public Health, and Nuclear Disaster Specialist

Emergency Management, Public Health, and Nuclear Disaster Specialist

Brian Winter

Brian Winter

Emergency Management Strategist

Emergency Management, Crisis Operations, Professional Continuity Practitioner

Emergency Management, Crisis Operations, Professional Continuity Practitioner

Marisa Yaniro, RVT/LVT

Marisa Yaniro, RVT/LVT

Animal Resilience Researcher

Disaster Rescue and Veterinary Innovator

Disaster Rescue and Veterinary Innovator

Aliza Welch

Aliza Welch

Hazard Researcher & Illustrator

Public Health & Medical Information Communication

Public Health & Medical Information Communication

Shaquille Evans

Shaquille Evans

Hazard Researcher

Public Health & Child Safety

Public Health & Child Safety

Krystyna Ewing

Krystyna Ewing

Senior UI/UX Designer

Lindsay Lee

Lindsay Lee

Software Engineer - Frontend

Charlie Hengemihle

Charlie Hengemihle

Software Engineer

Colter Garrison

Colter Garrison

Software Engineer

Ingrid Taylor, DVM

Ingrid Taylor, DVM

Animal Resilience Expert

Veterinary Science & Animal Welfare

Veterinary Science & Animal Welfare

Kimberly Westbrook

Kimberly Westbrook

Executive Assistant