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.HazAdapt team members working with Mike Bamberger, Oregon State University'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 | Research PI

Omeed Habibelahian
Omeed Habibelahian

Co-Founder | COO | Acting CTO

Carlos Rodas
Carlos Rodas

Business Planning Advisor

Ingrid Taylor, DVM
Ingrid Taylor, DVM

Lead Hazard Researcher and Content Creator

Dr. Ingrid Taylor is a veterinarian and former U.S. Air Force Public Health officer who has worked in emergency and general clinical practice, animal welfare and advocacy, and public health.

Anna Pelevin, PhD
Anna Pelevin, PhD

Lead Hazard Researcher and Content Creator

Cristy Miles, MPH, MBA
Cristy Miles, MPH, MBA

Hazard Researcher and Content Creator

Shaquille Evans
Shaquille Evans

Hazard Researcher and Content Creator

Sarah Sutton
Sarah Sutton

Community Partners Team

Tiffani Hill
Tiffani Hill

Hazard Researcher and Content Creator (HRCC) and Community Liaison

Krystyna Ewing
Krystyna Ewing

Senior UI/UX Designer

Lindsay Lee
Lindsay Lee

Software Engineer - Frontend

Colter Garrison
Colter Garrison

Software Engineer

Kimberly Westbrook
Kimberly Westbrook

Executive Assistant

Paige Morford
Paige Morford

Marketing Consultant