Team

ReadyZone HQ is made up of highly skilled individuals who bring a wealth of hands-on experience and knowledge from Disaster Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness Planning, and other related disciplines. A dedicated team consisting of the personnel best suited for your project will take you from concept to completion, using best practices and know-how gleaned from decades of experience.

Don’t wait until the next disaster hits – leverage ReadyZoneHQ to help you with Emergency Preparedness Management and build resiliency into your organization or community.

Jon Shear, CEO

Jon holds an MBA in International Business from The Johns Hopkins University, and a BA (cum laude) in Political Science/International Relations from Boston University.

Jon has extensive field experience with the emergency responder, business continuity, disaster preparedness, pandemic response, and military markets, and leading projects and business development efforts in North America, Europe, and Asia. 

He has developed comprehensive programs to improve preparedness for both military and civilian organizations which includes supporting the National Preparedness Task Force at the Department of Homeland Security. 

He is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), a graduate of the DHS National Planner’s course, HSEEP Certified, Incident Command System (ICS) Train-the-Trainer certified, Continuity of Operations (COOP) Train-the-Trainer certified, Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) Technician certified, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) certified with 25⁺ years of emergency management/planning experience. 

He has designed and conducted over 400 exercises, workshops, and training events throughout the U.S. and in numerous countries and has responded to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. He also has extensive experience with pandemic planning to include leading the development of the DHS and DOT pandemic plans, and support to numerous COVID-19 planning, training, and exercise efforts such as operational assessments of organizational response, food access planning, and emergency response team training.

Ken Fisher, Vice President, Operations

Ken holds an MA from Webster University, a BS from Fayetteville State University and is a certified project management professional (PMP, SCRUM, Lean-Six), a graduate of the DHS National Planner’s course, is Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) certified, and a certified Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP). 

He has over 25 years of preparedness, emergency management, planning, and project/program management experience with a focus on incident management planning and preparedness, training/exercise design; process analysis; staff operations; policy development; contingency planning; pandemic planning; emergency power prioritization planning; operational assessments; hurricane and tsunami planning; and web-based remote collaborative systems. 

He has served as an evaluator for National level exercises and has supported planning and exercise efforts for several State and local government agencies, as well as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Department of Defense (DOD).

Hannah Ritz, Associate

Hannah holds an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University, where she concentrated on U.S. National Security and Terrorism. Hannah earned her BA in Political Science and International Studies from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. As a graduate student, she participated in various tabletop exercises and focused her thesis on the response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Following her second semester, Georgetown University awarded Hannah grant funding to conduct independent research on counterterrorism measures and legislation in the United Kingdom and France.

Hannah started her career in Washington, D.C. as an analyst who supported the design, scenario development, and execution of seminars, workshops, and functional exercises throughout the U.S. After relocating to Pensacola, FL, Hannah earned her International Diploma in English Language Teaching (IDELT) from Bridge and her certificate in grant writing from the University of Central Florida. For nearly two years, she served as the Manager of Administration for a nonprofit, where she focused on strategic planning, partnership building, and successfully applying for grants.

Leah Kahn, Senior Consultant

Leah holds an MS in Disaster Resilience Leadership from Tulane University (New Orleans, LA) and a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) credential from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). Most recently, Leah has supported state-level pandemic response planning efforts to combat COVID-19. She has written, updated, and maintained a wide variety of emergency preparedness planning projects, including but not limited to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs), Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessments (THIRAs), Hazard Mitigation Plans (HMPs), and specialty projects such as emergency preparedness surveys and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) studies. 

Leah has worked in emergency management and disaster preparedness for the past decade as a Senior Consultant, as an Emergency Management Specialist for the U.S. Navy, and in risk management for an Institution for Higher Education. 

She has managed training programs, as well as developed and given training. She has participated in the development, execution, and assessment of multiple full-scale exercises and numerous functional and tabletop exercises. She has served as the Project Manager for projects across the country. Leah’s breadth and depth of experience ensures RZHQ clients receive the highest levels of professionalism and exemplary project results.

Leah has volunteered with and provided leadership for many non-profits, including Direct Relief, Team in Training, Evacuteer.org, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Junior Leagues of Corpus Christi and Norfolk-Virginia Beach. She has also volunteered with the American Red Cross, which included deploying to respond to Hurricane Isaac in 2012 and support to wildfire response efforts in Southern California.

Michael Covert, Senior Consultant

Michael holds an MBA with a concentration in Emergency Management from the University of Denver, and a BA in Musical Theatre from the University of Northern Colorado. Michael completed a year-long internship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu District in April of 2022, where he supported planning efforts, response operations, and a full-scale hurricane exercise at the Port of Honolulu. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Michael provided operational guidance for the pandemic response team in New York City. He was also deployed to the Texas COVID-19 response, where he supported the State’s Operations and Planning Sections and gained a deeper passion for emergency management and disaster preparedness. Michael has extensive project management experience, particularly in the event industry, where he oversaw interactive marketing activations for some of the nation’s top brands.

Gillian Terlecky, Senior Consultant

Gillian holds an MPH from the University of Pennsylvania, where her primary areas of focus consisted of qualitative research and programmatic evaluation, and a BS in Public Health from Drexel University. 

She held multiple research assistant roles while pursuing her graduate degree, including one through the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for Injury Prevention in which she recruited and screened eligible participants and conducted study visits for the Tension Harness Car Seat Safety study.

After relocating to Hawaiʻi, she worked as a CDC public health advisor at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi Department of Health and Quarantine Stations to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by passengers entering the state of Hawaiʻi.

Macy Holloway, Senior Consultant

Macy holds an MA in International Development with concentrations in Renewable Energy & Disaster Management from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and a BA in Writing and Linguistics from Georgia Southern University. As a graduate student, she worked as a researcher for the Gender Equality in Public Administration Working Group, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, to collect, visualize, and analyze data on women’s participation in and leadership of public administration to reveal gender gaps by sector and level within conflict-affected countries. She also worked with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross to assist with the development and maintenance of their local disaster shelter simulations, plans, inventory, and contracts.

Laura Pappas, Senior Consultant

Laura earned her Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University in 2020. As a graduate student she worked as a Quality Improvement Study Assistant. She earned her B.S. in Public Health at Georgia College and State University in 2018; during which, she worked as an Environmental Health Intern at the Putnam County Health Department. She also volunteered with the Georgia War Veterans Home conducting depression and mental status screening. Laura is continuing her education at the University of South Florida by pursuing a Certificate in Concepts and Tools of Epidemiology. Early in the pandemic response efforts, she assisted Project Vision Hawai’i with providing sanitation services through mobile shower events and COVID-19 testing at the homeless shelters and encampments, long-term care facilities, and door-to-door testing in densely populated neighborhoods. Laura also volunteers with the Hawaiʻi Medical Reserve Corps, where she has assisted with drive-through testing events.

Laura Becker, Consultant

Laura holds an MA in Sociology, with a focus on digital sexual violence against women in South Korea, from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and her BA in Sociology from Wheaton College. While teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Gwangju, South Korea, she researched and wrote for a local English newspaper and volunteered at the Gwangju International Center. Before beginning graduate studies, Laura served through AmeriCorps as a coordinator at Lakeview Pantry, the largest food pantry in Chicago, managing inventory and volunteers. Laura also completed the University of Hawai’i-Hawai’i Department of Health COVID-19 Community Contact Tracing Training program and worked with the Hawaiʻi Department of Health as a Contact Tracer to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on O’ahu.

Megan Russell, Consultant

Megan holds her Master of Urban and Regional Planning with concentrations in energy policy and flood hazard mitigation strategies for historic buildings from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa and a BA in Political Science with areas of concentration in emergency management, international development, and quantitative research methods from Brigham Young University-Hawaiʻi (BYUH). While at the University of Hawaiʻi, she held positions with the Hawaiʻi Energy Policy Forum, specializing in stakeholder engagement and outreach; and the UH Community Design Center, working with emergency management specialists to develop a hazard mitigation plan for the Jean Charlot House. During her time at BYUH she participated in and assisted with Community Emergency Response Team training drills and led various research projects regarding self-sufficiency in the Asia-Pacific and Africa.

Micaela Uriegas, Consultant

Micaela holds an MPH and a BS in Public Health from Arcadia University. As a graduate student she was an intern for the Montgomery County Department of Health with the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Department, where she assisted the pandemic team with the demobilization of vaccination sites and database management, volunteered with the County’s Medical Reserve Corps, and analyzed vaccine intake data. As an undergraduate, Micaela spent time abroad and served as a research assistant at Gold Coast University Hospital, where she assisted with managing key stakeholders, creating databases, and analyzing data. She currently resides in a suburb of Philadelphia.

Amina Khan, Consultant

Amina holds a B.S. in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst with a minor in Business. As an undergraduate student, she was involved in pandemic response planning with the UMass Contact Tracing Team as a Team Lead. She managed a group of 10 undergraduate students to both prepare the Amherst community against COVID-19 outbreaks as well as prevent further outbreaks. She also assisted Amherst College’s contact tracing efforts to ensure that the outbreaks within the Amherst college staff were managed quickly and efficiently to control the spread on the college campus.

Jenna Siehien, Consultant

Jenna holds an MPH degree in epidemiology from George Washington University and a BS in Health Sciences from James Madison University. While completing her graduate studies, she interned at Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, where she worked on a qualitative research study focused on the evaluation of a pediatric Tuberculosis program based in Cameroon and Kenya for Unitaid, Center for Global Development. She has completed various quantitative research studies that have focused on maternal health, birth outcomes and behavioral health as well. Jenna is also a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and has received various certificates through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Management Institute. During her time as an EMT, she focused on basic life support, emergency preparedness planning, Incident Command Systems (ICS), and emergency management.

Michael Wong Loi Sing, Creative Director

Michael has over 20 years of experience in art, creative direction, and graphic design. He has worked with a wide range of clients from small businesses to large corporations, providing great design solutions, brand design services, and creative – art direction for various projects locally and internationally.

Are you ready for the next disaster?