Instructor Biographies
- Dr. Mary Schoenfeldt - School Crisis Management and Family Reunification Systems
- Jonathon Monken - Power Outage Preparedness
- Jim Jaffe, J.D. - Financial Emergency Preparation and Recovery
- Donald Schmidt - Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
- Jim Williams - Enterprise Resilience: Preparing Businesses for the Worst
- Cheryl Nelson - Hurricane Preparedness
- Raynika Battle - Preparedness Ambassador
- Ronda Oberlin - Preparedness Ambassador
Mary has supported recovery efforts for some of the most tragic school violence incidents of all time, including the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012) and Columbine High School (1999). In 2014, she served as the Recovery Director for the Marysville, Washington School District in the wake of a school shooting that claimed the lives of five students. She is well-regarded as a preeminent expert in school safety and emergency management.
Mary travels the world helping organizations be better prepared for all types of emergencies. She has served as a keynote speaker at many conferences, and received numerous awards and recognitions, including induction into the Hall of Fame for the International Network of Women In Emergency Management.
Enroll in Mary's courses "School Crisis Management and "Family Reunification" here.
Jon has a distinguished career in the emergency management and homeland security field. He is currently the Senior Director for System Resiliency and Strategic Coordination for PJM Interconnection--a power company that serves nearly 60 million people. Most recently, he served as VP, U.S. Operations for the Electric Infrastructure Security (EIS) Council where he worked with government and industry to develop best practices and capabilities to improve the resilience of life support infrastructure systems to widespread, long-duration power outages.
Jon has also served as Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) from February of 2011 to January of 2015 and Acting Director of the Illinois State Police. While serving with the United States Army, Jon was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Army Commendation Medal with “V” Device for valor in combat.
Enroll in Jon's course "Power Outage Preparedness" here.
Jim is author of the book Disaster Dollars and has spent much of his career researching and teaching emergency management, finance, and environmental hazards. He has developed many college courses and served as a professor at two universities. Additionally, he has worked as environmental lawyer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and continues his work in private practice.
Enroll in Jim's course "Financial Emergency Preparation and Recovery" here.
Don has over 35 years of professional experience involving risk assessment, business continuity planning, emergency management and crisis management. He is co-developer of the Business Continuity and Emergency Management Auditor course for the Disaster Recovery Institute and previously served as Chair of the NPFA 1600 committee, which is the group that develops and maintains the U.S. standard for business continuity and emergency management. He is a college professor, holds numerous professional certifications, and has authored multiple books.
Enroll in Don's course "Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery" here.
Jim has over 20 years of experience in the business continuity and emergency management field has managed numerous incidents of all types and sizes. He has worked for the U.S. Air Force and Fortune 50 companies, including Sears, and Walgreens.
He currently works for an international law firm where he managed the process to conform to the international standard ISO 22301:2012 Societal Security - Business Continuity Management Systems.
Enroll in Jim's course "Enterprise Resilience" Preparing Businesses for the Worst" here.
Cheryl is an AMS certified meteorologist, TV host, and natural disaster expert. She teaches courses for FEMA's National Disaster Preparedness Training Center and is affiliated with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and is an ambassador for Weather-Ready Nation.
Cheryl hosted the TV special Get Ready America: The National Hurricane Survival Test which aired in fifty television markets in the United States. Her media tour on hurricane preparedness and importance of generators and preparedness kits aired on thirty television and radio stations nationwide. She has appeared on Fox and Friends, The Weather Channel, The AccuWeather Channel and CNBC.
Enroll in her course on "Hurricane Preparedness" here.
Raynika is the Executive Director for Do 1 Thing, a non-profit organization that aims to build more disaster resilient communities. Raynika holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University in Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy. She also holds a Master of Science degree from Capella University in Human Services & Non Profit Management.
Enroll in her course "Preparedness Ambassador" here.
Ronda is co-founder of Do 1 Thing and serves as a Hazard Mitigation Specialist for the City of Lansing, Michigan Office of Emergency Management. She is a Certified Floodplain Manager through the Association of State Floodplain Managers and a Certified Emergency Manager through the International Association of Emergency Managers, and holds a B.A. in Communications and M.S. in Emergency Management.
Enroll in her course "Preparedness Ambassador" here.
Note: Instructors are volunteers and their advice and guidance do not necessarily represent the opinions and advice of Safe and Ready.
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