Lucy is the UK’s leading authority on recovering from disasters. Lucy's book “When the Dust Settles" is a Sunday Times best seller and has been profiled in the New Yorker, The Guardian and by the BBC. She has been an advisor for nearly every major disaster of the past two decades, including the 2004 tsunami, 9/11, the Salisbury poisonings, Grenfell, the Covid-19 pandemic and most recently the war in Ukraine. She challenges others to think differently about what comes next after tragic events, and how to plan for future ones. Lucy has a degree in law, a PhD in medicine and a Masters in risk, crisis and disaster management. She is a Professor in Practice of Risk and Hazard at the University of Durham, a Fellow in Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath and a Research Associate at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University, New Zealand.

 Checkout  Lucy's article in The New Yorker and a review of her book "When the Dust Settles" in The Guardian.

Anne Leadbeater was awarded an Order of Australia OAM for services to the community following the 2019 bushfires, and is a fellow of the EMPA (Emergency Media and Public Affairs).

She was acknowledged for her community leadership in recovering from fires, in the aftermath of Black Saturday[2] and she is a national expert on leading recovery for communities who have experienced trauma, particularly from bushfire and are seeking different ways to move forward. She works with communities who are recovering from fire, drought, flood and cyclone in various states in Australia including Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia. In 2014, she led an international team working with the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal for New Zealand Red Cross.

Kristen has over 25 years of experience delivering measurable growth to small, medium, and large businesses across several sectors. Originally from Canada, Kristen held senior positions with several multinationals, successfully expanding operational footprints into the US. Upon moving to Aotearoa in 2011, Kristen embedded herself in the innovation and startup ecosystem. She launched the early-stage startup Wipster in the US and led New Zealand’s first Fintech Innovation Accelerator. As Innovation Director at KiwiWealth, Kristen successfully delivered several projects accelerating financial product improvements for better business and customer outcomes. As the co-founder and CEO of the investment platform Hatch, Kristen challenged the status quo by being the first to give Kiwis affordable access to world-class investments. Kristen is currently launching a new venture with her Hatch co-founder called Powrsuit. Powrsuit is a leadership platform that will democratise leadership development for women - ensuring improved women and minority representation in tomorrow’s C-suites and boards.

Benesia has held senior leadership roles as the Executive Director of Royal Commissions of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques, the New Zealand Earthquake Commission and the Abuse in Care Inquiry. She was the Deputy Chief Executive, Strategy and Recovery Policy at the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and has held senior leadership roles at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Ministry of Justice.

She is passionate about the different perspectives Māori women bring to boards/advisory committees. She has a deep knowledge of government and strong background in Strategic Thinking and Planning; Community Engagement, Natural Disaster Recovery Policy and Crisis and Issues Management. Benesia was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the state.

Dr. Kate Brady is a disaster recovery nerd with a 'thing' for knowledge translations. She believes that there is great evidence from research and lived experience that could be better shared to improve outcomes for people affected by disasters and others who are experiencing disruption and upheaval.

Kate has a PhD in Public Health with a focus on disaster recovery. She is the National Recovery Adviser for Australian Red Cross Emergency Services and is a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne Centre for Child and Community Wellbeing.

Rosalie is the Chief Executive of the Hillary Institute of International Leadership and  Edmund Hillary Fellowship. The Institute recognises, and nurtures great leaders who work on answers to such challenges as climate change, poverty, disease, peace and justice. The Fellowship (EHF) is a community of 500+ innovators, entrepreneurs and investors committed to New Zealand as a basecamp for global impact. Rosalie is a well respected champion of New Zealand's innovation sector. She has held previous executive and senior leadership roles in NZ and internationally in the technology and innovation sectors. Her most recent roles were as General Manager Strategy, Impact and Insights at Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand’s Innovation Agency, and Head of Market Strategy at Chorus NZ, a publicly listed fibre network provider.

CEO

B.A., M.DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Elizabeth will tell you, “My career has quite literally been a series of disasters” as she has worked on many disasters around the globe. Elizabeth has led multi-million-dollar recovery programs for New Zealand Red Cross and was the Executive Director at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet leading work to create a learning legacy from the Canterbury earthquakes. Internationally, Elizabeth has worked for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Asia-Pacific region. She is a Winston Churchill fellowship recipient, a Leadership New Zealand alumna, an Edmund Hillary Fellow and a co-author of Leading in Disaster Recovery: A Companion through the Chaos.

RESEARCH AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

B.A.(ANTHROPOLOGY), B.A.HONS(INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS)

Rochelle specializes in looking at the smaller details – her career has involved working as a researcher, policy advisor, editor and writer across a broad range of organizations and subject areas. She has worked in disaster recovery programing and community engagement/accountability roles in New Zealand, Kuala Lumpur and the Pacific. This included developing cash grants for earthquake-affected people following the Christchurch earthquakes.

OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

RN.BA.MBA

Eldred is the backstop of the team supporting a wide range of Disastrous activities. She has a depth of experience in health spanning four decades and four continents. She has worked in frontline and senior leadership positions with a passion for community health. Her areas of focus being children, older persons and palliative care - the very people who are at the sharp end of disruptive events.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

BPhty(Physiotherapy), MDT Cert.

Bart is health and climate innovator and brings business expertise, facilitation and design skills to disastrous. He has honed his expertise in the science of health, performance and behaviour change as a physiotherapist with professional sports people.

With a perpetual interest in innovation for health and environmental outcomes, Bart is an Edmund Hillary Fellow, created the world's healthiest desks and lead the development and delivery of 24 hour and 3 month climate innovation events and programs.

CREATIVE PRODUCER & COMMS LEAD

B.A., PUBLIC RELATIONS, ADVERTISING

Sarah Booher is an impact-driven communicator and creative at heart. Originally from the US, she started her career in advertising agencies from Seattle to NYC to Aotearoa New Zealand, before diving into entrepreneurship. In 2019 she founded Reusabowl, a reusable packaging option for takeaways, tackling single use waste. Along the way she continued to sharpen her creative skills—and now runs her own photography business.

She's joined the Disastrous team to support our communications and help build our brand across digital and more. Her mission is to create for impact-driven businesses, so that together we can create a better world—and we're so on board with that!

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