Charles Wright Founder EMS Global

It started with a phone call from a client in 1989. Then calls came from Japan, New York, Thailand, Europe, and then New Orleans. In between the calls came research, consulting, education, planning, conferences, and associations. The result…Emergency Management Solutions around the Globe, EMS Global was born.

An industry innovator, Charles “CW” Wright is the Founder of EMS Global, Emergency Disaster Systems and the Originator of the EDS System for disaster preparation. He has received multiple awards and recognitions from local, state, and federal authorities including Los Angeles County for his seventeen years of distinguished service to the emergency management industry and his broad-reaching contributions to disaster preparedness standards. He has worked side by side with industry leaders, developing products and preparedness plans for companies like Toyota and Kaiser Permanente and has provided supply and expertise to the cities of Palm Springs and Cathedral City.

Today, CW continues to take an active role in educating the private sector and increasing disaster-awareness across the country. He remains committed to the vision he has brought to EDS: Mitigation, Preparation, and Education.

Steve Slepcevic founded Paramount Disaster Recovery Inc. in 1989 and serves as its president and chief executive officer. Through his diligence in serving the clients of Paramount, Mr. Slepcevic has guided Paramount to become the recognized leader in nationwide disaster emergency response, construction consulting, and complete reconstruction. Mr. Slepcevic has completed projects for major hotels and restaurants, hospitals, office buildings and commercial developments, apartment buildings and community associations, and residential property owners in the United States and internationally.

Steve Slepcevic founded Virtual Evacuation, LLC to address a vitally important but often underdeveloped aspect of disaster preparedness evacuation planning and training. Today, evacuation planning and emergency management has become a sophisticated field in the science of civil engineering with the goal of saving lives through safer facility design and optimized rescue training operations. Leading experts in the fire industry, emergency management systems, engineering, and architectural design were immediately attracted to the concept of Virtual Evacuation and have unselfishly provided their knowledge and insight to make Virtual Evacuation a cutting-edge company that is unique in its approach to disaster preparedness.

Mr. Slepcevic has lectured extensively throughout the United States to property owners, building managers, risk managers, community associations and real estate professionals in the areas of disaster preparedness and response. Mr. Slepcevic has been an invited guest speaker at many industry forums and trade associations where his insightful presentations have proved to be interesting and educational.

Accomplished in his field, Mr. Slepcevic’s articles have appeared in such leading industry publications as Architectural West, RSI, Roofing Contractor, Remodeling Contractor, Caribbean Business Journal, Daily Breeze, Disaster Resource, Industrial News Journal, IFL Reports, and SBI, among others. He was featured prominently as an expert in the Ed McMahon mold litigation and has consulted and/or testified as an expert in litigation matters. Paramount and Mr. Slepcevic maintain professional affiliations with ALIS, RIMS, CAI, BOMA, IREM, NAA, NRA, NRCA, IAEM and many others.

Mr. Slepcevic attended El Camino College where he studied architectural and structural design. He holds a license as a general contractor.

Brian D. Katz is a partner of Herman, Herman, Katz & Cotlar, L.L.P. Mr. Katz attended the University of Alabama, where he was the President of the College of Communication (1990-1991) and Zeta Beta Tau fraternity (1989-1991), as well as a member of the Blue Key Honor Society and the Order of Omega. After receiving his B.A. from the University of Alabama, Mr. Katz attended Tulane University School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate in January of 1996. While at Tulane, Mr. Katz clerked for the Orleans Parish Juvenile Indigent Defender's Office and at HHK&C. Immediately upon graduation, he joined his father, Morton H. Katz, in the family practice. Developing a broad civil practice, Mr. Katz has handled plaintiff cases including, personal injury, construction, highway and premises liability, products liability, and attorney fee disputes. He has also defended commercial litigation, products liability, construction and civil RICO matters, and has experience litigating matters throughout the state and federal courts in the State of Louisiana. Mr. Katz has also spoken at and moderated continuing legal education programs presented by the Louisiana Association for Justice. Mr. Katz has memberships in the Federal Bar Association, the Louisiana Bar Association, the American Association for Justice (where he has been named an "Advocate" in litigation), the Louisiana Association for Justice (where he is presently a member of the Auto Torts Section), and serves as a Fellow for the Litigation Counsel of America. Mr. Katz has served on the President's Advisory Board of the Louisiana Association for Justice. Mr. Katz is also heavily involved in civic work including serving on the boards of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Young Audiences/Arts for Learning, Jewish Community Center and the Anti-Defamation League.

Having intercepted over 250 tornadoes and a dozen powerful hurricanes during the last decade, Reed Timmer is well-known as the most successful and extreme storm chaser in the world. Not only is Reed one of the few people in existence to document both an F5 tornado, and the most devastating hurricane in U.S. history (Hurricane Katrina), but also graduated with a PhD in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Reed’s “hands-on” experience with a vast assortment of hazardous weather and natural disasters, as well as his extensive education in the science of meteorology, have made him one of the world’s most respected experts on severe weather forecasting, safety, and survival. Reed is a strong advocate for extreme weather and disaster education, and conducts storm spotter seminars for the National Weather Service, emergency managers, and the general public. Growing up in the ever-changing climate of West Michigan, Reed’s passion for extreme weather has dominated his life for as long as he can remember. His illustrious storm chasing career began at the age of 12, when he destroyed the family video camera in his front yard while being pelted by quarter-size hail in a severe thunderstorm. At the age of 18, Reed decided to pursue his ultimate dream, and enrolled at the University of Oklahoma to study meteorology and chase storms in Tornado Alley. As a star on Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers in 2008, Reed became the first person in history to capture High Definition video inside a tornado. The eight episode series had a record 19 million viewers during the 2008 season, and was one of the highest rated shows on Discovery Channel. You may have also seen Reed on Discovery Channel’s When Nature Strikes in fall of 2008, which featured his intercept of Hurricane Ike on Galveston Island as a deadly 15 foot storm surge threatened their position on the sea wall. Reed has also appeared on all major news networks, including Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer, CNN with Wolf Blitzer, CBS, NBC, and The Weather Channel. 

Reed is CEO of Weather Fusion, LLC and Extreme Tornado Tours, LLC, offering forensic meteorology and consulting services, extreme weather media, and storm chasing tours. His tornado, hurricane, and blizzard footage has been licensed to over 100 production companies and television networks since 1997, and has been seen by 100s of millions of people worldwide on television, internet, and mobile video devices.