Elizabeth A. Dunn
MPH, CPH, Instructor, University of South Florida (USF)

Elizabeth A. Dunn, MPH, CPH is an Instructor at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health (COPH) where she has been teaching courses in the Global Disaster Management, Humanitarian Relief, and Homeland Security (GHH) program since joining the college in 2012. Her goal is to identify community engagement, research, and multidisciplinary collaboration strategies between academia and practice. Dunn’s work focuses on examining and evaluating disaster management systems, community-based interventions, and identifying mitigation measures for hurricane-related hazards (sea level rise, storm surge, flooding) for at-risk neighborhoods. The focus of her current research involves hurricane-pandemic evacuation decisions and sheltering, support measures for the emergency management workforce, and mitigating agri-food supply chain disruptions and food insecurity. Dunn serves as the Co-lead of the Evacuation and Sheltering of Vulnerable Populations in a Hurricane-Pandemic through the Natural Hazards Center CONVERGE COVID-19 Working Group, Track Lead for the Public Health Track for the National Homeland Security Conference (NHSC), and Chair for the Hillsborough County Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Working Group.

Suzannah Jones
Deputy Chief, Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM)

Suzannah Jones is a Deputy Chief with the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). Jones oversees recovery and mitigation and has been with TDEM since 2011.

While with TDEM, Jones actively has been involved in the state’s response to 15 presidentially declared disasters, including Hurricane Harvey, one of the most catastrophic storms to hit Texas. Jones came to TDEM from the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), where she worked in two different divisions: the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center and Disaster Preparedness and Response/Texas Task Force 1.

Before her tenure at TEEX, Jones worked for the U.S. Department of State as a member of the Foreign Service, serving at several U.S. embassies.

Jones obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology/sociology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and a master’s in business administration from Schiller International University in London.

Dr. Michel Leonard
CBE, Vice President and Senior Economist, Insurance Information Institute

Dr. Leonard is an economist and data scientist with 20 years of experience in insurance and finance. His expertise is translating between technology and business to deliver applied risk and investment solutions. He joined the Insurance Information Institute as Vice President & Senior Economist in December 2018.

Dr. Léonard started his career with Richard Medley, George Soros’ former macro head strategist. He was Senior Vice President & Chief Economist at Aon and Jardine Lloyd Thompson, and Chief Economist & Chief Data Scientist at Alliant, the insurance broker owned by Blackstone and KKR, where he worked with both parents and their portfolio companies. He then joined MaKro LLC, a private equity-funded Fintech and Insurtech risk advisor as Partner & Chief Data Scientist. Throughout his career, Dr. Léonard has worked closely with underwriters, brokers, and the C-Suite to develop transaction and company specific risk analytics that combine economics and machine learning to better align insurance coverage with risk exposures, enable coverage placement, and unleash growth.

A thought leader in applied risk quantification, he is a frequent media commentator, speaker at industry events, and has published widely. He was a Civil-Military Fellow at West Point and advised U.S. government agencies on risk quantification. He is Adjunct Faculty in NYU’s Economics Department and in Columbia University’s Department of Statistics and Data Science Institute, where he focuses on Applied Economics, Fintech, and Insurtech.