Meet the team
Our team at ResOrgs are highly qualified, experienced, and motivated. We apply innovative and creative approaches to resilience problems. We work closely with our clients to deliver robust and relevant tools, results, and strategic advice.
We also work closely with an extensive network of partners to bring together the best team for your particular challenge.
Charlotte Brown
BE, PhD in Disaster Management
Director
Charlotte enjoys working with organisations managing risk and uncertainty, specialising in risk management, decision-making, and organisational resilience. Having started her career as a civil engineer Charlotte now works at the interface of physical and social science. She has a particular strength in translating technical information into practical advice and frameworks for organisations.
Charlotte regularly works with critical infrastructure/lifeline utilities and is an active member of the Canterbury Lifelines Group. Charlotte gained considerable experience participating in and researching the aftermath of the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes and has extensive networks in the natural hazards research and practice community, including a leadership role in QuakeCORE.
Tracy Hatton
BA, MBA (Dist,), PhD in Disaster Recovery
Director
Tracy carries out a broad range of risk and resilience projects, including crisis preparedness plans and exercises, business continuity programme design, emergency management training and development, capability assessments, and crisis event reviews, along with research into a broad range of risk and resilience issues. She has published a range of articles on resilience topics both in academic publications and as short user guides. Tracy has also taught Organisational Resilience at the University of Canterbury Executive Development Programme and is a member of the Response and Recovery Leadership Development Programme (RRANZ).
Joanne Stevenson
BSc (Hons), MSc (Hons), PhD in Organisational Resilience
Principal Consultant
Over the past decade, Joanne has accumulated post-disaster research and consulting experience in several countries, examining recovery and resilience of communities, economies, and organisations. She enjoys grappling with complex systems and developing practical solutions to work with these, using her background in geospatial assessment and network analysis. Jo farms in partnership with her family on a commercial sheep and beef property where the risks and opportunities of running a business in a dynamic environment are lived every day.
Cameron Eade
BA, LLB, LLM (Dist)
Senior risk and resilience Consultant
Cameron collaborates with various private and public organisations to achieve tangible resilience outcomes. He has expertise in business continuity, emergency management, and decision-making, as well as research expertise in multiple areas of risk and resilience. Cameron holds an LLM (First Class Honours), complemented by a background in social science, legal research, and disaster law.
Cameron has worked with businesses in the hospitality and airport sectors to develop and mature business continuity plans, guided investment decision-making for local government and educational institutions, and conducted crisis and emergency response reviews for councils.
Cara Ross-Donald
BA, MDRR
risk and resilience Consultant
Cara works with organisations to translate research into practice across natural hazards, risk management and resilience. Her expertise spans business continuity planning, organisational resilience, and strategic communication. She translates complex research for policy and practice audiences, conducts stakeholder engagement, and develops tools that improve decision-making across the risk management spectrum. Her work with local government, primary sector organisations, community groups and NGOs has developed her skills in systems thinking, communication strategy, and bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and practical application.
Cara holds a Master's degree in Disaster Risk and Resilience with distinction, with additional qualifications in Media and Communications and Political Science and International Relations. Her research focused on disaster communication ethics and media content analysis, examining how messaging shapes institutional trust and community vulnerability.
Cara brings particular strength in understanding organisational interdependencies, developing user-centred approaches, and facilitating stakeholder dialogue across diverse sectors.
Lydia Michela
BSc, MDRR, PhD in Tourism and Resilience
Risk and Resilience Consultant
Lydia works with government, private sector and community organisations to build practical risk and resilience solutions. Her work bridges research and practice, spanning post-disaster insurance recovery, emergency response leadership, organisational resilience frameworks, and emergency preparedness for community groups. She brings cross-cultural communication skills and experience delivering context-appropriate solutions across diverse sectors.
Lydia's approach combines practical experience as a small business owner with research expertise in disaster risk and resilience. Her PhD created frameworks for understanding and building resilience in tourists visiting New Zealand. Lydia holds a Master of Disaster Risk and Resilience with distinction from the University of Canterbury and is a graduate of the Response and Recovery NZ (RRANZ) Leadership course.
Louise Home-Dewar
BA, Grad.Dip.InfoDesign
Office Manager
Louise is our energetic office manager. Louise has over 20 years’ experience in administration, graphic design, and web management. Louise’s skills are invaluable in the development of engaging and effective communication resources for our clients and other end-users. Louise also keeps our office and team running smoothly.
Lucy Gawn
BA
Administrator
Lucy assists the team in multiple ways. Her key area of responsibility is management of the Response and Recovery Aotearoa New Zealand (RRANZ) Leadership Development Programme. With a background in administration within the Canterbury engineering sector and a degree in History and English, Lucy brings a wealth of experience to our team.
Ann Brown
BA, MA, PhD
Administrator
Ann has joined us for a year to coordinate the Response and Recovery Aotearoa New Zealand (RRANZ) Leadership Development Programme. With a background in design research, she brings a strong mix of skills spanning co-design, insight generation, and systems thinking. Ann holds a Master's in Design for Sustainable Development and a PhD in Non-Profit Management from the University of Canterbury, completed with the support of ResOrgs.
Emma Scott
BCom
Administrator (currently on parental leave)
Emma manages the RRANZ Leadership training programme. With a background in project management and workplace training, Emma ensures the smooth running of the RRANZ training courses.
Key people we work with
Erica Seville
BE, PhD in Risk Management
Resilient Organisations Founder
Erica is an internationally renowned expert with over 16 years’ experience in risk management, organisational resilience; disaster recovery; infrastructure resilience; crisis management; business disruption, and post-disaster reconstruction. She leads and mentors a passionate and enthusiastic team of researchers and consultants and has published over 100 articles about resilience.
John Vargo
BBA, MBA, PhD in Information Systems
Resilient Organisations Founder
John is an internationally renowned speaker on organisational resilience and disaster recovery, with over 15 years’ research, consulting, coaching, and mentoring experience in these specialist fields. As lead on some significant New Zealand government-funded research programmes, John has extensive experience in ensuring high-quality research is translated into practical outcomes for project stakeholders.
David Parsons
BEd, BSoSc, MEmMgmt
David Parsons brings a unique set of knowledge and skills in the areas of business continuity management, crisis management and organisational resilience. David has a special interest in incorporating the latest findings in neuroscience into effective crisis leadership capability. David brings extensive experience in all facets of developing and implementing planning, training, simulations and lessons learned programs in corporations and government entities across multiple countries. David managed Sydney Water's organisational resilience programme, including crisis management, business continuity, emergency management and critical infrastructure resilience. He also served for fourteen years on the Australian Government's Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council.