Regardless of where you reside in North America , Hour-Zero™ will deploy the best suited experts to work on your project. Hour-Zero's team of experts come from diverse backgrounds representing a full spectrum of emergency management, education, communications and IT professionals. The team is composed of specialists from a multitude of fields including: police, fire, municipal emergency management, emergency medical response, crisis communications, business continuity, school administration, teacher training, and management information systems. Many of these individuals have first hand experience in dealing with school emergencies, ranging from hazardous material spills to life-threatening allergic reactions to school shootings.

The firm is a recognized leader in school emergency preparedness. Hour-Zero sets high standards and expects its team to continually raise the bar on school emergency preparedness. To that end, many Hour-Zero team members have received recognition for achievements and initiatives, with most members continuing to provide assistance to emergency response agencies and schools either as volunteers or in professional capacities.

Hour-Zero is committed to providing each and every school with the dedicated service it requires and deserves. Hour-Zero is able to offer this commitment to clients because the firm dedicates 100% of its efforts to school emergency preparedness.

Senior Client Service Team

Donna Gingera

Donna Gingera, who serves as chief executive officer of Hour-Zero™, is the company's founder and one of its principal planners.

During the past twenty-five years Donna has held senior positions with school districts, universities, provincial and municipal governments, and private industry. Long before the Columbine tragedies Donna was dealing first-hand with major crises in schools.

Donna has received national and international awards for her work and is a recognized expert in the fields of crisis response planning and emergency management for schools and crisis communications. She has presented to hundreds of educators and administrators on these topics and is frequently asked to speak at conferences and workshops. Donna’s approach to emergency response for schools has been called the "benchmark for North America" .

Donna lives by the philosophy that education is the greatest gift we give the next generation. To that end she continually commits herself to projects that enhance the quality of education. Donna is a graduate of the University of Manitoba .

Member: International Association of Emergency Managers

Member: International Critical Incident Stress Foundation

Member: NFPA (National Fire Protection Association)

Aaron Masson is one of Hour-Zero’s most experienced school emergency planners, having trained hundreds of teachers and administrators in the implementation of their emergency preparedness programs. He is also responsible for coordinating audits and risk assessments for Hour-Zero clients. Aaron is ICS and NIMS trained, a certified business continuity planner and DRP specialist.

In addition to his emergency management background, Aaron brings several years experience in IT operations and security. He has completed ITIL training, is the lead resource on Hour-Zero’s web application initiative and supervises the web-development team.

Aaron’s commitment to schools is long standing. As a volunteer, Aaron was instrumental in the creation of a school initiative under the umbrella of InfoCity – SIM Edmonton. The innovative project developed a web-based program that challenged middle year students to build and sustain a smart city while balancing quality of life indicators such as education, health, economic prosperity, environment, social services, and leisure. The project linked directly to the learner outcomes as prescribed by government. Aaron is a graduate of the University of Alberta.

Darren Eastcott

Inspector Darren Eastcott, a 29-year veteran of the Edmonton Police Service, is one of the principal trainers at Hour-Zero™.  Darren previously headed up the department’s School Resource Officer Unit, Youth Services Section, during which time he founded the Alberta Association of School Resource Officers, and subsequently served as the president of the organization. He is a member of the Alberta ’s Safe and Caring Schools Advisory Committee and a former member of the Edmonton Police Services Emergency Disaster Team.

Darren is a highly sought after trainer and speaks with school districts, groups and agencies throughout North America .

Darren has extensive experience and training in the area of School Crisis Management, Major Events Security, Rapid Deployment and the management of Crises Occurrences.

Inspector Eastcott was instrumental in the development of the Zebra Child Protection Centre with Edmonton Police Services, where he managed a team of 40 professionals’ in the area of Child Maltreatment investigations. He is a past recipient of the Alberta Solicitor General's Crime Prevention Award – Police Recipient.

Lisa Degenstein

Lisa is a senior trainer and planner with Hour-Zero. Lisa combines her backgrounds in policing and teaching to offer clients a practical and realistic approach to emergency management. Lisa was a member of the Calgary Police Services for 10 years, where she was assigned SRO duties for three high schools. During her time on the force, she also served as the Youth Education Intervention Officer for a number of elementary and junior high schools. She has extensive experience and training in the area of school crisis management and, rapid deployment and crises occurrences management

Following her career as a police officer, Lisa was employed with a school district for six years working with high risk students in the area of high school curriculum.

Lisa holds specialized certificates in ICS, crime prevention through environmental design (CEPTED), critical response, planning and protocols, and counselling.

Doug Bryson

Doug's training is coupled with years of practical school experience in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, where he implemented and supervised the county-wide school resource officer (SRO) program, along with the Crime Prevention Unit. He developed the SRO program, which began with seven officers and matured into one of the top programs in South Carolina with twenty-six officers assigned to all seven public school districts as well as the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind. In this capacity he served as primary liaison between school administrators, the Sheriff and County Administration. He was responsible for developing and delivery school-safety to officers and district personnel and school boards; performing school safety assessments; and conducting workplace violence.

Joanne Sheardown

Joanne Sheardown is the Emergency Operations Centre Manager for the City of Edmonton Office of Emergency Preparedness. Joanne was formerly the Coordinator for the Emergency Planning and Preparedness Program at fire etc – the fire emergency training centre of Lakeland College , where she taught incident command system, emergency operations centre, basic emergency management and disaster social services courses. Joanne is a certified emergency manager (CEM) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and has extensive operational and teaching experience in disaster management in the healthcare, police and fire disciplines. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Alberta Disaster Forum Association from 2002 to 2005.

Joanne has been a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross for four years. Her operational experience with the Red Cross includes acting as the Relief and Recovery Manager during the Erlton and Century Garden fires in Calgary, being Director of the Staffing Bureau in Kamloops during the 2003 fire season in British Columbia and most recently spending three weeks in Florida as a Staffing Specialist assisting with hurricane relief after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.

In May 2003, Joanne was awarded a National Citation for her work in promoting and teaching Personal Disaster Preparedness with the Canadian Red Cross.

Ian Fox

Ian Fox is a trainer and program advisor with Hour-Zero. Over the past two decades, Ian has held positions such as Fire Chief, Director of Disaster Services, and Director of Protective Services. He has been responsible for the management of three area fire departments, the organization of regional disaster programs and administration of emergency response services.

Ian is a certificated trainer in providing NFPA certification training and is the President of the Alberta Association of Fire Service Instructors. In addition to his NFPA certifications, Ian is a certified EMR (emergency medical responder). Ian has extensive experience in large-scale exercise design, implementation and evaluation.