Co-founder, President, Exec Chair of the Board
Lisa is a serial entrepreneur with a proven track record of disrupting out-of-touch industries. In less than a decade she built and scaled the first iPad-based cash register, Revel Systems to over 700 global employees and tens of thousands of installations spanning five continents. She brought on flagship customers like Royal Dutch Shell, Qantas Airlines, Cinnabon, and Estee Lauder, and led partnerships with Intuit, IBM, and Apple.
Lisa has raised over 200 million dollars from top-tier venture capitalists and private equity firms, and has received numerous government grants based on her track record of high-growth leadership. When Lisa started a family, she knew that she had to do something to address the growing problem of school shootings. She founded Athena so that her daughter could grow up in a safer world.
Awards:
2017: Named by Business Insider as a founder of one the “The 21 Hottest Women-Founded Startups to Watch in 2017”.
2016: Part of Tech Crunch’s list of “40 Female Founders Who Crushed it in 2016”.
2015: Falzone was recognized by Fortune Magazine as no. 19 on the 40 Under 40 list as well as the Forbes list of Eight Rising Stars.
2015: Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women, on the Business Journal Upstart 100 list, Recognized by Fortune Magazine’s list of “40 Under 40,” Honored by Forbes magazine as one of the “Women to Watch – Eight Rising Stars.”
2012 & 2013: Named by Forbes magazine in their “30 Under 30” awards.
Co-founder and CTO
Chris is a serial entrepreneur and security expert with over 20 years of experience using technology to detect and prevent threats. He has dedicated his career to building proactive solutions to security threats. He is an anti-hacking expert who pioneered network security solutions during the dot-com boom and mobile payment security during the rise of mobile computing. Chris is an award-winning innovator, published author, and member of the Forbes Technology Council. But above all he is an inventor dedicated to making the world a better place. Chris Co-Founded Revel systems, and from 2010-2017 he acted as the CTO. Chris developed the technology behind the company’s point-of-sale system and left the company soon after it hit a 500 million dollar evaluation. Chris designed Athena to create a safer world – one where real threats are quickly identified and neutralized, and one in which the innocent wouldn’t be profiled as a threat without just cause. Christopher is also a certified Thermographer, the study of infrared devices and how they work and should be operated.
Honors:
Risk Management Award Winner 2019
ISC West for Athena Threat Detection and Safety Platform
Member of the Forbes Technology Council, an “invitation-only organization for world-class professionals who influence industries throughout the world”.
Member of the International Frozen Yogurt Association
Writer for publications in the technology and marketing industries, including Payments Source, Tech Crunch, and Forbes.
Member of Pyrotechnic Artists of Texas, Ciabarra is a Texas state-licensed firework pyrotechnic.
CEO of Athena
Michael Green joined the company as President in April 2019. He is now the CEO of Athena Security. He spent the last three years managing a team that built Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer Compliance applications for the financial services industry, to keep money out of bad people’s hands. Prior, he ran and sold a specialty distribution business. 40 Under 40 Cincinnati Business Courier.
Director of Operations
Erica Barbanel joined Athena in May 2020. She’s previously worked at StyleSeat, Third Love, and Revel Systems, where she worked closely with Chris and Lisa for nearly four years and then moved to their next adventure here at Athena. She is a board member at Debate Spaces and volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. Erica came to work for Athena because “I wanted to be a part of a mission-driven company that was doing good in the world.”
Head of Business Development
Todd Owens is the Security Advisor and Head of Business Development for Athena Security in Canada. Todd joined Athena after a 30-year career as a police officer on the York Regional Police Force. His policing career included extensive experience as both an Undercover Operative and Lead Investigator in Major Crime cases involving drugs, guns, robbery, and homicide. Using sophisticated leading-edge technology and investigative techniques, Todd led teams in suspect surveillance and evidence gathering. Todd joined Athena Security after learning about its computer vision Gun Detection technology. Todd’s extensive knowledge of how this system works, and how it can mitigate the risk of crimes, dovetails well with his previous policing experience, and his vision of making the world a better and safer place.
Director - Healthcare Southeast
John Birket has been an Operational Leader in Healthcare for the better part of two decades. During his career, he has built upon his experience with physical security, technology and operations in the Healthcare environment.
He is a Certified Healthcare Protection Administrator (CHPA) from the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) and holds his Master of Business Administration (MBA). He is also a Certified Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Practitioner (CPD).
Director of Education
After spending ten years in the US Army, Jack Shepard joined ID.me, helping government and commercial organizations implement digital identity verification SaaS products. Until recently, Jack was the Director of Business Development at STRAC Institute, helping transitioning servicemembers enter the workforce as electronics technicians with organizations like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and SpaceX. Jack now manages sales in the Western region for Athena Security, providing Weapons Detections Systems to schools, hospitals, and places of worship. Jack lives in Lyons, CO, with his two children and partner, Natalie.
Director of Onboarding
Chris Knecht has over 10 years in the software as a service space and loves helping people set up systems and training them on the software. He is customer-centric and prides himself on delivering top-notch customer service. Chris joined Athena because he likes software platforms that have a true mission of helping people.
Lidar Expert
Dr. Christy Fernandez-Cull is the CEO and founder of DaVinci Wearables. Previously she led the sensing and perception system’s teams at Waymo – formerly Google Self-Driving. She was also the Head of Sensors at Lyft Level 5 Self-Driving Division, leading sensor architecture for Lyft vehicle platforms — designing machine eyes to help transform the transportation of the future. Prior to Lyft, she was a technologist at Apple spanning autonomous systems and the Camera and Depth Hardware team that released the first-of-kind Light Detection and Ranging module in the 2020 iPad. She has spanned both the development of Defense technologies at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and at-scale consumer-product technologies at Apple. She is a science advisor to multiple VCs and startups in the areas of sensors and systems for mobility applications and autonomous vehicles. She received her MS and Ph.D. in Engineering from Duke University and MBA from MIT and enjoys mentorship and recruiting in STEM/STEAM.
Board of Advisors
Rich has 20-plus years of experience delivering technology solutions that solve complex problems. As a partner and senior executive at Accenture, one of the largest consulting and technology companies, Rich lead a business unit that delivered critical technology solutions as part of the transformation of the U.S. Intelligence Community in the wake of 9/11 . Rich invests in organizations that “give back” including free business mentoring and veterans appreciation/assistance.
Board of Advisors
Management Executive and Member of the Executive Leadership Team during her Corporate tenure. Rupa has 20+ years of global experience leading, organizing, and planning with Citigroup, AXA, Accenture, Airbus, ABB, and American Express. Rupa is an Investor in privately held Medical Device Companies: that focus on the heart and orthopedic advancements.
Board of Advisors
Adrian has 20 plus years of experience delivering technology solutions that solve complex problems. As a partner and senior executive at Accenture, one of the largest consulting and technology companies, Rich led a business unit that delivered critical technology solutions as part of the transformation of the U.S. Intelligence Community in the wake of 9/11 . Rich invests in organizations that “give back” including free business mentoring and veterans’ appreciation/assistance.
Board of Advisors
Cathy Lynn Lanier is a former chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. Lanier was appointed by Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in January 2007, replacing outgoing Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey. She is the first woman to hold the position. In May 2012, Mayor Vincent C. Gray agreed to retain Lanier as police chief under a new five-year contract. Lanier accepted a third appointment from Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2016, making her the first Chief of Police in MPD history to serve three Mayors.
Violent crime dropped 23 percent over the years Lanier was chief, and homicides plunged to a half-century low in 2012. On August 16, 2016, it was announced that Lanier had accepted a position as the Senior Vice President of Security with the National Football League. Her last day as Police Chief was September 15, 2016. Lanier was the longest-serving Chief of Police in the history of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.
Board of Advisors
Caroline works with Schools, Hospitals, Behavioral Health, colleges, Universities, Academic Medical Centers, Federal, State and Local Agencies, and large private companies. She works with Law Enforcement Agencies and is an Executive Board Member of the Palm Beach County Crime Prevention Council for the last three years. She is Certified in Homeland Security (CHS-III), Anti-Terrorism (ATAB), and CMS All-Hazards Assessments. She worked with the National Institute of Justice, NSA, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to create custom assessment criteria. Caroline also audits hundreds of organizations on Physical Security, Information Security, and Facilities Security. Caroline is the publisher of numerous white papers and has published more than 1500 RISK Alerts and a popular speaker at security and safety events.
