CERA Team

Edward McGovern

Founder & Chief Executive

Edward is a retired 22-year Law Enforcement Commander and former SWAT/Sniper from South Florida. After responding to both the Fort Lauderdale Airport mass shooting in 2017 and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas attack in 2018, Edward began a quest to change public safety communications and response challenges with CERA, Critical Event Response Applications.

Lee Johnson

Chief Technology Officer

Lee Johnson brings experience and knowledge to the CERA Team, having formerly served as CEO/CTO of several companies. He brings organized, passionate development leadership with a history of transformative projects that have a real impact. Lee is results-focused to solve real problems using practical solutions. Lee brings Global experience to the team, having worked in S.E. Asia, LATAM and Canada

Jeremy Hall-Smith

Director of Finance

Jeremy is a veteran global media/entertainment and technology executive with a proven track record of investing, advising, developing and operating companies across North America, Asia and Europe. His key strengths are in advisory, strategy, corporate development and governance.

CERA Advisory Board

Chief Keith Dun (ret)

Law Enforcement Advisor

Keith Dunn is a retired police chief from South Florida, having served as Chief for both the Miramar and Davie Police Departments. With four decades of experience in law enforcement, Chief Dunn brings extensive government experience and problem solving capabilities to the team to lead Law Enforcement and Government integration of CERA.

Matthew Heimberger

Law Enforcement Advisor

Matt Heimberger brings three decades of experience in law enforcement and security operations in the Virginia, DC, Maryland area. He has vast response experience in critical events, including the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, and is a Subject Matter Expert in Coordinated Terrorist Attacks.

Chief Mark Ellis (ret)

Fire/EMS Advisor

Chief Ellis leads our Fire Advisory Board with over 30 years in Fire and Emergency Medical operations. A retired Fire Chief and Deputy Team Commander for the State of Florida Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT), Chief Ellis brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in Emergency Operations deployment and management.

Ivy Schamis

K-12 Education Advisor

Ivy is an experienced Educator with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Skilled in Literacy, Coaching, Staff Development, Teaching, and Educational Technology. Ivy brings experience both as an educator and survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting in Parkland, FL 2017.

Dr. Albert Hayward. Ph.D

Higher Education Advisor

Dr. Hayward is a Professor of Neurobiology at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida, and heads our Higher Education Board for integration of CERA. Additionally, Dr. Hayward serves as leaderfor CERA’s initiative to protect Historically Black Colleges / Universities (HBCU).

Danielle Gilbert

Education & Student Advisor

Danielle leads the advisory team’s panel for student engagement and brings unique experience as a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting in Parkland, FL 2017. She currently attends the University of Central Florida as a criminal justice major.