Jennifer Lazo is an Emergency Management Coordinator with the City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department. She manages the City’s emergency alert and warning program, GIS program, and is the Area H Disaster Management Area Coordinator (DMAC). She started her time with Los Angeles facilitating neighborhood preparedness workshops as part of the “Ready Your LA Neighborhood” program. As a responder in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) she has staffed a variety of positions during disasters including the Saddleridge Fire, Getty Fire, COVID-19 pandemic, and the Protests for Racial Justice in May/June 2020. She previously spent five years as an Emergency Services Coordinator with the City of Berkeley, where she created BEACON, a network for organizations that serve people with disabilities. She also created the Community Resilience Center program and was responsible for emergency management planning and preparedness in the City, focusing on people with disabilities and seniors.

She is a Certified Emergency Manager with IAEM, and is the vice-chair of the IAEM Emerging Technology Committee. In 2013 she received her MS in Disaster Science and Management at the University of Delaware. Jennifer’s Master’s thesis was titled “Framing Disaster Planning for People with Disabilities.”