Dr. Jasmin Ruback, is the CEO of Ruback Associates, an independent consulting firm specializing in the areas of disaster research, resolution, and management. Because disaster prevention, response, and recovery are complex, fast-paced, and adaptive, she takes an evidence-based systems approach to help communities and organizations design, align, and improve their overall resilience, disaster programs, and outcomes.

For 16+ years, Dr. Ruback has worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a national program consultant on program development, evaluations, recovery operations, community preparedness, and mitigation. For FEMA, she works with complex concepts of federal doctrine, mission areas, core capabilities, and operational plans. The work she enjoys most involves interacting with communities, organizations, and government officials at the local, state, and regional levels. She often fulfills special projects and deployments planning, preparing for, mitigating, and recovering from large, complex, and often resource-intensive crisis situations.

Dr. Ruback has worked at the DRC twice; once as a graduate student fulfilling a practicum degree requirement, and then, as the first Post-Doctoral Research Fellow of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware. In this role she managed the multi-year evaluation of the Disaster Resistant Community Initiative: Project Impact. Dr. Ruback has authored or co-authored 10 peer-reviewed articles, 6 book chapters, 27 technical reports, 3 recovery plans, and 11 government publications. Dr. Ruback received her Ph.D. in Social and Community Psychology from Georgia State University and focused on post-disaster trauma, evacuation, and relocation and is a Subject Matter Expert in community dynamics, planning for catastrophes, disaster stress, methodology, and metrics.