Leadership

Michael Ashker

Founder, Chairman & CEO

Michael has led organizations across the securities, insurance, and wildfire defense sectors for more than 30 years. He founded Lynx Capital Group, a tech-focused hedge fund, then founded and served as CEO of Provident and Healthaxis Insurance, the first fully digital health insurance company to sell policies directly to consumers online. Michael has founded and served as CEO of multiple businesses, including companies backed by Bain Capital, Intel Ventures, and Newspring Capital. He co-founded FortressFire Retardant Systems, now part of Compass Minerals, to address the growing risk of wildfires in the western U.S. with a novel fire retardant formulation that was qualified and approved by the U.S. Forest Service. Recognizing the challenges of access to insurance for both homeowners and commercial entities, he co-founded FortressFire to bring property-level precision and science-driven insights to align the interests of all stakeholders – from property owners and brokers, to insurers and lenders.

John Wall

Founder & CTO

John has more than 25 years of experience leveraging innovative technologies to create business value. As CTO of YourMechanic and Element Fleet Management, he designed and developed marketplace service platforms while leading teams across multiple countries. His experience also includes 15+ years building insurance technology and related infrastructure for Symcor, MedUnite, and Healthaxis. He currently holds seven patents and is committed to driving digital transformation with big data, AI, cloud, and mobile platforms.

Michael Lozano

Head of Risk and Fire Management Operations

Michael retired from the California Fire Services after 32 years and joined FortressFire after having served as an advisor since the company’s founding. In addition to serving as an executive officer with CFS for 11 years, he has experience with every aspect of emergency wildfire response, from working with ground-based “hotshot” crews to aerial firefighting operations and everything in-between. He now leads FortressFire’s field operations team and strategic vendor network with a focus on wildfire vulnerability assessment, mitigations for improved property resilience, strategic response and readiness plans, and monitoring and communicating with clients enrolled in FortressFire managed services. He is dedicated to putting more precise, actionable information into the hands of property owners/operators, emergency responders, and insurers to improve wildfire resilience and prevent losses.

Michele Cunningham

Head of Marketing

Michele Cunningham brings over 20 years of strategic marketing expertise, spanning multi-national organizations, start-ups, and scale-ups. Specializing in B2B software/SaaS and managed services companies, Michele excels in driving market expansion through product marketing, brand and content marketing, demand and lead generation, digital and account-based marketing programs, and analyst engagement. Michele has conceptualized and executed both direct and indirect growth programs at companies including AT&T Capital, Element Fleet, and mission-driven technology enterprises. With a background in psychology, biology, and business at the University of Virginia and Darden School of Business, Michele brings a unique perspective to her integrated marketing and team building approach. She is deeply engaged in community efforts, including involvement with the American Heart Association and as a mentor with technology and innovation councils.

Michael O’Dell

Director, Machine Learning

Michael is a physics-trained data scientist and program manager who has helped both small companies and Fortune 500 corporations leverage data to find market insights, customer priorities, process efficiencies, and consumer preferences. His experience with deterministic and probabilistic modeling across a wide spectrum of problem domains along with revenue responsibilities in several operational roles makes him uniquely capable to build mission critical solutions. Michael has worked with large and small data sets in both on-premises or cloud environments using physics-based, natural language processing, deep learning, and Bayesian and frequentist statistical approaches. Prior to FortressFire, he served as a consultant, Chief Data Scientist, Senior Project Manager, and Director of Program Management to multiple California-based companies.

Hemant Shah

Board Vice Chairman & Senior Advisor

Hemant is known as the founder and former CEO of Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the world’s leading catastrophe risk modeling company, which was acquired by Moody’s Corporation in 2021. He is currently the co-founder and executive chairman of Archipelago, a technology startup helping commercial property owners and their insurance brokers harness data to better manage risk. By joining FortressFire, Hemant brings his transformative mindset to one of the most urgent insurance challenges our society faces today: wildfire.

Robert Burnham

Founder & Advisor

Robert is a professional natural resource specialist with over 38 years of experience in natural resource planning, wildfire risk analysis, fire management, and utility right of way protection. He served as the Chief Deputy Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the USDI Bureau of Land Management before moving to the private sector as CEO of ERT Inc., which provided a range of professional services and construction/vegetation management services for major California utilities. Robert is also the co-founder and CEO of Fortress Fire Retardant Systems.

Jim Pedersen

Insurance Industry Advisor

Jim has more than 30 years in Property & Casualty Insurance leadership roles and has been a trusted advisor to the founders of FortressFire from its earliest days. His experience span operations, technology, and customer service including VP at Allstate as well as SVP and Chief Customer Service Officer and COO of Personal Insurance at Fireman’s Fund. He is also the former President of Nationwide’s Private Client Group. Jim received his degree from St. Mary’s College of California.