Instructors & Staff

Instructors for Disaster READY Training come from a variety of emergency preparedness agencies and disciplines. All instructors have been through a background check and are experienced in working with teens.

Cathy Prudhomme
Community Preparedness Program Manager for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security. She joined the staff in July 2009, following almost eight years with the Colorado Springs Fire Department as the Community Services Program Manager and non-emergent Public Information Officer. She also worked on the development of their nationally recognized wildfire education, awareness, and mitigation program.

Jennifer Steck
Captain with the Denver Police Department and Program Manager for READYColorado, a project of the Denver Urban Area Security Initiative. Actively involved in citizen education, awareness and outreach for disaster readiness and first responder training for the Denver metropolitan area.

Donald Sutton, PhD
Coordinator, Disaster Programs for the Colorado Department of Human Services. Has worked with the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in the area of emergency management.

Andrea Hoaglin
Coordinator for Response Teams within the Disaster Planning and Response Program of the Colorado Division of Behavioral Health (DBH), and a Disaster Assistance Employee with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Acts as the liaison between the DBH and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and provides local disaster coordinators with technical assistance for team development and statewide sustainability.

Jonathan Gunderson
Program Associate with the Disaster Response and Planning Program at the Division of Behavioral Health delivering and evaluating the program’s training courses. He previously served as the program coordinator for the FEMA Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) providing oversight and support for the CCP serving northern Colorado after the severe storms and tornado in 2008. Also has experience with the Disaster Behavioral Response and Planning Program.

Tracey Taylor
Tracey Taylor began her career in the fire service in 1996 when hired as a firefighter with Englewood Fire Rescue in Colorado.  She has been actively involved with life safety education since and moved into the full-time position of Life Safety Educator with Parker Fire District in December 2004 .  With the merger of South Metro and Parker Fire in 2009, the Life Safety Education Manager position was created and filled by Tracey to oversee all educational programs offered by the Authority.  She is a member of Fire & Life Safety Educators of Colorado, Safe Kids Denver Metro, National Fire Protection Association’s Educator Network, and the Colorado Child Fatality Review Team.

Einar Jensen
Einar Jensen is a veteran life safety educator, working for South Metro Fire Rescue Authority since August 2008 and previously for Evergreen Fire Rescue where he also served as a fire inspector and public information officer. He has been a volunteer firefighter with Clear Creek Fire Authority since 1998 and with the Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office Marmot wildfire crew since 2003. He also serves as secretary for the Fire & Life Safety Educators of Colorado.

Colleen Potton
Colleen Potton has been in the fire service since 2000 and with South Metro Fire Rescue Authority since 2008. Colleen was a middle school math and science teacher prior to starting her career as a firefighter. She earned her bachelor’s degree in middle grades education from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Colleen is presently the head of the car seat and middle grades programs for South Metro Fire Rescue Authority.

Scott Entrekin
A meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) since 1990, in the Los Angeles and Denver/Boulder areas.  Attended college at Penn State University and Metropolitan State University with BS degree in Geography and Meteorology, respectively.  Has recently been providing weather safety training for the Boy Scouts of America to leaders and scouts at various functions, as well as NWS official weather spotter training classes.

Rose Lynch
Emergency Management Specialist for the City of Englewood. She also volunteers as an emergency manager for several agencies and jurisdictions throughout the Denver metro area.

Deborah Colburn
Director of the Animal Emergency Management Program for the Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation.  A former New Hampshire state representative, she has held leadership positions with state government and with both for-profit and non-profit organizations.

Jim Meskimen
A “Positive Behavior Support Coach” with Denver Public Schools. Spends most of his spare time volunteering with the City of Auroras’ AVID program. He is a CERT Train the Trainer,  teaches Moulage (makeup for “victims” for disaster response training), and supports the North Central Region and State of Colorado with many community service events and training opportunities.

Stephanie Hackett
Currently works for the Aurora Office of Emergency Management as an Emergency Management Specialist.  Stephanie’s background includes Master’s in Community Practice Social Work and International Security.  She works to promote citizen emergency preparedness and public education throughout the region and works with local and regional partners to develop exercises to train first responders in preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies and disasters.

Mary Jean Erschen, RN
Registered Nurse at The Children’s Hospital at St. Joseph’s Emergency Department. Twenty-six years of experience working in the field of emergency services in various capacities, including development of youth and adult prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery education.  During the Disaster READY Training, will act as the “Medical Point of Contact.”

Grace Linn, MA
Social marketing consultant and trainer focusing on the promotion of voluntary behavior change. Designs campaigns encouraging Coloradans to quit smoking, wear sunscreen, get screened for colon cancer, practice good oral hygiene, and prepare disaster communication plans and 72-hour kits. Consultant for seven years to Colorado’s youth empowerment movement “Get R!EAL” which helps teenagers to resist and expose tobacco advertising lies.