Robert A. Jensen

Robert Jensen has been with Kenyon since 1998 serving as President since May 2003. On 1 October 2007, he acquired Kenyon, at which time it became a private company. Robert Jensen leads an international corporation which provides disaster management services to air, maritime and rail interests, as well as local, state and national governments. He has directed response effort to numerous mass fatality incidents including terrorist bombings, mass murder criminal investigations, and transportation disasters. He has also coordinated the operations of incident management, call center, family assistance and anniversary / memorial services.

He serves as an international advisor to both government officials and members of the private sector on disaster management issues and is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and International Association of Emergency Managers. He is the Chairman of the Board for the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine, and authored the only guide of its kind- Mass Fatality and Casualty Incidents, a Field Guide.

Prior to joining Kenyon, Jensen was a commissioned officer in the US military. He supervised on ground military mortuary operations in Haiti, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia. While in the military, Jensen was instrumental in developing the first and only joint publication on mortuary affairs, which includes protocols for responding to incidents involving contaminated deceased. Mr. Jensen was a deputy sheriff and was a NFPA certified firefighter. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Law Enforcement from California State University, Fresno.

Jerry J. Novosad, Jr.
Senior Vice President

Prior to joining Kenyon, Novosad served in a number of staff and command positions with the US Army from company to Department of the Army. His responsibilities included: human resources, casualty operations and family assistance programs. He retired from his 27 year career with the US Army as a Colonel and became Director, Human Resources for Queue Systems in Columbia, South Carolina.

In 2000, Novosad joined Kenyon as Director of Operations and assumed the position of Vice President, Operations in 2002. Novosad was instrumental in the creation of the Kenyon International Call Center, the production of emergency response plans and training. In addition, he has served as Senior Incident Director for numerous operations.

He earned a Bachelor of Business and Administration from the University of Texas and a Masters of Science degree in Management at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey California. He also attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University.

Jerry Allen
Vice President, Business Development

From 1979 to 2000, Allen served as a commissioned officer in the Royal Air Force where he had wide and varied experiences in crisis and contingency planning. He served as a logistics officer specializing in Air Transport Operations, Support Helicopter Operations and Contingency Planning. His tours of duty included station manager appointments at Dulles and Calgary airports and in the Falkland Islands. In addition, he led the contingency planning for emergency military-aid scenarios. He was deployed to the Middle East during the Gulf War and to the former Yugoslavia on a NATO peace implementation operation. He retired from the Royal Air Force as Wing Commander.

From 2000 to 2004, Allen served as a senior staff member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). He initially served as manager for the innovative Aviation Business Continuity Project and then later directed IATA’s Crisis Management Services. During this time, he developed best-practice methods for contingency planning and emergency response. He supported key members in their contingency duties by preparing events and forums, producing publications and conducting training sessions. In addition, he led the IATA professional “Emergency Response Planning Working Group,” the most significant international organisation of its kind.

Frank A. Ciaccio
Vice President, Commercial Services / Marketing Development

Ciaccio has been with Kenyon since 2004. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical (Forensic) Anthropology  and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Forensic Anthropology both from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. From 1996-2004, Ciaccio served as a forensic science advisor for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) where he was involved in numerous domestic and international transportation related accidents as a member of the investigative team. Ciaccio facilitated the international disaster victim’s identification process in Phuket, Thailand for 30 countries which lost citizens in the December 26, 2004 Asian tsunami. In addition, he has served as Senior Incident Director for numerous operations. He regularly speaks at conferences, seminars and workshops on topics of disaster management and operations.

Mark Edwards
Regional Vice President , Asia Pacific

Mark Edwards joined Kenyon in 2005. Prior to Kenyon Mark had a career of 38 years within the NSW Police with over 30 years experience in Forensic Science. During his career he held the positions of Commander Crime Scene Operations, Commander Forensic Counter Terrorism, Commander Disaster Victim Identification. Mark held the position of Chairman Australian Disaster Victim Identification Committee for a number of years where he played a major role in the development of national policy, and national operational capacity. Mark was also the Chairman of the Interpol Standing Committee on Disaster Victim Identification for over four years, where he was instrumental in the development of international policy and procedures for mass casualty response. Mark has a Masters Degree in Management from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

JoElla Jackson
Director, Support Services

JoElla Jackson has been with Kenyon since 2002. She is responsible for managing the daily operations of all Kenyon offices both domestic and international. These responsibilities  include administering human resources, facilities management, company support programs, information technology, as well as partner contracts and support agreements.  She was responsible for the management of personnel in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during several major deployments, including the Thailand Tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Prior to joining Kenyon, JoElla was in the hospitality management industry. JoElla is a graduate of Sam Houston State University where she earned a Bachelors degree in Business Administration.  In addition, she is an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management and has completed the HR Generalist and Essentials of HR Management Certification Programs.

Alan Puxley
Director, Business Development

Alan Puxley, Dip.FD. LMBIFD.MBIE, joined Kenyon as a Team Member in 1989 and then the staff in 2001. He is a licensed funeral director and embalmer with 8 years of experience interfacing with the media with the British Institute of Funeral Directors. Puxley has worked in many countries covering various aspects of mass fatality incidents and brings more than 30 years experience in dealing with violent or traumatic deaths.  He is a published author and He regularly speaks at conferences, seminars and workshops on topics of disaster management and operations.

Salvador Velasco
Director, Human Support Services

Velasco has been with Kenyon since March 2007. He is a graduate of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico with a major in psychology. Currently he is pursuing a certificate in grief counseling. Prior to Joining Kenyon he worked in TACA airlines in Central America as family assistance coordinator where he oversaw the emergency response program and was an instructor in safety and accident prevention as well as Crew Resource Management. While in that position he responded to several incidents in Grupo Taca as an advisor and consultant and helped set up the family assistance response. In Kenyon he has contributed in updating our current FA deployment guide, training and advising clients and our call center agents.

Janie Moreno
Director, Call Center

Moreno Joined Kenyon as a Team Member in 2004 and later that year was appointed Call Center Manager. Prior to joining Kenyon, Moreno held a number of managerial positions. In 1981, she was the Assistant Director of Human Resources for the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, Texas. In 1990, she worked as an Operations Manager for ITC Personnel Services for six and a half a years. She went on to become the Regional Field Services Support Manager for Qwest Communications in 1998. Her final post before joining Kenyon was as a Client Services Manager for Chasecom Communications in 2002.

John Warren (August 24, 1950 - April 17, 2009)
Vice President, Corporate Services

Prior to joining Kenyon, Warren served in a number of leadership and staff positions with the U.S. Army including company to Chief of Staff, Army level. Throughout his Army career he was responsible for casualty operations and family assistance programs. In 1986, Warren led the casualty reporting operations for the La Belle Disco terrorist bombing in Berlin, West Germany.  He retired from his 25-year career with the U.S. Army as Colonel.

In 1997, John joined Kenyon as Vice President. Warren has been instrumental in the development of policies and procedures supporting the administration, management and operations of Kenyon and providing customer support to Kenyon’s clients. He has responded to or provided operational support to numerous incidents and conducted or participated in various presentations, training sessions and emergency response drills around the world.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida and a Masters of Science degree in Management at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.