About Us
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Following the Sandy Hook tragedy, Jeff Green was in his office reviewing his school’s safety plan and realized that everything he had in place, Sandy Hook did as well. In fact, Sandy Hook was better prepared than most schools. He began researching what changes had occurred in school protection and emergency action notification systems. The most significant modifications over the years were improvements with law enforcement’s approach put in place after Columbine. However, schools were still missing critical elements for addressing an active shooter situation and having a safety plan in place. The typical approach involved locking an intruder out, hiding and hoping. This method had proven ineffective time and time again. As a parent and a principal, Jeff wanted an emergency action notification system that would protect his children, students and staff and empower them at the same time. Jeff met with local and national threat assessment experts, the FBI, law enforcement, police chiefs and sheriffs to learn what schools could do during the critical minutes leading up to the time first responders arrived on the scene. As a result, he designed the SafeDefend Personnel Protection and Shelter in Place Systems for schools, hospitals, government buildings and corporate offices. Prior to SafeDefend, Jeff was an educator and principal for 16 years throughout Kansas. He is a father to three children and is currently working on his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.
work with usOur Awards
SafeDefend was named a District Administration Magazine Top 100 Educational Products for 2016. The award was based on nominations from superintendents throughout the country on the best products used by their districts.
SafeDefend was awarded one of the 25 Best Companies Under 25 Employees by iThink Bigger Magazine! Nominations for the award came from businesses and customers identifying the best performing and innovative companies for 2017.
Our team
Jeff Green CEO & Founder
Jeff Green is the founder of SafeDefend. Jeff started in education in 1997. He has a bachelor’s degree in education from Emporia State University, a master’s in education administration and a post-graduate certification in district administration from the University of Kansas. Jeff is the father of three children, and they were a driving force in the creation of SafeDefend. Throughout his educational career, Jeff has been a paraprofessional, a teacher, an assistant principal and a principal. These experiences have allowed him to develop SafeDefend as a truly effective and user-friendly safety solution. Jeff left education in 2013 to devote all his time to SafeDefend following his belief that this approach will save lives.
Rusty Russell VP of Sales
Upon graduating from Kansas State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Journalism and Mass Communications, Rusty spent six years in marketing for an international company. During this time, he gained valuable experience while traveling the world. Prior to coming on board with SafeDefend, he worked for 22 years in sales, both in management and as an administrator, all in the health care industry. His interests include: The Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas State athletics, KC Royals, collecting and riding motorcycles, being a Youth Friend volunteer and coaching football. Most importantly, he enjoys spending time with his wife and family.
Dan Cole National Account Manager
Dan started his career journey in 1984 with Lifetouch National School Studios. Throughout his 31 years with Lifetouch, he focused on relationship building with school administrations and parent groups to create programs to benefit students, parents, school staff and administrators. While achieving success within the company Dan closed out his career with Lifetouch as Territory Manager for the Kansas City, Kan., region. Dan has also been actively dedicated to the field of fire rescue. He served communities in Kansas and Missouri through the departments of Eureka-Greenwood County, Spearville-Ford County, Garden City-Finney County and the communities within Boone County, Mo. Currently, he holds a rescue specialist position with Missouri Task Force One based in Columbia, Mo. MO-TF1 is operated by Boone County Fire Protection which is one of the largest volunteer fire-ems organizations in the country. MO-TF1 is one of 28 specially trained Urban Search and Rescue teams under the Homeland Security umbrella. Dan has been deployed with the team conducting search and rescue operations associated with Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Matthew, Hurricane Harvey as well as the Joplin Tornado. Lessons learned from these tragic events have given Dan foresight for dealing with the mass casualty crisis. The combined life lessons from working in schools and within the rescue field are the motivation that drives Dan’s interest in our SafeDefend mission of protecting lives.
Paula Johnson Chief Financial Officer
Paula brings a diversity of experience to SafeDefend. As a former small business owner, she adds a wealth of knowledge to the CFO position. From her time with several non-profit agencies, she has detailed experience in both domestic and international project management and logistics. Her knowledge from operating a 501c3 and participating in the running of its operations complement her skill set. She got her start in corporate management and administration so the transition back to SafeDefend was a comfortable move. Paula’s strong community ethos has her volunteering at local schools, assisting with civilian aspects of the county sheriff’s department and courthouse. Her strong community spirit keeps her involved and busy.
Jeff Prothe Installation Manager
Jeff has extensive experience in project installation management. He has been working with SafeDefend since 2018. With 20 years of sales experience of external and perimeter security including access control, Jeff has extensive knowledge of project delivery for specialty equipment, including anti-terrorism/force protection systems, automated gates and custom fabrications. His previous projects include several design/builds for both the public and private sectors. Jeff is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting with family and friends.
Douglas B. Parisi Director of Training
Douglas B. Parisi, MPA is the Director of Training for SafeDefend. He is a former police captain with over 20 years of service and personal experience with active shooter situations. During 3.5 years as a police academy commander, he has obtained extensive training in on-site security, active shooter response and civilian response to hostile events. He is a regular speaker at national conferences and seminars. He has presented at SRO, DARE, Human Resource, school boards, superintendents, public safety, sheriffs’ associations and other conferences across the Midwest. He has participated in campus safety webinars and conducts interviews with media sources on workplace and campus safety concerns. He has certifications including Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT), Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE), Tactical Emergency Casualty Care, (TECC) Combat Life Support (CLS), Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Currently and Mental Health First Aid. Douglas works with schools, businesses and government institutions on policy implementation, crisis response planning and threat mitigation.
Jon Matheny Technical Director
Jon recently achieved a Master’s of Chemistry degree from the University of Kansas. He is a native of Gardner, Kan.
Blair Johnson Operations Consultant
Blair Johnson graduated summa cum laude with a degree in mathematics from Kansas State University in 2012. She has spent the last four years as a project manager in both a large software corporation as well as SafeDefend. She brings with her experience in process creation and improvement, project planning and execution, problem-solving and managing relationships with clients.