Vanessa Mathews is the founder and chief resilience officer of Asfalis Advisors. Vanessa and her team help companies uncover their blind spots and protect the legacy of leaders globally by living their core values – the only non-negotiables in business.

Asfalis Advisors partners with business leaders and organisations to prepare for, protect against, and mitigate crises across healthcare, government, transportation, retail, real estate, financial services, hospitality, and sports and entertainment industries.

Vanessa took a particular interest in crisis management when, as a young woman, she found herself caught up in a natural disaster for which her hometown of Atlanta wasn’t prepared. She is the first female in the state of Georgia to graduate with a degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM). She has worked with a tier 1 intelligence agency, Fortune 500 companies, and has received local, national, and international recognition for her work to restore business and community resilience.

Vanessa is the host of Business Resilience DECODED podcast with 40k+ downloads and subscribers, an adjunct professor with Savannah State University’s HSEM, and an advisor to the board of advisors at Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont GISP. She was noted as a Mecklenburg Times 50 Most Influential Women Honouree.

She earned a master’s in business administration from the University of South Carolina and a bachelor’s in Homeland Security and Emergency Management from Savannah State University. Vanessa is also a certified business continuity planner.