Our Team
Arash Nasibi
Chief Executive Officer
Favorite Restaurant
Meals by Genet (Los Angeles) Happy Place
All things Spain
Arash has led Hazel's successful transition from university research project to a leading technology company that is turning the needle on food safety and public health. Prior to founding Hazel, he had a career in management consulting and was also a founding member and CIO of StudentMentor.org. Arash enjoys listening to podcasts, swimming, English Premier League, and traveling (far too often to Spain). Arash holds a B.S. in Computer Science and an MBA from UCLA.
Andrew Harrison
Chief Technology Officer
Favorite Restaurant
Barley Swine (Austin) Happy Place
In my kitchen
Andrew leads Hazel's engineering team and contributes code throughout the software stack. With a decade of startup experience under his belt, he's passionate about professional mentorship, data analysis, and scalability. Outside of Hazel, Andrew enjoys exploring Seattle's restaurant scene and attempting new recipes at home. He also volunteers at Ada Developers Academy, a local nonprofit coding bootcamp.
Jeff Beckman
Product
Favorite Restaurant
The Coop Pizza (Los Angeles) Happy Place
Mulholland Highway
Heading up product management for Hazel, Jeff is passionate about working with customers and stakeholders alike to develop solutions that make life (or at least work) easier. He brings a background ranging from startups to some of the largest companies in the world — as well as a former life as a high school teacher. When he's not neck-deep in spreadsheets or engineering spec documents, Jeff loves cooking at home or a great road trip.
Serge Roy
Sales
Favorite Restaurant
Catch NYC Happy Place
Tropical islands
With a sales background in fitness and tech, Serge serves in sales development at Hazel. Using both his experience and entrepreneurial skills, Serge finds the most joy in creating both partnerships and healthy relationships between people and brands. Outside of work Serge is a painter, self-published author, podcast host, and musician.
Loveleen Lohia
Customer Success
Favorite Restaurant
Prime (New York) Happy Place
In the Great Outdoors
As a Customer Success Manager at Hazel, Loveleen is building long term customer-centric programs focused on success with food safety data-driven solutions. Loveleen enjoys supporting customers through the customer lifecycle, and she previously worked on customer programs, sales, & business development for enterprise and non-profits. Outside Hazel, she's passionate about leading fitness classes and mentoring women.
Kat Darvishzadeh
Data Operations
Favorite Restaurant:
Marini's Empanada House (Houston) Happy Place:
Anywhere near the water
In her role as data operations manager, Kat helps maintain and expand Hazel's health inspection data. Prior to joining the team, Kat worked in local and state government and the nonprofit sector where she focused on data analysis and project management. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting, reading, and traveling.
Jayashri Gopalakrishnan
Data Operations
Favorite Restaurant:
Sage Plant Based Bistro Happy Place:
Griffith Park
Jayashri is a data operations intern at Hazel with a background in business analytics. She enjoys working with data and using data to tell a story. Outside of work, she can be found hiking and exploring Southern California, trying out new restaurants, or reading in a park.
Tony Qu
Business Operations
Favorite Restaurant
Mi La Cay Happy Place
Beijing Olympic Park
Tony is a member of the business operations team. He's passionate about data-driven marketing and enjoys studying the past to ask impactful questions about the future of technology. Outside of work, he enjoys science-fiction, playing basketball, and spending time with his cats.
Summer Rosen
Chief of Staff
Favorite Restaurant
Agave & Rye (Troy, OH) Happy Place
Outdoors in the sunshine
Summer is the Chief of Staff on the Business Operations team. Her previous roles have focused on people operations, process improvements, and workplace compliance. She is passionate about learning new skills and taking on new challenges. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and reading.
Kitty Mohammed
Data Science
Favorite Restaurant
Glo's (Seattle) Happy Place
Seattle in the summer
As a data scientist at Hazel, Kitty uses machine learning and predictive analytics to explore health department inspection data. She is passionate about creating easy-to-use products that generate useful insights. Before Hazel, she completed her PhD in Statistics, writing her dissertation on manifold learning. When she's not at work, you can find Kitty dancing with friends or curled up with a cup of hot chocolate and Netflix.
Alex Tan
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Red Mill Burgers (Seattle) Happy Place
Window seat of a commercial jet
As a full stack engineer, Alex enjoys building products that are both compelling and easy to master. Before joining Hazel, Alex was a student at the University of Washington studying Informatics. He also taught Scratch and Web Development to K-8 students in Seattle after-school programs. Outside of work, Alex indulges in music, travel, and food.
Elder Patten Ferreira
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Point do Açaí (Belém, Brazil) Happy Place
West Rosebud Lake, MT
Elder is a member of the engineering team at Hazel. He enjoys creating user experiences that take into account not only aesthetics, but also accessibility, security, and performance. When Elder is not working, he's either reading a book, searching for new songs to listen to in random Spotify playlists, or ordering chicken wings.
Erin Maestas
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Beard Papa's (Lynnwood) Happy Place
My Rabbit Room
Erin is a Software Engineer on the data team. They enjoy investigating and finding new patterns in data, especially when it leads to improved processing. Outside of work, if Erin isn't prototyping quirky apps, they are probably reading terrible pulpy sci-fi.
John Diego
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Jollibee Happy Place
Large movie theaters
John is a software engineer. He plays a role in the development, maintenance, and expansion of Hazel’s retail food safety data. Prior to finding his passion for software development, John held multiple IT support roles while completing his BS degree in Informatics at the University of Washington. Outside of the office, John enjoys playing basketball, hiking, and watching 90s sitcoms.
Na Hyung Choi
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Traditional Korean Beef Soup (Seattle) Happy Place
An alpine meadow
Na Hyung is a Software Engineer on the platform team. Prior to joining Hazel, she worked on frontend development for scientific data visualization and processing tools. She also has experience working as a geologist, but her favorite way of "practicing" geology is by enjoying beautiful landscapes while hiking. As someone who loves to grow, ferment, cook, and eat food, she is excited to contribute to better food safety through her work.
Richard To
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Del Taco Happy Place
McDonald's Happy Meal
Richard works on the software engineering team. In previous incarnations, he promoted Sears credit cards, became a hyper efficient data entry robot, volunteered as a web developer for nonprofits, wrote Home & Garden articles as a newspaper intern, and tutored in reading & programming. Outside of work, he enjoys running, meditation, reading, and writing fiction.
Ryan Bald
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Qdoba Happy Place
Qdoba
Ryan predominantly develops in the back-end of the stack and especially enjoys debugging. Prior to Hazel, he worked for a tech startup in southern California that provided software solutions aimed at making real-time data processing more scalable. When he's not working, Ryan is either watching critically-acclaimed cinema or playing basketball.
Rob Banagale
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Fermenter Happy Place
Black Rock City
Rob works on the engineering team and contributes to refining business and technical processes. Prior to Hazel, he served as a technical lead on an enterprise cybersecurity product used by the US Federal Government. When not working, Rob enjoys reading science fiction, bicycle repair and visiting parks with his family around the Portland area.
Bryce Nguyen
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Happy Lamb Hot Pot (Bellevue) Happy Place
Cannon Beach, OR
Bryce is a Software Engineering Intern at Hazel. Bryce is currently pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science at the University of Washington, and is interested in full stack development. Outside of work and school, Bryce enjoys trying new restaurants and boba shops, attempting to cook new recipes on a college student budget, basketball and video games.
Marissa Darnell
Engineering
Favorite Restaurant
Chengdu Memory (Seattle) Happy Place
Next to my dog
Marissa is a Software Engineering Intern. She is currently an undergraduate student at Cal Poly SLO, with an interest in using technology for social good. Before joining Hazel, she volunteered at a school club to help create free software for local nonprofits. When she is not working, Marissa enjoys spending time at the beach, being a couch potato, or enjoying a meal with her family.
Our Founding Team
Ben Bederson
Co-Founder
Favorite Restaurant
Sharaku (New York, NY) Happy Place
Woods in the Berkshires, MA
Ben co-founded Hazel and is on the Board of Directors. He has a long history of entrepreneurship (this is company #3) with a focus on visualization, mobile and creative interactivity. He enjoyed being a Computer Science Professor at UMD for 20 years where he is most well known for his work on zoomable user interfaces. He is a life-long geek and is perhaps most proud of his 6502 PacMan game on his high school Apple IIe.
Ginger Jin
Co-Founder
Favorite Restaurant
Din Tai Fung Happy Place
West Lake (Hangzhou, China)
Ginger is a Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, and has spent nearly two decades studying quality disclosure and other regulations. Outside academia, Ginger served as a scholar at Amazon, and previously as the Director of the Bureau of Economics at the Federal Trade Commission. She loves cooking and playing bridge.
Phillip Leslie
Co-Founder
Favorite Restaurant
Sushi Kappo Tamura (Seattle) Happy Place
Snorkeling in a warm clear ocean
Phillip co-founded Hazel while he was a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, based on over a decade of research centered around regulatory disclosure in the context of food safety. Prior to UCLA, he was also a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Today, Phillip serves as VP and Chief Economist at Amazon.
Arash Nasibi
Co-Founder
Favorite Restaurant
Meals by Genet (Los Angeles) Happy Place
All things Spain
Arash has led Hazel's successful transition from university research project to a leading technology company that is turning the needle on food safety and public health. Prior to founding Hazel, he had a career in management consulting and was also a founding member and CIO of StudentMentor.org. Arash enjoys listening to podcasts, swimming, English Premier League, and traveling (far too often to Spain). Arash holds a B.S. in Computer Science and an MBA from UCLA.