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.

Tim Eddington

Sales

Favorite Restaurant
Hutchins BBQ (Dallas)
Happy Place
Family cabin in Montana

Tim is a Sales Lead at Hazel. He started off his career in chain restaurant management, followed by more than five years in food safety software sales. Tim is passionate about the food service and retail industry and enjoys helping operators solve problems and meet their goals using technology. He holds an undergraduate degree in International Business. In his free time, Tim likes to spend time with his wife and three kids, watch sports, and hang out on the beach.

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.

Bryce Nguyen

Engineering

Favorite Restaurant
Happy Lamb Hot Pot (Bellevue)
Happy Place
Cannon Beach, OR

Bryce is an Associate Software Engineer 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.

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.

Interested in joining our team? Check out our Careers page to see our open job listings.