ePACT was inspired by our friend Ayumi, who was separated from her two daughters during the horrific 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Without any phone or text communications available, Ayumi had no idea if her family was safe. A full 24 hours after the disaster occurred, she was relieved to receive an email from her mother who had collected the girls from school and was caring for them during the crisis.

After hearing Ayumi’s story, we looked in our own backyard and learned that North America has its own emergency management gaps: whether relying on phone trees and paper emergency forms in most of our organizations, or neglecting to create personal plans for our families. And thus, ePACT was started.