Executive Leadership
Melissa Faith Hart, Founder & CEO
Melissa Faith Hart is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of eBodyGuard. She created the eBodyGuard personal safety, evidence, and wellness technology with its eBodyGuard Safety Card and eBodyCam, which are available in the App Store and Google Play. These are key components of the vendor-agnostic eBodyGuard Smart Discovery Platform, which integrates discovery both within and outside of criminal justice IT systems. Her 20 years of experience working with law enforcement and District Attorneys led to the first criminal eDiscovery system in the nation.
Melissa spent 17 years in corporate America, mostly with Xerox. She later served on the Pink Tax on Mobility initiative, sponsored by New York University, investigating the reasons why women pay more for transportation than men. She is working with NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) to improve the efficiency and passenger safety of transit systems.
Using her certifications in Six Sigma Business processes as a core principle of solving business problems, Melissa focused deeply to understand the criminal justice system. She brought in experts from Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) to help improve this very burdened and siloed process. She later became the executive director of the program supporting the process of automating criminal discovery, integrating 363 law enforcement agencies to expedite the passing of evidence within 72 hours.
Melissa believes personal safety is a primal right, and has invested decades in learning the cultures and the technologies of these systems. She remains determined to help transform systems to better support our communities.
Scott Hurlbert
Dr. Scott Hurlbert is a vascular surgeon with UCHealth Vein and Vascular Surgery. He received his medical degree from the University of Colorado, where he graduated with honors. He completed his residency in general surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his fellowship in vascular surgery, involving extensive experience in endovascular therapy, at Southern Illinois University. Dr. Hurlbert attended the University of Colorado Boulder on a Boettcher Scholarship and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. Later he obtained an MBA from the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Hurlbert also has a certificate in Quality and Patient Safety from Regis University.
Besides a busy clinical practice, Dr. Hurlbert has been active in physician leadership, serving in several capacities at UC Health Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs including Chief of Medical Staff, Medical Director of Perioperative Services, Chief Quality Officer UC Health Southern Region, Senior Medical Director for Surgical Specialties and Senior Medical Director of Grandview Hospital. He has also served on the board of the nonprofit Memorial Hospital Foundation.
Patricia Elizondo
Patricia (Pat) Elizondo is an experienced executive with decades of successful leadership experience in the technology and services industry. The majority of Elizondo’s career was at Xerox Corporation where she led global organizations of over 5,000 employees.
Best known for spearheading strategic change initiatives, Elizondo held key executive assignments in Total Quality Management (TQM), Customer First & Customer Loyalty, Services Led, Lean Six Sigma (LSS), and operationalizing the global go to market plan of a $6B acquisition. These assignments served both government and commercial market segments covering 5 continents.
Elizondo has served on The Board of Directors for the US Chamber of Commerce in DC, which included key assignments on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Education and Workforce Preparedness Task Force. She also served on the Catalyst Advisory Board (NYC), Chairperson Multinational Development of Women in Technology (MDWIT-UMBC), Board of Directors, National Alliance for Partnership in Equity (NAPE), and the Board of Trustees for the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center.
Elizondo earned a BS in Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, where she serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council, an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and successfully completed the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute Program.
Torben Welch
Torben M. Welch is the head of the Messner Reeves Utah office, where he handles complex business and commercial transactions worldwide, providing practical “solutions-oriented” operations and general counsel services to help client’s business goals. Licensed in Utah, Colorado, and New York, Torben practices in a variety of industries – Real Estate, Finance, International Business, Lending/Banking, Tech, Hospitality, and Sports. He has represented a variety of clients in his 18 years of practice, including serving as outside general counsel to companies both big and small, including those in the Fortune 500.
Torben was named a Colorado Super Lawyer – Rising Star: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014, Best Real Estate and Corporate Practice Manager – Denver (2016 Legal Elite Awards – Corporate America News), and 2019 Leading Advisor – Complex Business and Commercial Transactions Lawyer of the Year, Utah (Acquisitions International).
Torben received dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and English from the University of Utah (’99) and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law (’02).
John Cooke
Deborah Ortega
Deborah Ortega has been a Denver public servant for decades, focusing on municipal public policy, homelessness, and affordable housing. Ms. Ortega served as an at-large member of the Denver City Council from 2011-2023 and worked for former Lt. Governor George Brown, and U.S. Senator Floyd Haskell before accepting a position with Denver City Councilman Sal Carprio in 1979.
Elected by her peers, she served as Council President for two consecutive years, during the opening of Denver International Airport and Coors Field, located in her district. Ortega was elected as Carpio’s successor in 1987 and served until 2003, when term limits required her and nine of her colleagues to leave office. Councilwoman Ortega co-chaired Denver’s 2020 Census Committee and is City Council’s representative on the Opioid Abatement Council, is a commissioner on Healthy Food for Denver Kids and the Crime Prevention Control Commission. She chaired a Charter Review Committee that put forth several charter changes that addressed the imbalance between a strong mayor, weak council form of government.
Ortega served as the first executive director of the Denver Commission on Homelessness. She serves as chair of Del Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation, a non-profit building and affordable housing. She has served on the board of directors of numerous non-profit organizations, and been appointed to serve on local and state initiatives.
Rowan Smith
Mr. Rowan Smith serves on eBodyGuard’s legal team for intellectual property and patents. Mr. Smith is a partner in the law firm Messner Reeves LLP, working primarily in the areas of electrical engineering and computer science technologies.
Justin Shirk
Mr. Justin Shirk, a career technologist, currently leads the federal cloud business at Accenture Federal Services, the US-specific entity of Accenture LLP.
Carlos Otal
