The people behind the platform.
ROAR’s executive team brings decades of experience in technology, healthcare, venture finance, and enterprise sales — unified by a mission that was personal before it was professional.
Yasmine Mustafa
President & Co-Founder
Yasmine co-founded ROAR in 2014 after working in unsafe conditions and seeing others with no way to call for help. A former refugee who arrived in the US at eight, she built her way into tech, graduated summa cum laude from Temple University, and sold her first company before starting ROAR. A two-time TEDx speaker, she has presented at SXSW and CES and been recognized by the BBC, CNBC’s Upstart 100, and the City of Philadelphia. Her mission hasn’t changed: no one should be afraid while earning a wage.
Sami Asikainen
CEO
Sami is a B2B SaaS operator with nearly 20 years of experience scaling software and hardware-enabled businesses from early traction to repeatable enterprise growth. He previously led strategy at AppGyver through its acquisition by SAP, and founded and served as CEO of a venture-backed health tech company. At ROAR, his mandate is to turn the company’s first enterprise wins into a scalable, durable growth engine.
Arman Zand
Fractional CFO
Arman brings more than 26 years of technology and venture finance experience to ROAR. He has served as CFO at Zeni.ai and Prodigy (acquired by UPST), and spent 15 years at Silicon Valley Bank helping build its global presence across four continents. He is a Venture Partner at Tribe Capital and a faculty member at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, bringing the financial rigor and investor fluency that enterprise customers and growth-stage companies require.
Drew Lakatos
VP of Sales
Drew has built his career at the intersection of technology and human safety. Before ROAR, He founded ActiveProtective, a venture-backed startup that developed FDA-approved wearable airbag technology to prevent hip fractures in older adults, and has held multiple C-level roles in growth and strategy. At ROAR, he leads enterprise sales across healthcare and hospitality, bringing the credibility of someone who has built safety technology and sold it into the organizations that need it most.
Rachel Robinson
SVP of Operations
Rachel owns the operational infrastructure that keeps ROAR running: Customer Operations, People & HR, Finance, IT & Tools, and Administration. She came from senior roles in SaaS and consulting focused on strategy, operations, and cross-functional execution. She builds the systems, vendor relationships, and team structures that turn strategic decisions into measurable outcomes, with the discipline of an operator who has seen what breaks companies at scale and knows how to prevent it.
Mahmoud Odeh
VP of Partnerships & Co-Founder
Mahmoud has been with ROAR from day one, shaping the company at every critical turn: navigating the pivot from B2C to B2B, securing preferred vendor status with the largest US property management company, and co-inventing the patented technology that powers the ROAR platform. Before ROAR, he was Operations and Finance Manager at Solve Media, later acquired by LiveRamp. He leads with data, builds with intention, and is the operational anchor the company depends on when things get complicated.
John Donlon
Board Chair
John is the President, Founder and former CEO of UZURV, which he launched in 2017 to improve the cost, efficiency and rider experience of transportation for the elderly and disabled. Before UZURV, he held engineering, business development and executive leadership roles at multinationals including Honeywell, ABB and Ansaldo. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech, has lived in Italy, the Netherlands, Russia and Singapore, and resides in the Philadelphia area with his wife.
Melissa Menke
Board Member
Melissa is a social entrepreneur, investor, and writer focused on building healthier, more equitable cities and communities. She is the founder of Access Afya, a primary healthcare company in Nairobi, Kenya that delivers high-quality, affordable care to underserved urban populations through innovative, paperless clinics. Originally from Virginia, she spent nearly a decade in Kenya and is now based in the United Kingdom. Melissa blends entrepreneurship, design, and community engagement to create sustainable, people-centered solutions.
Rick Genzer
Advisor
Rick is a technology and business leader with over 35 years of experience across technical, executive, and investment roles, from software engineer to CTO, and has taken part in more than 60 private equity transactions. From 2016 to 2024, he was Investment & Portfolio Success Director at Ben Franklin Technology Partners, managing roughly 90 early-stage B2B SaaS companies. He now runs a solo consulting practice and stays active in the Philadelphia business community, mentoring entrepreneurs.
Farrokh Abadi
Advisor
Farrokh is a global executive recognized for his ability to imagine and deliver the impossible. He has led small to very large businesses across high-technology industries, bringing industry-changing innovations to market in electronic security, automatic doors, electricity metering, and oilfield services. He has held senior roles as Chief Operating, Chief Innovation, and Chief Strategy Officer at STANLEY Security, Checkpoint Systems, Atos Origin, and Schlumberger. He holds Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech and is an angel investor with Investor Circle.
Michael Genovese, M.D., J.D.
Advisor
Dr. Genovese is a clinical psychiatrist, addiction specialist, and attorney with two decades of leadership in behavioral healthcare. He serves as Chief Medical Officer for Behavioral Health at Access TeleCare, and previously was Chief Medical Officer of Acadia Healthcare, the largest standalone US behavioral healthcare provider, where he oversaw a network of more than 500 facilities. He is also Medical Director of the FBI National Academy Associates’ Officer Safety and Wellness Committee, helping first responders manage trauma and build resilience. Dr. Genovese earned his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and trained in psychiatry at the University of Connecticut.
Want to work with us?
ROAR is growing. If you’re drawn to a mission that is urgent, a product that is proven, and a team that holds itself to a high standard — we’d like to meet you.
