Catherine Hooper

Catherine Hooper is the founder and president of Black Umbrella. Rooted in the security sector, her firm is the first of its kind to focus exclusively upon building safety plans for families. Her clients include both private families as well as Fortune 500 corporations who seek safety plans for key executives and their families to compliment existing business continuity plans. A lifelong entrepreneur, Catherine identified the need for Black Umbrella in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. After extensive research and training in first aid, wilderness survival, urban survival, and self-defense, Catherine launched Black Umbrella in 2010. Since then, she has provided expert commentary on safety and preparedness for CBS’s Moneywatch, NBC’s TODAY, and ABC’s Nightline and has been profiled in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Redbook, and Fortune. Catherine speaks regularly about preparedness at corporations, schools, and community events and in 2011, established the Semper Paratus Foundation as a charitable extension of Black Umbrella.