AERIAL RECOVERY LEADERSHIP TEAM

Aerial Recovery is an international disaster response 501(c)(3) US registered public non-profit whose mission is to save lives, eliminate confusion, maximize support and accelerate recovery. The larger goal is to help nations recover even stronger than before resulting in desperation rooted human trafficking being eliminated.  Aerial Recovery accomplishes this by employing the most qualified, trained, and elite military veterans to deploy as Humanitarian Operators to man-made and natural disasters all over the world utilizing the Special Forces tactic of Force Multiplication.  This is the process of using the smallest number of Aerial Recovery Operators to work by, with and through the local population to train and enable them to continue the mission once Aerial Recovery has redeployed.

BRITNIE TURNER

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Turner founded Aerial Group at the age of 21 with the mission of elevating people and places with the goal of eliminating poverty-rooted attrocities. She has since formed multiple companies under the Aerial brand including the brand’s non-profit, Aerial Recovery. Turner experienced first hand the pain, chaos and desperation that takes place after a major disaster affects a region when the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated her home in the British Virgin Islands. Turner and her team were first responders after Hurricane Irmas, strongest hurricane on record at the time, annihilated the BVI. She jumped into search and rescue,managing evacuations, aid distribution and helping the local NGOs work together for an accelerated recovery. This disaster taught her there was a great need in this space and if it wasn’t filled it would cost many lives. 

JEREMY LOCKE

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

Locke brings 20 years of U.S. Army Military experience to the Aerial Recovery Team. Serving his first 10 years in the US Army Infantry and the remainder as a Special Forces Communications Sergeant and Team Sergeant, Locke draws on his ability to operate in austere conditions to plan and lead effective responses in the most difficult areas of the world.  Locke discovered his purpose in 2019 when responding to Hurricane Dorian with his now wife, Britnie Turner. The couple saw how effective the military skill-set was in these familiar environments and moved forward with transforming Aerial Recovery to be a veteran-powered non-profit. Locke has since led recovery & rescue operations as well as trainings across the world.  Aerial Recovery has since established the Heal the Heroes Initiative that helps to heal and repurpose over 100 veterans per year to be able to utilize their skills into meaningful life-saving work in areas that need it most. 

AARON ASAY

Chief Medical Officer

Asay is a practicing Physician Assistant with extensive experience in austere and rural medicine, family medicine, and trauma, including being a primary care provider of a small Pacific island community and working specifically with underserved and at-risk populations.  His unique work experience has lead to his inspiration for developing standards of operation and training guidelines to improve patient outcomes and safety, and has had international invitations to teach and speak on his experiences.  He is also a CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosive) injury and trauma specialist on a disaster response team with the Hawaii Air National Guard.  These distinctive skills were learned and mastered during his previous career as a Firefighter/Paramedic while serving on a specialized technical rope, hazmat, mountain, and swiftwater rescue team.  His humanitarian work has spanned the globe with missions in places like Ukraine, Morocco, Poland, Haiti and Guatemala. He is excited to be utilizing his skills with Aerial Recovery and is grateful to continue serving wherever there are people in need.

LAUREN KEIL

Director

Lauren has an extensive portfolio of international humanitarian work in countries such as Haiti, South Africa, Mozambique, Mexico, the United States, the British Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom. She holds an undergraduate degree in Social Work and a hybrid Masters in NGO Management and Philanthropy, Grantmaking and Social Investment from The Centre for Charity Effectiveness at BAYES – City, University of London’s Business School.  Lauren’s career started out on the frontlines as a social worker where she worked as a Victim Advocate with the Victim Witness Program as part of a specialized team of psychologists and social workers working within the Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit at California’s state capital’s District Attorney’s Office.  She then moved to the BVI where she worked as a crisis intervention counselor with a rape, sexual assault and domestic violence crisis support centre.  She became the Executive Director and led the crisis centre for four years. In 2010 Lauren responded to the catastrophic 2010 earthquake in Haiti as part of a disaster response team providing humanitarian aid.  She co-founded a Children’s Home for children orphaned by the earthquake and supported the management of the home for four years.  In 2015 Lauren was asked by Sir Richard Branson to help establish a foundation in the British Virgin Islands, to which she remained the Foundation Manager for 6 years.  In 2017, she helped lead the response to category 5 Hurricane Irma.  In June 2022 Lauren joined the Aerial Recovery team as a Director and is ecstatic to expand their great work.