Safe America Prepared

Executive Staff

Len Pagano, President

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Len Pagano has spent more than 30 years communicating key messages - first as a journalist, and more recently, in building one of America's premier safety organizations.
As President, CEO and Founder of Safe America, Mr. Pagano has spent the past 16 years focused on emerging safety issues such as teen driver education, water safety, cyber safety, homeland security, youth safety and community safety awareness.

Mr. Pagano formed Safe America after a 20-year career in television and nonprofit management. His administrative experience includes management responsibilities with Chamber of Commerce organizations throughout the Southeast. Today, he leads a staff of 37 from Safe America's suburban Atlanta headquarters.

Through his leadership, the Safe America Foundation has developed educational and practical safety and preparedness programs for businesses and communities. These include safety product distribution, national youth programming, international travel security, and advocating that nonprofit organizations screen volunteers (to avoid predatory activities by adults). His numerous accomplishments include raising $25 million for injury prevention initiatives that have protected more than 150,000 infants and millions of adults.
Current Safe America programming includes: 'Prepared.Not Scared,' a national initiative in partnership with Motorola and NBC; 'SafeTeen America,' in partnership with Allstate Insurance; 'The Safest Kid in America Contest,' in partnership with Publix and Campbell's Soup; and the Safe America Teen Driving Institute.

Mr. Pagano graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia.  While Len has provided vision for Safe America's direction and growth, his wife, Mary Lou Pagano, has served as the heart of Safe America by directing its community outreach. Mary Lou and Len live in Marietta, Georgia, and are the parents of four Safe Americans - Lauren, Austin, Audra and Charles.

Dr. Betty Siegel was the founding chair of the Safe America Foundation and accepted the post as inagural President of the newly established Safe America Institute in September 2006.

Dr. Siegel was the first woman to head an institution in the 35-unit University System of Georgia, and the longest serving woman president of a public university in the nation. She was president of Kennesaw State from 1981 until July of 2006. Under her administration, the university evolved from a four-year college with an enrollment of 4,000 students and 15 baccalaureate-degree programs to its current university status, with enrollment exceeding 18,000 students and 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Before Kennesaw State, Dr. Siegel was an educator, administrator and leader at several college and universities. She received a Ph.D. from Florida State University, a M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a B.A. from Wake Forest University, and an Associate of Arts from Cumberland College. She completed two years of post-doctoral study in Clinical Child Psychology at Indiana University and holds six honorary doctorates.

An internationally- and nationally-known lecturer and motivational speaker on ethical leadership, educational issues, and the concerns of women, she has lectured at more than 120 colleges and universities around the world.

Dr. Siegel was appointed to the 1997 Presidents' Summit on America's Future held in Philadelphia, represented Georgia on the Southern Growth Policies Board's 1998 Commission on the Future of the South, and currently serves on the Commission for a New Georgia.

Mary Lou Pagano works closely with her husband, Len Pagano, President and CEO of Safe America, in delivering key safety messages and programs, with the goal of having a safer, better prepared America. This work is accomplished through building coalitions and partnerships within the public and private sectors, academia and governmental agencies.

In her role as Executive Vice President of Programming. Mrs. Pagano oversees the Foundations national and local programs. These include the “9/11 Drill Down for Safety” emergency preparedness program, the “Text First. Talk Second” First Spouses initiative, the federally funded Safe Communities program and Safe America’s Transportation Division.

Through these programs, Mrs. Pagano seeks to fulfill the Foundation’s mission to address emerging issues in health and safety, building coalitions and conducting educational campaigns to protect Americans.

Mrs. Pagano’s strengths draw from her experience in community public health nursing. Her work with low income and underprivileged teens in the metro Atlanta area, has received praise from the Governors Office of Highway Safety, elected officials and school educators.

Mrs. Pagano attended Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, where she received a

Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. Her experience in this field includes Public Health and Psychiatric Nursing.

Mrs. Pagano, is a native New Yorker. She and Safe America President and CEO, Len Pagano have been married for 35 years. They have four grown children and reside in Marietta, Georgia.

Mr. Musselman is responsible for curriculum development and training for the Teen Driving Institute. A professional public seminar speaker, Larry is a licensed instructor with the National Safety Council and the Georgia Department of Public Safety.

As an experienced driving instructor, he has trained over 7,000 new drivers in the metro Atlanta area. He has trained teens and adults in basic driver education, adult driving skill assessment and enhancement, and instructed Defensive Driving courses. Additionally, he managed the training of 550 adult commercial delivery drivers under an exclusive contract with a major pizza delivery company in Florida.

Larry retired from Framatome Technologies (Franco-American Atomics) in 1997, capping a technical career in the management of Business Development in the Environmental Sciences and Nuclear Technologies. He was also involved with the development of the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Development (NERVA) program with the Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory at the Nevada Test Site.

Larry received engineering training at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, and was one of the Navy's earliest cold-war era nuclear submarine reactor operators .

Staff Member Name -- Phone Ext. -- Email Address


Will Brown -- 235 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Joe Caprara -- 770.384.7937-- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Cathie Jordet -- 222 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Maureen Klinkmueller -- 241 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Risa Mendelson -- 233 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Larry Musselman -- 223 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Len Pagano -- 234 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Marylou Pagano -- 229 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Marcia Sasser -- 239 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Bob Surrusco -- 231 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Matthew Thome -- 231 -- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it