About us

ai applied. person centered.

PPLZ.ai is a Portland-based applied AI practice. We work at the intersection of AI systems, emergency management, and human-centered technology — bringing practical AI to work that matters.

We draw on a network of trusted collaborators when project scope calls for specialized expertise in ethics, leadership, and applied science.

Lisa A. Berkley, Ph.D.

Advisor

Lisa is a seasoned strategist, educator, and policy innovator with over two decades of experience helping mission-driven organizations navigate change with integrity, resilience, and purpose.

She is the founder of the Institute for Inner Economy, a think tank dedicated to embedding ethical leadership and systems thinking into governance, diplomacy, and organizational development.

Lisa's work sits at the intersection of public service, social innovation, and values-based transformation. As a former elected official in Marina, California, Lisa helped shape policy through a lens of equity and inclusion, serving on regional planning and housing boards. She brings a rare blend of practical civic experience and holistic insight to her consulting work—particularly valuable to organizations seeking meaningful, sustainable impact in their communities.

At the University of California, Santa Cruz, Dr. Berkley created the Resiliency Program at Crown College and teaches courses in applied ethics, leadership, and emerging technologies. She also founded UCSC's Center for Applied Values and Ethics in Advancing Technologies, where she works on aligning innovation with human-centered design and policy accountability.

Dr. Berkley's academic research is grounded in real-world application. Her Ph.D. work focused on integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into local governance. Her dissertation, "The Role of Compassionate Cities, Healthy Cities, and UN Sustainable Development Goals in City Leadership and Planning", explored how municipal leaders can use holistic city frameworks to foster inclusive, resilient communities. She continues to help organizations localize global sustainability goals in ways that support people, planet, and profit.

She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Leadership and Change, an M.A. in International Policy (Counterterrorism and Transitional Justice), and a B.A. in Environmental Science and Economics.

Lisa is also co-editor of "Leadership at the Spiritual Edge: Emerging and Non-Western Concepts of Leadership and Spirituality" (Routledge, 2024) and a contributing author to "Women and Leadership Around the World."

Whether advising a nonprofit, guiding a Benefit LLC, or facilitating strategic planning for a growing B-Corp, Lisa brings clarity, compassion, and systems fluency to the work of transformation.

Matthew W. Eskew, Ph.D.

Advisor

As our Science and Technology Strategist, with a deep commitment to both scientific rigor and long-range planning for technical resilience, Matt keeps us on track so we don't fall behind or get too far ahead of ourselves.

An accomplished biophysicist and entrepreneur, Matt is the founder and CEO of ThermoCap Labs, a bio-tech start-up with Small Business Innovation Research funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation developing novel calorimetric instruments and tools.

Matt has a remarkable talent for applying rigorous technical and scientific practices to business process management and digital transformation.

With his unique combination of entrepreneurial business experience and distinctive math, science, and information technologies expertise, Matt’s on board to skillfully chart our course through turbulence, uncertainty and complexity, landing on elegant solutions with measurable results.

We rely on Matt’s deep knowledge of emerging technologies to ensure that, in the face of accelerating change, we stay ahead of the curve.

We also appreciate Matt’s playfulness. He works with a happily collaborative style. A style that significantly strengthens our ability to deliver results across diverse projects, cultivating deeply rewarding cross-sector partnerships, creating enduring value - not the least them being true friendship.

Douglas Paul Ambort

Fractional VP Sales West, Vistry.ai
Founder, PPLZ dot AI

Doug is an agentic AI developer and community technologist based in Portland, Oregon. His current work spans two areas: designing AI-powered emergency preparedness and incident response systems for residential micro-communities, and bringing AI-driven HR tools to enterprise and mid-market organizations through a fractional partnership with Vistry.ai.

His emergency preparedness work is operational, not theoretical. As Chair of the Emergency Preparedness Committee at The Vaux — a residential community in Portland's NW District, situated within a high-risk seismic and petrochemical corridor — Doug has developed a comprehensive Emergency Preparedness and Incident Response Plan, configured multi-channel mass alert systems, built incident response team operational frameworks, designed tabletop exercises, and managed an active communications fleet. Doug is an active member of Portland's NW District Neighborhood Emergency Team (aka Community Emergency Response Team.) That ground-level experience directly informs his AI toolkit for communities facing similar challenges.

His broader background spans software product management, civic tech, digital transformation, and organizational leadership across public, private, and nonprofit sectors — from enterprise communications software to executive leadership in the performing arts, from political campaign digital infrastructure to community coalition organizing. He made the transition to agentic AI development in 2025.

If you're working on applied AI for community resilience, emergency management, or HR transformation, he's genuinely interested in the conversation.

Contact us

"The best time to sing a song is when we need it most." — Ella Jenkins