Meet Johanna “JZ” Zollmann, LCSW

The name The Wizard Nexus embodies my mission to serve as a connection point for innovative solutions through research. Today, that mission is realized through PreCrisis.ai, which now forms the core of The Wizard Nexus’s innovative research and solutions. This vision is deeply rooted in my experiences growing up in a military family, where frequent relocations immersed me in diverse cultures and environments. These experiences taught me adaptability, connection, and understanding — shaping my approach to challenges with creativity, curiosity, and empathy.

In military culture, the term "The Wizard" has been used since at least the Vietnam War to describe behavioral health professionals. Service members would say they were "off to see The Wizard," humorously acknowledging that seeking support often meant being temporarily removed from duty to recover. As a U.S. Army Behavioral Health Officer, JZ proudly embraced this role — not just as a provider of care, but as a trusted guide helping service members reframe obstacles and reclaim their sense of purpose.

After my honorable discharge, JZ continued working on projects supporting Veterans, service members, and their families. These efforts addressed critical topics such as mental health accessibility, suicide prevention, community reintegration, and cultural competency. Through these opportunities, I developed innovative solutions for complex behavioral health challenges, strengthened community partnerships, and built programs that foster long-term success.

Building on these experiences, JZ has continually sought cutting-edge approaches to behavioral health. In 2025, JZ acquired PreCrisis.ai, a pioneering AI platform initially developed by veterans and clinicians at Lifeline.vet, to strengthen our ability to detect and respond to mental health crises before they erupt. This acquisition has transformed The Wizard Nexus into a tech-enabled nexus of hope, where data-driven insights meet compassionate action.

JZ originally served as a Co-Founder & Executive Director of Mental Health Strategy at LifeLine.vet with PreCrisis AI, where I lead the development and execution of AI-driven solutions for crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and mental wellness. Until acquiring Lifeline.vet’s technology, my work there focused on harnessing technology to support Veterans, first responders, schools, and at-risk communities, blending cutting-edge tools with evidence-based strategies to create real-time, life-saving support systems.

At The Wizard Nexus LLC, JZ brings that same blend of cultural adaptability, behavioral health expertise, and innovative thinking into every engagement. Whether developing mental health strategies, designing impactful programs, or refining policies, my goal is to help individuals, organizations, and communities navigate challenges and create lasting, transformative change.

Meet “Roshi”

The moniker “Roshi” comes from my years of study in the Rinzai Zen lineage, years spent learning that true strength is flexible, and true insight is born in stillness. That calling now guides everything I build: AI that listens before it speaks, networks that protect before they react, and programs that heal before they prescribe.

My path began in Japan at sixteen, forged through dojo floors, judo tatami, and the philosophical grindstone of Zen monasteries. At seventeen I enlisted as a Far East Cryptologic Linguist in the U.S. Air Force, decoding signals, leading the joint-service judo team, and seeing firsthand how invisible stress can break even iron-willed operators. The experience seeded a lifelong mission: prevent the unseen crises before they end lives.

After the military I dove headlong into technology, writing control, human machine interfaces, UI and UX code for the Argus II bionic-eye system, building mesh-network drones for Tōhoku earthquake relief, and inventing safety algorithms that let electric motorcycles race beyond gas-bike limits as well as competing in several of the worlds most dangerous races like Pikes Peak (before they illegalized motorcycles for the high death rate), on my own technology. I know what it means to bet my life, not just the lives of others, on my work. I learned and taught this while supporting national security throughout my career. Every project taught the same lesson: data without empathy is noise; empathy without data is guesswork. I set out to fuse the two, empathy through data.

That fusion became LifeLine.vet’s PreCrisis AI, a platform that scans 70-plus behavioral indicators across 33 crisis categories, giving caregivers a “blink” of advance warning before suicide, violence, or moral injury takes hold. When JZ and The Wizard Nexus acquired PreCrisis in 2025, it was less an exit and more a homecoming. Together we’re turning a Veteran-built tool into a global early-warning lattice—protecting schoolchildren in Monterey, Marines in the Pacific, and solo researchers at the edge of space.

Today, as Chief Visionary and Resident Roshi at The Wizard Nexus LLC, I pair Zen discipline with deep-tech rigor. Whether shaping AI governance inside a SCIF, mentoring interns in our Sentinel Sync program, writing the life and death parts of code, prototyping bleeding edge technology or crafting koans for LinkedIn that spark reflection in weary clinicians, assets, agents, and warfighters; my goal never changes: see the storm before the clouds gather, and guide people safely through.

If your mission is to keep humans resilient, and alive on the battlefield, in the boardroom, or within the quiet battles of the mind; I invite you to walk the path with us. The dojo is open.