Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based President operating in the Training space. If you think a President is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Jeff Birkeland
Vice President of Product, Consumer Experience of Headspace
director of product @ facebook video focused on building for creators and publishers. formerly led the Feed team at LinkedIn. Before that built a publishing startup, and multiple news and media products at Yahoo! former television producer. drinks coffee. bald.
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About Headspace, High Gear Media, LinkedIn: Headspace is a digital health platform that provides guided meditation sessions and mindfulness training.
Dinesh Thiru
Senior Vice President Marketing of Udemy
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About Udemy: Udemy is an online learning platform that helps students, companies, and governments gain the skills they need to reach their goals.
Lucy Suros
President of Articulate
Lucy Suros has served as Chief Of Staff and Chief Marketing Officer and now as the President of Articulate Global.
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About Articulate, Articulate: Articulate develops a workplace training platform that provides online courses for management systems.
Brian Murphy
Vice President Strategy of STRIVR
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About STRIVR: STRIVR is an information technology company that specializes in virtual reality, customer experience, and athlete performance.
Scott W. Klein
President & Chief Executive Officer of Lingo Systems
Scott W. Klein has been chief executive officer for SuperMedia and a member of the SuperMedia Board of Directors since June 2008. Klein previously served as an operating partner of Symphony Technology Group, a private investment firm, since November 1, 2007. From January 2004 to October 2007, Klein served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Information Resources, Inc., a provider of information solutions for the consumer packaged goods, retail, and healthcare industries. Prior to joining Information Resources, Klein served as President, Consumer Industries, Retail & Energy Global Industry Group of Electronic Data Systems Corporation from July 2001 to January 2004. Klein also held management positions with PC Mall, Inc., PrimeSource Building Products, Inc., Guardian Purchasing Corp., PepsiCo, Inc., and The Procter & Gamble Company earlier in his career.
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About Lingo Systems: Language Line is a translation services provider to the public and private sectors.
Dave Bethea
Vice President of Marketing & Sales Operations of Lingo Systems
Dave has had a distinguished career in marketing and sales. He has successfully held senior sales leadership roles within, and built major brands and products across, two different industries. Prior to joining LanguageLine Solutions, Dave was Executive VP – Sales at SuperMedia where he led multidimensional sales divisions generating more than $1 billion in revenue, with over 1,200 teammates servicing a market of 360,000 clients. Prior to his appointment at SuperMedia, Dave served as regional Vice President of Operations for PrimeSource Building Products Inc., the nation’s largest independent distributor of building products with annual revenues of $1.3 billion. Dave also served as Vice President of national accounts for PrimeSource with a six-year track record managing its sales force and portfolio of clients. Dave holds a business management degree from California State University Fullerton, with graduate work in finance at The University of Texas at Dallas.
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About Lingo Systems, Lingo Systems: Language Line is a translation services provider to the public and private sectors.
Frank A. Perry
Vice President of Human Resources of Lingo Systems
Frank Perry is a 30-year Senior HR executive with a strong emphasis in operations management and measurable success across domestic and international business industries. Frank is an expert at positioning the business to grow profits and an effective motivator of productive organizations and management teams. Most recently Frank was Senior V.P. of Human Resources for Lanoga Corporation, later ProBuild Holdings, the nation’s largest supplier of building materials with sales of $6 billion. He has managed full-service HR departments including an employee base of 23,500. Through his HR consulting practice, Perry Business Solutions, Frank has worked with such organizations as Habitat for Humanity, College Success Foundation, WA Mentoring and Zion Prep Academy focusing on both non-profit and for profit organizations. Frank strengthens LanguageLine Solutions with the experience and track record of building a motivated, goal-centric team of professionals.
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About Lingo Systems: Language Line is a translation services provider to the public and private sectors.
Rebecca Kalogeris
Vice President, Marketing & Product Strategy of Pragmatic Institute
Rebecca Kalogeris is leading Pragmatic Marketing’s quest to spread the word about its unparalleled training that enables high-tech companies to become more market-driven. Prior to joining Pragmatic Marketing, Rebecca managed product management and marketing teams at a variety of software companies. She also has extensive experience providing marketing and advertising services to companies such as GE Money, Kodak Dental Systems, 3Com and Gillette.
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About Pragmatic Institute: Pragmatic Institute provides product and data science training and education across the globe.
Will Houghteling
Vice President of Product & Platform of FranklinCovey
Will Houghteling is the Vice President of Product and Platform at FranklinCovey and Founder & CEO of Strive.
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About FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey is a performance improvement company that helps organizations address issues that require behavioral changes.
Michael Boustridge
Chief Executive Officer and President of Ciklum
Mr. Boustridge is the president and chief executive officer of Ciber as well as a member of the board of directors. Prior to joining the company, he served as chief executive officer of Contact Solutions, a provider of voice and mobility customer self-service solutions and business intelligence offerings. Before that, he was president of BT Global Services, where his team served the needs of some 7,000 clients in more than 170 countries worldwide. He joined BT after an 11-year career with Electronic Data Systems, also known as HP Enterprise Services. There, he was vice president of sales and chief marketing officer. Mr. Boustridge started his career in New Zealand, where he worked for Hitachi and IBM. A well-known technology executive with deep expertise in the IT services and telecom industries, Mr. Boustridge served on Ciber’s Board of Directors for two years before being named CEO. He is also a board member for several other firms, including Riverbed Technology, a leader in application performance infrastructure and Cyan, a SaaS solution provider. Mr. Boustridge’s charitable efforts include serving as a board member for the Xprize Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on bringing about radical breakthroughs to benefit humanity through prize competitions that stimulate research.
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About Ciklum, Guidepost Growth Equity: Ciklum is an software development outsourcing company specializing in Client owned software development centers in Eastern Europe.
Oliver Plattner
Vice President of Engineering of Codecademy
Vice President of Engineering at Codecademy
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About Codecademy: Codecademy provides an online learning platform that teaches employable digital skills.
Carlyle Singer
President of Acumen
Carlyle joined Acumen in March of 2013, as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for Acumen’s core operating activities.”
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About Acumen: Acumen is a non-profit venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty.
Patrick Eichen
Vice President, Client Success of Cornerstone OnDemand
Patrick leads the Client Success organization at Cornerstone OnDemand. As a member of the Client Success team since its early inception, he has helped shape many of the programs that enable our clients to get maximum return on investment out of their use of Cornerstone products. Patrick’s team of Client Success Managers work closely with our customers to ensure they have the resources and tools to meet their overall objectives and stay connected to others within our client community. Prior to joining Cornerstone, Patrick held a leadership role for The University of Arizona’s nationally recognized Eller College of Management. One of his key responsibilities was helping to drive the implementation and adoption of new learning management and applicant tracking technologies. Patrick also was a Vice President for Bank of America, one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Over a lengthy career, Patrick was responsible for managing key business partnerships for the Global Wealth Investment Management and Consumer Real Estate divisions. Patrick earned a Bachelor of Science in Global Business from Arizona State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Arizona. He also holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources credential from the Human Resource Certification Institute as well as a Senior Certified Professional designation from the Society for Human Resource Management.
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About Cornerstone OnDemand: Cornerstone OnDemand offers talent management software that helps organizations in recruiting, training, and managing their people.
Michael Bollinger
Global Vice President – Thought Leadership & Advisory Sales of Cornerstone OnDemand
Mike Bollinger is VP of Thought Leadership at Cornerstone OnDemand and is an accomplished executive with 25 years of experience in positions of increasing responsibility. Mike has the privilege of leading a transformation team of practitioners and domain experts in the Talent, Analytics and Risk & Compliance fields. Mike speaks regularly at HCM thought leadership events such as Evanta, Argyle, HCI, ICMI, and others on HR trends, transformation and culture, generations in the workplace and how to measure the impact of HR transitions. Prior to Cornerstone, Mike worked at Oracle for 5 years including the development of the HCM Value Consulting content, value analysis tools and management of a National Value Consulting practice before joining the Oracle HR transformation thought leadership team. Mike also worked at SAP for 7 years in their HCM Centre of Excellence. Mike has been formally trained and certified in a number of disciplines including Human Capital Strategy, Strategic Workforce Planning, Value Engineering, and Business Process Transformation. Mike’s areas of expertise include HCM Strategy, Analytics, Talent Development & Education, Shared Services, Recruiting, HRMS/Payroll, Finance, Procurement, Planning, and Budgeting. Mike is active in local hometown service as a former School Board Commissioner and City Administrative Review Board Member. He resides in Eau Claire, WI with his wife Robin. They have two children.
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About Cornerstone OnDemand: Cornerstone OnDemand offers talent management software that helps organizations in recruiting, training, and managing their people.
Louis Jonckheere
President, Chief Product Officer & Co-Fouder of Showpad
Louis co-founded Showpad in 2011 with PJ Bouten and Peter Minne. As Chief Product Officer, Louis is responsible for leading the product, design, and engineering teams that deliver the only sales enablement platform that combines sales content, readiness, and engagement. Showpad is the second company Louis has founded. Prior to founding Showpad, Louis and PJ founded In The Pocket, a leading mobile development agency. Louis continues to serve on the company’s board of directors. Prior to founding In The Pocket, Louis served as a Strategic Partnerships Manager at social media network Netlog, where he first met PJ. Louis holds master’s degrees in both law and business and serves on the board of directors of his alma mater — Vlerick Business School in Belgium.
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About InThePocket, Showpad: The best thing to ever happen to your sales team
Charissa Raynor
Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of NextStep
Charissa is nationally recognized as a thought leader on creating a qualified and sustainable long-term care workforce and addressing the coming care crisis. She has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare policy, research, and practice. Prior to co-founding NextStep, Charissa was the founding Executive Director of an organization that delivered training and healthcare benefits to more than 50,000 long-term care workers annually. She holds a Master’s degree in Health Service Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing.
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About NextStep: NextStep is an information technology company that provides training and job placement for workers via mobile application platform.
Evelyn Kim
Vice President of Product Design of BetterUp
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About BetterUp: BetterUp develops an AI-driven platform that helps people and businesses grow personally and professionally through coaching.
Wesley D. Kremer
President, Raytheon Missiles & Defense of Raytheon
Wesley D. Kremer is a Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) vice president and president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). Raytheon Company, with 2015 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, IDS has 28 locations around the world. Its broad portfolio of weapons, sensors and integration systems supports its customer base across multiple mission areas including air and missile defense systems; missile defense radars; early warning radars; naval ship operating systems; command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems and other advanced technologies. IDS provides affordable, integrated solutions to a broad international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Armed Forces and the Department of Homeland Security.
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About Raytheon: Raytheon Technologies is an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services.
Alberto Onetti
Chairman & President of Mind The Bridge
Alberto Onetti joined Mind The Bridge Foundation as Chairman & President in 2009.Alberto Onetti acts as Chief Financial Officer. He has over 15 years of experience in the corporate finance field as consultant for leading banking groups and multinational companies. Alberto holds a Ph.D. in corporate strategy and a Master degree in International Finance. He is Professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Department of Economics of the Insubria University.
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About Corriere.it – Corriere della Sera, Cresit Energy, Funambol, Mind The Bridge, Mind the Seed – MTS Fund, TOK.tv, University of Insubria: Mind The Bridge provides innovation advisory services for corporations and startups.
Richard Socarides
Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of GLG
Richard Socarides is Chief Communications Officer at GLG, where he oversees global communications, media, and policy. He also leads GLG’s Social Impact programming, which delivers the power of GLG’s platform to nonprofits, foundations, and social entrepreneurs. Previously, he held a number of senior communications roles at Time Warner, New Line Cinema, and AOL. He also served as White House Special Assistant and Senior Advisor to President Bill Clinton, and worked on Capitol Hill as Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Tom Harkin. A lawyer by training, he was a partner at the New York City law firm Squadron, Ellenoff earlier in his career. Richard is also a writer and regular contributor to The New Yorker and a frequent commentator on television. Richard is a Trustee of the State University of New York. He is a longtime human rights and LGBT rights advocate.
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About GLG: The world’s insight network.
Srinivasa Ogireddy
Executive Vice President of Products, Engineering and Operations of Saba Software
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About Saba Software: We want to help transform your talent management processes to help you drive better business results and gain competitive advantage.
Matt Hulett
President of Rosetta Stone
Matt Hulett is a seasoned entrepreneurial technology executive with more than 20 years of experience leading product, sales, marketing, operations, and engineering teams for global companies. As President of Language for Rosetta Stone, Matt is responsible for driving innovation and growth for all aspects of the company’s Consumer and Enterprise & Education language businesses, including the strategic direction and execution of product, sales and marketing and infrastructure functions. Prior to joining Rosetta Stone, Matt served as Entrepreneur in Residence at Pioneer Square Labs, a Seattle-based startup studio focused on consumer applications using artificial intelligence. Previously, Matt served in several executive roles, including Chief Product Officer at TINYpulse, a SaaS-based human resources technology provider; CEO at ClickBank, a top 100 internet retailer; SVP of RealNetworks’ games division, where he led the right-sizing effort of the traditional gaming business to its first run-rate profitability in several years and led the business’ turnaround strategy into social and mobile gaming; CEO of AdXpose; and President of the corporate travel division of Expedia, where he took the corporate travel business from an idea to a billion dollar worldwide leader in just a couple of years.
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About Rosetta Stone: Rosetta Stone provides technology-based language learning solutions, including software, online services, and audio practice tools.
Daniel Brody
Founder and President & CEO of Health Data Services
Mr. Daniel Brody is the Founder and President/CEO of Health Data Services. As CEO, Mr. Brody is responsible for the development of corporate strategy and marketing. He is also Manager of Greenwood Partners, LLC., an early stage investor group. Mr. Brody is an adjunct Professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and a lecturer at other schools in the University. He serves on the board of Prolifiq Software. Previous to founding Health Data Services in 1988, Mr. Brody was employed by Federated Department Stores and Brody Brothers, Inc. He was a member of the faculty of Indiana University(PA) where he taught marketing for seven years. Among other professional experiences, Mr. Brody consulted for Unisys Corporation; served for many years on the Board and as a member of the Executive Committee of Insmed, Inc., and a publicly traded biotech company. He served as a member of the Board of the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance (Virginia Medicaid) from 1994 through 2002 and was Chairman of that Board from 1996 to 2000. Mr. Brody is a member of the University of Virginia’s 2020 Strategic Planning Committee. He is a 1973 graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in Economics and a Masters degree in Business Administration from New York University.
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About Greenwood Partners, Health Data Services, University of Virginia: Health Data Services is a Health Care company.
Conner Burt
President of Lessonly
Conner Burt is the President of Lessonly.
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About Lessonly: Lessonly is a simple training software that helps teams learn, practice, and do better work.
Joe Preston
President & CEO of New Balance
Joe Preston is the President and CEO at New Balance.
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About New Balance: New Balance is an American multinational corporation based in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston.
Chris Dubek
Vice President of Amateur Sports of EXOS
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About EXOS: EXOS offers integrated performance training, nutrition, and physical therapy services and solutions for athletes.
Ryan Kaps
Vice President & GM of EXOS
Ryan Kaps is Founder at Blast Motion.
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About Blast Motion, EXOS: EXOS offers integrated performance training, nutrition, and physical therapy services and solutions for athletes.
Jeff Sassone
Chief Performance Officer & President, EXOS API Division of EXOS
As chief performance officer, Jeff Sassone oversees the company’s performance team to define and evolve its methodology, enabling practitioners to produce outcomes for clients. He has coached athletes for nearly 20 years, working closely with Mark Verstegen. Sassone has a master’s from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s from the University of South Florida.
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About EXOS: EXOS offers integrated performance training, nutrition, and physical therapy services and solutions for athletes.
Darrell West
Vice President and Director, Center for Technology Innovation of The Brookings Institution
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About The Brookings Institution: The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization that focuses on analyzing public policy issues at the national level.
Martin Indyk
Vice President and Director of The Brookings Institution
Martin Indyk is an American diplomat who has served in senior positions in the U.S. presidential administrations of Clinton, Bush ’43 and Obama. He was twice U.S. Ambassador to Israel, President Clinton’s Middle East Advisor in the National Security Council, President Obama’s Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations, and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. From 2001 to 2018, Dr. Indyk managed, built-out and raised funds for the Brookings Institution, a think tank with an annual budget of $100 million. Dr. Indyk currently serves as a distinguished fellow and director of executive education at the Council on Foreign Relations and on several boards, including the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Australia, the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Investment Initiative, the Israel Democracy Institute and America Abroad Media. He received a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney and a Ph.D. in international relations from the Australian National University.
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About The Brookings Institution: The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization that focuses on analyzing public policy issues at the national level.
Amy Liuv
Vice President and Director, Metropolitan Policy Program of The Brookings Institution
An expert on metropolitan areas, Amy Liu is committed to helping city leaders make their cities more prosperous and inclusive. Liu combines empirical analysis with on-the-ground research to identify local challenges and design strategies to address them. She recently authored Remaking Economic Development: The Markets and Civics of Continuous Growth and Prosperity to explain why city leaders should abandon inefficient strategies to promote economic growth and articulate how they can embrace a broader vision that connects more people to opportunity. And she’s in a position to know, having worked variously with city leaders in Chicago, Kansas City, Phoenix and New Orleans, to name just a few.
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About The Brookings Institution: The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization that focuses on analyzing public policy issues at the national level.
Ralph Sita
President / Co-Founder of Cybrary
Co-Founder at Cybrary; CEO / Founder at TrainACE
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About Academy of Computer Education, Cybrary, Game Planner Pro: Cybrary is the cybersecurity and IT Career Development Platform. Cybrary is the fastest growing, fastest-moving catalog in the industry.
Daniel Filous
Vice President Marketing of App Academy
Daniel Filous joined App Academy as Vice President Marketing in 2020.
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About App Academy: App Academy is a web development school where 98% of graduates are placed in developer roles earning an avg. of $105K in SF and $89 in NYC.
Paul Adler
Vice President & Treasurer of Cintas
Paul joined Cintas in 1997 as a Corporate Development Analyst, and has also held the roles of National Accounts Controller, Global Supply Chain Controller, Rental Division Controller and most recently Corporate Controller. Paul is a 1993 graduate of the University of Dayton and began his career at Ernst & Young in Cincinnati.
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About Cintas: Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North
J. Phillip Holloman
President & COO of Cintas
President and COO of Cintas Corporation (corporate identity uniforms and related business services). Mr. Holloman joined Cintas in 1996 and has served in various leadership positions including Vice President – Engineering/Construction from 1996 to 2000, Vice President – Distribution/Production Planning from 2000 to 2003, Executive Champion of Six Sigma Initiatives from 2003 to 2005 and most recently, Sr. Vice President – Global Supply Chain Management from 2005 until he was promoted to President and COO in January 2008.
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About Cintas: Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North
Michael Hansen
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cintas
Mike Hansen joined Cintas in October, 1995, as Treasury Manager, after previous positions with Ernst & Young and Rockwell International. Mike has served Cintas in many roles including: First Aid Controller, Global Accounts Controller in Chicago, General Manager of the Cincinnati Fire Location and since March, Corporate Controller and Vice President and Treasurer. Mike was promoted to Vice President – Finance and Chief Financial Officer on February 1, 2015, responsible for the company’s accounting and finance functions.
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About Cintas: Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North
Thomas Frooman
Vice President and Secretary of Cintas
In December 2001, Thomas E. Frooman joined Cintas as Vice President and Secretary – General Counsel. From July 1997 through December 2001, he was a member of the law firm Keating, Muething & Klekamp, P.L.L.
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About Cintas: Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North
Thomas Frooman
Vice President and Secretary of Cintas
In December 2001, Thomas E. Frooman joined Cintas as Vice President and Secretary – General Counsel. From July 1997 through December 2001, he was a member of the law firm Keating, Muething & Klekamp, P.L.L.
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About Cintas: Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North
James Hamet
Founder & President of LIT Conversations
Inventor in Neurotech, Education, and Mental Health
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About LIT Conversations: 501c3 providing career readiness training to high school students
Pamela Skillings
President & CEO of Big Interview
Pamela Skillings is an author, career development expert, and co-founder of Skillful Communications, a company that provides career coaching and training for individuals and training and development consulting for organizations. Skillful has also developed Big Interview, an online job interview training system that helps clients ace their interviews and land job offers. Pam is the author of Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams (Random House) and has been featured as a career expert by The New York Times, Newsweek, ABC News, and other media outlets . She is an adjunct professor at New York University and frequently leads workshops on career development topics for organizations including the American Management Association, the City of New York, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. She is also a contributing columnist for About.com and other publications. Previously, Pamela spent more than twelve years as a marketing and human resources executive for Fortune 500 firms including Citigroup, MasterCard International, and Morgan Stanley.
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About Big Interview: Big Interview offers an AI-base job interview training platform.
Shveta Mujumdar
Vice President, Corporate Development of Lynda
Shveta Mujumdar is a consultant at [LinkedIn](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/linkedin#/entity), a professional networking site that allows its members to create business connections, search for jobs, and find potential clients. Prior to that, she was the vice president for corporate development at [lynda.com](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lynda-com#/entity). From 2010 to 2013, Mujumdar was employed as the director for corporate development at [QuinStreet](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/quinstreet#/entity). Before that, she served as the director for strategy and analytics at [Live Nation Entertainment](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/live-nation-entertainment#/entity). She has also worked as an investment banker at [Goldman Sachs](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/goldman-sachs#/entity). Mujumdar obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the [University of Southern California](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/university-of-southern-california#/entity). She also holds a master’s degree in business administration from the [University of California, Berkeley](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/university-of-california-berkeley#/entity). Mujumdar lives in San Francisco, California, United States.
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About Lynda: Lynda provides business training.
Beatrice Spain
Vice President Marketing at lynda.com of Lynda
Beatrice Spain is the chief marketing officer of [Galvanize](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/galvanize-2#/entity), a network of urban campuses where students and entrepreneurs can access the skills they need to level up and make an impact. Prior to that, she was the vice president for consumer marketing at [lynda.com](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lynda-com#/entity). Spain holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from [Stanford University](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/stanford-university#/entity). She lives in San Francisco, California, United States.
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About Lynda: Lynda provides business training.
Nate Kimmons
Vice President, Enterprise Marketing of Lynda
Nate Kimmons is the vice president for business operations at [Degreed](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/degreed#/entity). Previously, he was the vice president for strategy and operations at [lynda.com](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lynda-com#/entity). Kimmons was a partner at [FanChatter](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fanchatter#/entity) before he joined lynda.com. Prior to that, he handled marketing at [Jobs2Web](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/jobs2web#/entity). He has also served as the senior director for marketing and strategy at [Iconoculture](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/iconoculture#/entity). Kimmons has studied at the [University of Minnesota](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/university-of-mn#/entity) and Concordia University. He lives in San Francisco, California, United States.
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About Lynda: Lynda provides business training.
Ken Sandy
Vice President, Product of Lynda
Ken Sandy is the vice president for product at [lynda.com](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lynda-com#/entity) and a lecturer at the [University of California, Berkeley](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/university-of-california-berkeley#/entity). He also serves as an independent consultant. Previously, he was the senior vice president for product and analytics at [SAY Media](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/saymedia#/entity). Sandy served as the senior director for product management at Rearden Commerce before he joined SAY Media. Prior to that, he has held marketing, business development, and international roles at [LookSmart](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/looksmart#/entity). Sandy holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the [University of Melbourne](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/university-of-melbourne#/entity). He lives in San Francisco, California, United States.
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About Lynda: Lynda provides business training.
Monetta Williams
Vice President of Human Resources of Lynda
Monetta Williams is an HR advisor at Exploring Opportunities. Previously, she was the vice president for human resources at [LinkedIn](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/linkedin#/entity) and [lynda.com](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lynda-com#/entity). Williams has studied human resources at the [University of California, Santa Barbara](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/university-of-california-santa-barbara#/entity). She lives in Santa Barbara, California, United States.
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About Lynda: Lynda provides business training.
Andy Youniss
President & CEO , Founder of Rocket Software
Andy Youniss co-founded Rocket Software in 1990 and continues to be the company’s main driving force. Andy successfully established and actively manages Rocket’s largest OEM partnerships and is guiding the company’s growth through technology investments, acquisitions, new product lines, and strategic partnerships. Prior to founding Rocket Software, Andy was the development manager for DB View Inc., a software company specializing in DB2 database tools. Previously, he was a programmer/analyst at American Management Systems, and was also a project development consultant. Andy holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC
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About Rocket Software, Zephyr Development Corp.: Rocket Software is a software development firm that offers enterprise infrastructure products and various related services.
Geof Bowie
President and CEO of Sandler Training
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About Iron Egg, Sandler Training: Sandler Training providing consulting, coaching and a set of comprehensive training programs in sales, management, leadership.
Lynne Scheid
Senior Vice President of Human Resources of Kofax
Lynne Scheid is Senior Vice President of Human Resources. She has been with Kofax since 1989. Before joining Kofax, she worked in Human Resources for Century Data Systems (a Xerox company) and Charleston Associates (eventually acquired by Anacomp). Lynne is responsible for all human resources functions. She holds a certificate in Human Resources Management from the University of California, Irvine, and she studied Business Administration at California State University, Fullerton
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About Kofax: Kofax Document Capture develops and markets intelligent capture and exchange related solutions and services.
Jim Nicol
Executive Vice President of Products of Kofax
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About Kofax: Kofax Document Capture develops and markets intelligent capture and exchange related solutions and services.
Ryan Bertrand
Vice President of Enterprise Sales of Degreed
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About Degreed: Degreed is an upskilling platform where individuals and organizations can discover content, build skills, and certify expertise.
Jacqueline E. Hallberg
President & Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin
In May 2012 the Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin (Goodwill) selected Jacqueline (Jackie) Hallberg to succeed John L. Miller as Goodwill’s next President and CEO. She assumed those duties on January 1, 2013. Goodwill is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide training, employment and supportive services to individuals with disabilities and disadvantages that are seeking greater independence. Goodwill’s service territory includes southeastern Wisconsin and the metropolitan Chicago area. In 2017, Goodwill had operating revenue of $312 million and over 6,200 employees. Jackie has more than twenty years experience developing and implementing innovative workforce development programs and leading large-scale operations that provide employment, training and advancement for individuals with disabilities and disadvantages. Jackie has a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Jackie joined Goodwill in 1990 as the Manager of Programs and Administrative Operations in Kenosha and Waukesha Counties. In 1996 she was promoted to Director of Kenosha County, WI and Lake County, IL Programs and played a key role in the development and oversight of Goodwill’s operations at the nationally recognized Kenosha County Job Center, the nation’s first one-stop job center.
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About Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin: Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin’s mission is to provide training, employment and supportive services for people.
Joan B. Farrell
Vice President & General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin
Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer at CoVantage Credit Union.
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About CoVantage Credit Union, Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin: Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin’s mission is to provide training, employment and supportive services for people.
Mark Novad
Senior Vice President – Human Resources of Dream Center Education Holdings
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About Dream Center Education Holdings: DCEH
David Berger
President, Co-Founder and Board Member of Trilogy Education Services
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About Trilogy Education Services: Trilogy Education is a workforce accelerator that powers skills-based training programs in high-demand tech fields at leading universities.
Brian Zotti
Vice President, Global Operations of Trilogy Education Services
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About Options For All, Trilogy Education Services: Trilogy Education is a workforce accelerator that powers skills-based training programs in high-demand tech fields at leading universities.
Bill Turpin
President & CEO of Missouri Innovation Center
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About Missouri Innovation Center: Missouri Innovation Center provides unparalleled entrepreneurial support centered in Columbia, Missouri.
Quinten Messbarger
Vice President of Missouri Innovation Center
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About Missouri Innovation Center: Missouri Innovation Center provides unparalleled entrepreneurial support centered in Columbia, Missouri.
Ryan Schmid
President and CEO of Vera Whole Health
Ryan is Co-founder, President and CEO of Vera Whole Health, the leading direct-to-employer primary care provider in the Western United States. The Vera approach to care replaces today’s sick-care model with provider-patient relationships that guide patients toward optimum social, psychological and physical health on a foundation of empathetic listening. The approach enabled Vera to become the first on-site clinic provider in the United States to earn a Certificate of Validation by the Care Innovations™ Validation Institute for sound population health cost outcomes. Ryan is also the co-founder of Hope Central Pediatric and Behavior Health and Rainier Health and Fitness, non-profits dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of people in low-income areas.
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About Vera Whole Health: Vera Whole Health delivers primary care, acute care, and health coaching via on or near-site clinics.
Amy Lesnick
Chief Executive and President of Pledge 1%
Amy Lesnick is the Chief Executive of Pledge 1%, recently named 2017’s most innovative non-profit by Fast Company, as well as one of the top 50 most innovative companies in the world. Pledge 1% is a global movement to create a new normal where giving back is integrated into the culture and values of companies of all sizes and stages. Over 1800 companies in 50 countries have already joined the movement, including Salesforce, Atlassian, Box, Okta, Optimizely, and Yelp. With over 20 years of experience leading, scaling, and advising early-stage, high-growth ventures, Amy is a tech industry veteran. She’s especially passionate about the intersection of technology and social change, as well as initiatives that simultaneously empower individuals and engage communities. Before taking the reins at Pledge 1%, Amy headed up worldwide growth for cause-related campaigns at Indiegogo and was the CEO of Full Circle Fund for 7 years. Under Amy’s leadership Full Circle Fund was transformed into one of the largest engaged philanthropy organizations in the world, attracting notable supporters such as Al Gore, Sheryl Sandberg, and Reid Hoffman. Prior to Full Circle, Amy’s experience included McKinsey & Co, Netscape—where she launched ‘webmail,’ one of the first web based email programs. Amy has been an advisor/consultant to Stanford’s StartX accelerator, the Jefferson Awards Foundation, Xprize Foundation, and numerous start-up ventures. She also co-founded and instructed UC Berkeley Haas School of Business’ Strategic Philanthropy course based on Full Circle Fund’s innovative model. In 2008 and 2009, San Francisco Business Times named Amy one of the “Bay Area’s Most Influential Women”. In 2010, she was inducted into to the “Forever Influential” Hall of Fame.
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About Pledge 1%: Building a Movement of Corporate Philanthropy
Chase Dittmer
President of Apex Officer
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About Apex Officer, GOVRED: Apex Officer is the best virtual reality training simulator for police officers and law enforcement agencies.
Leanne Sherred
President and Co-Founder of Expressable
Leanne Sherred is the President and Co-Founder of Expressable.
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About Expressable: Expressable is an online speech therapy practice for those with a communication disorder.
Jacob Hornberger
Founder and President of The Future of Freedom Foundation
Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education. He has advanced freedom and free markets on talk-radio stations all across the country as well as on Fox News’ Neil Cavuto and Greta van Susteren shows and he appeared as a regular commentator on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show Freedom Watch.
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About The Future of Freedom Foundation: The Future of Freedom Foundation was founded in 1989 by FFF president Jacob Hornberger with the aim of establishing an educational
Bart Frazier
Vice President of The Future of Freedom Foundation
Bart Frazier is program director at The Future of Freedom Foundation.
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About The Future of Freedom Foundation: The Future of Freedom Foundation was founded in 1989 by FFF president Jacob Hornberger with the aim of establishing an educational
Julie Jackson
Vice President of Learning of Defy Ventures
Julie Jackson-Forsberg is Defy’s Vice President of Learning. With twenty years’ experience in education, specifically devoted to underdogs, Julie is dedicated to helping people maximize their potential. Her experience is concentrated in instructional program development, curriculum, and data analysis. Prior to joining the Defy team, she served as the Chief Academic Officer of the Public Preparatory Network of charter schools, the founder and Managing Director of Critical Thinking Works, an education consultancy; and the founder and Head of School for Oracle Charter School in Buffalo, New York, a college-preparatory charter high school. Julie has an Executive MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Saunders School of Business; she is a past Fellow of the Peabody Professional Institute in Charter School Leadership at Vanderbilt University; she has completed coursework in Educational Leadership and Administration through George Washington University; MA work in English / Composition Studies through Northeastern University; and a BA in Creative Writing and Chemistry through Hamilton College.
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About Defy Ventures: Defy Ventures is a national entrepreneurship, employment, and personal development training program.
Michael Goodwin
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of PetSmart
Michael Goodwin joined PetSmart in June 2014 as senior vice president and chief information officer. He has more than 20 years of information technology experience, most recently serving as senior vice president and chief information officer of Technology and Business Enablement at Hallmark. Michael began his career at Hallmark as an end-user technology analyst in 1990 and has held positions of increasing responsibility, culminating with his promotion to SVP and CIO in 2006 when he was also named a corporate officer. Prior to joining Hallmark Cards, he served as an officer in the United States Army. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan.
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About Burlington Stores, PetSmart: PetSmart is a specialty pet retailer of products, services, and solutions for pets in the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
Chris McCurdy
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain of PetSmart
Chris McCurdy is the Senior Vice President of supply chain at PetSmart. He joined the company in November 2006 as vice president of Transportation. He has served in a variety of leadership roles within Supply Chain, most recently as vice president of Replenishment and Vendor Management. In 2014, Chris was named senior vice president of Supply Chain. Prior to joining PetSmart, Chris worked for Gap, Inc. for nine years in Supply Chain roles with progressively increased responsibility. Chris also previously worked at Andersen Windows, serving in customer service and Supply Chain roles. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Logistics from Pennsylvania State University, and is a pet parent to a rescue dog named Chance.
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About PetSmart: PetSmart is a specialty pet retailer of products, services, and solutions for pets in the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
Karen Walker
President, owner, and chief executive officer of Allied Instructional Services
The President and CEO of Allied Instructional Services received her bachelor’s degree in vision disabilities with a dual certification in Vision Impairments and Orientation and Mobility from Florida State University (FSU). She continued at FSU to receive her Master’s degree in special education with a concentration in emotional disabilities and learning disabilities. She has been working in the field of blindness/vision impairments and education for the past 25 years and has been privately contracting services for the past 17 years. During her years as an educator, she has been a mentor teacher for student teachers/interns and first-year teachers, and she has been employed as an Internship Supervisor for the Vision Program at George Mason University and James Madison University. She is a Past President of the Virginia Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Vision Impaired and has served on the Membership Committee at the National Level. She is dedicated to ensuring that all students receive the appropriate educational services that they need to succeed. Karen began Allied Instructional Services in 2010 with the intention to expand her offering of services to the following service areas: Vision, Orientation and Mobility, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Interpreters. Karen has built a leadership staff that has expertise in the above respective areas.
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About Allied Instructional Services: Allied Instructional Services provides professional staff and programs for schools and government agencies.
Matt McConnell
President & CEO of Intradiem
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About Intradiem: Intradiem is a software compay that provides an Intelligent Assistant for customer service teams.
Emily Hoffman
Vice President of Development & Delivery of VitalSmarts
As vice president of development and delivery, Emily is integral to the success of the company’s training products. Under her leadership, VitalSmarts creates and develops the company’s award-winning line of training products as well as supports a community of more than six thousand certified training professionals with nationwide development opportunities, conferences, and training implementation tools. Emily also travels around the world speaking, training, and consulting to the VitalSmarts roster of Fortune 500 clients. She graduated from Emory University with a BA in English, and received an MD from the University of Utah School of Medicine and an MBA from the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University.
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About VitalSmarts: VitalSmarts trains influencers about accountability, change, and more.
Archie Barrett
Executive Vice-President of Product Management of Intertek Alchemy
EVP Product Management at Alchemy Systems
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About Intertek Alchemy: Intertek Alchemy is the global leader in food and workplace safety training for production workers.
Raj Shah
President of Intertek Alchemy
Raj Shah has over 20 years of experience in strategy, entrepreneurship, sales, and marketing in the technology industry. Raj combines the experience of the operating executive with the mindset of the management consultant to help clients build sustainable growth. He began his career as an accountant, which has enabled him to bring a keen analytical eye to marketing and sales performance metrics. As a management consultant for McKinsey, he provided strategic and operational advice to Fortune 500 companies in a variety of sectors. And as an entrepreneur, he has been a founder or early executive in several Austin and Silicon Valley based start-ups and emerging-growth companies. From 2007 to 2010, Raj was the Chief Marketing Officer of NComputing, the leader in virtual desktop computing. As CMO, Raj was responsible for marketing strategy, business development, product marketing and field marketing. Working closely with the sales team, Raj helped increase revenues 300%. From 2001 to 2006, Raj was the CMO of ClearCube Technology, the leader in centralized computing. He was instrumental in helping the company set the product, marketing and partnership strategy that enabled the company revenue to grow revenues over 800% in five years. Raj also led the business development function that built partnerships with IBM and Lenovo; and built the ClearCube channel model and the international expansion strategy. Prior to ClearCube, he was the co-founder and CMO of SiteStuff, a successful e-procurement service for the commercial real estate industry (acquired by Yardi Systems). He was also the vice president of marketing at pcOrder.com, a pioneer in e-commerce software and services for the computer industry (acquired by Trilogy Software). Previous to pcOrder, Raj was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company. At McKinsey, he advised Fortune 500 companies on strategy, restructuring, product design, marketing, and organization design in the computer, retail, and manufacturing and entertainment sectors. Raj began his professional career at the Federal Reserve Bank and General Binding Corporation. Raj received his MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Northwestern) and B.S. in Accountancy from LSU. He is a sought-after speaker on marketing and emerging markets strategy and has presented at numerous conferences including Harvard Business School, InterOp, Goldman Sachs, and United Nations.
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About Intertek Alchemy: Intertek Alchemy is the global leader in food and workplace safety training for production workers.
Erin Silver
Executive Vice-President of Client Services of Intertek Alchemy
As an early member of the Alchemy team, Erin has at one time or another managed Alchemy’s marketing, customer support, operations, and training activities. As VP of Customer Operations, Erin serves on Alchemy’s executive team and is responsible for ensuring customer satisfaction throughout the customer life cycle. Previously, Erin worked for over 10 years at Sachem, Inc., an Austin-based manufacturer of specialty chemicals. Erin holds a B.S. in Nutrition from the University of Texas.
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About Intertek Alchemy: Intertek Alchemy is the global leader in food and workplace safety training for production workers.
LaVon Koerner
Co-Founder, President & Chief Revenue Officer of Revenue Storm
With more than two decades of international consulting experience in sales and marketing effectiveness, LaVon Koerner is recognized worldwide as a leading expert in diagnosing and transforming sales and marketing organizations. He passionately believes that companies and people can tap systematic disciplines and rigorous analysis to unleash profitable revenues and professionalize the business of sales. Prior to co-founding Revenue Storm, LaVon spent fifteen years with Holden Corporation, ultimately as its president. He developed their core training methodology, which has been installed in hundreds of organizations worldwide. A thought leader and a coach, LaVon has helped many of today’s Fortune 500 companies achieve sales excellence, including EDS, Sun Microsystems, Ericsson, British Telecom, Ernst and Young and Microsoft and he is uniquely positioned at the forefront of design and installation of sales and marketing methodologies. The majority of LaVon’s work involves evaluating and assisting under-leveraged sales and marketing organizations and analyzing market dynamics in a wide array of industries resulting in the creation of a sales process that reduces the costs of sales while increasing revenue through aggressive market share acquisition. An in demand speaker, LaVon’s passionate and entertaining style endears him to his audiences. He is the author of numerous articles, papers and an upcoming book series and his article “Revenue Storm Sales Analysis of US Presidential Campaign” captured news media and analyst attention.
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About Revenue Storm: Revenue Storm is a sales consulting firm that helps clients implement processes and disciplines to drive sustained revenue acceleration.
Sidney Fernandes
Vice President IT/CIO USF System of University of South Florida
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About University of South Florida: University of South Florida is a public research university located in Tampa, Florida.
Paul Dosal
Vice President for Student Affairs and Student Success of University of South Florida
Paul Dosal is the Vice President for Student Affairs & Student Success at the University of South Florida. In that position, he is responsible for coordinating the university-wide student success initiative, a strategic campaign to raise retention and graduation rates, boost student satisfaction, minimize financial indebtedness, and prepare all students for success in their careers or graduate and professional schools.
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About University of South Florida, University of South Florida: University of South Florida is a public research university located in Tampa, Florida.
Gwendolyn King
Founder & President of Podium Prose
Gwendolyn S. King is President of Podium Prose, a speakers bureau and speechwriting service, in Washington, D.C. Prior to her launch of the company, Gwendolyn was Senior Vice President of Corporate and Public Affairs for PECO Energy Company (formerly Philadelphia Electric Company) from 1992 until her retirement in February 1998. From 1989 to 1992, Gwendolyn served as the 11th Commissioner of the Social Security Administration under President George H. W. Bush. Gwendolyn was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as Deputy Assistant and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House from 1986 to 1988. While there, Gwendolyn was appointed to the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the Inter agency Committee on Women’s Business Enterprise and later, the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development. Gwendolyn was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Commission on the Social Security Notch Issue and by President George W. Bush to the Presidential Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Prior to her Presidential appointments, Gwendolyn directed the Pennsylvania Governor’s Washington, D.C. office for six years, following her service as senior legislative assistant to US Senator John Heinz (R-PA). Gwendolyn was a Founding Partner of The Directors’ Council. Gwendolyn is a Member of the Board of Directors of Lockheed Martin Corporation and Monsanto Company and ended 12 years of service on the board of Marsh and McLennan Companies in May 2011. Gwendolyn served for six years as Member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Corporate Directors, from 2004-2010. Gwendolyn was a Member of the Board of Trustees at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA. Gwendolyn graduated from Howard University and did graduate work at George Washington University. Gwendolyn received honorary doctorates from the University of New Haven and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the American Black Achievement Award from Johnson Publishing Company; and the Drum Major for Justice Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The Washington Business Journal has selected her as an Outstanding Director in 2012. Gwendolyn is married to Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist Colbert I. King. The couple has endowed a Chair in Public Policy at Howard University.
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About Podium Prose: Podium Prose, a speakers bureau and speechwriting service, in Washington, D.C.
Josette Fleszar
President & CEO of Jigsaw
Josette brings to Jigsaw Interactive more than 30 years of hands-on and managerial experience, particularly in the healthcare financing and IT industries. A co-founder of the company and co-creator of its patented technology, she is responsible with key team members for the creation, planning and implementation of the Jigsaw’s immersive virtual engagement platform. She oversees all operations and business activities according to established technology and business best practices and the core values of ICARE (Integrity, Customer Service, Accountability, Results and Excellence).
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About Jigsaw: Jigsaw offers an online meeting system that provides real-time interaction between meeting participants.
Julie Mikuta
President, Education of Schusterman Foundation
Julie Mikuta is the Managing Director of the Learning to Teach Fund in the NewSchools Venture Fund’s Oakland office, where she focuses on the firm’s human capital investment strategy as well as management assistance for a variety of portfolio ventures. Julie has long been committed to improving public education through entrepreneurial education efforts as well as through public service. Prior to joining NewSchools, Julie was Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at EdBuild. Previously, she led trainings for school board and superintendent-teams of large urban districts at the Center for Reform of School Systems, through an initiative supported by The Broad Foundation. Julie also served as an elected member of the DC Board of Education from 2001 until 2004. During her time on the school board, Julie also worked as Vice President of Alumni Affairs for Teach For America, where she developed programming for the organization’s 10,000 alumni. Julie chairs the board of Stand for Children, and is on the advisory board of Capital Teacher Residency. She also helped found Washington DC’s SEED Public Charter School, interned at the White House Domestic Policy Council, and served on the DC Public Charter School Board’s application review and monitoring teams. Julie began her career in education teaching high school science in New Orleans through Teach For America. Julie received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and her doctorate from Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar.
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About Schusterman Foundation: Schusterman Foundation is a global organization that aims to unleash the power in young people to create positive change for themselves.
Katharine DeShaw
President / Founder of Philanthropology
Katharine DeShaw is a consultant and teacher devoted to best practices in philanthropy and nonprofit management. Ms. DeShaw has led successful grant- making programs and delivered record-breaking fundraising campaigns for arts, health, and social service-related causes throughout her career. She has proven expertise working with international leadership from the fields of philanthropy, technology, business, politics, and entertainment. She has experience in all areas of nonprofit philanthropy, including crowdfunding. She is currently writing a book about her life in philanthropy to be published by the web platform NationBuilder in 2015.
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About Philanthropology: Philanthropology offers strategic counsel, fundraising back office, and expert training for nonprofits.
Cale Bruckner
President of Concentric Sky
I’m an accomplished technology executive with almost twenty years of industry experience. A skilled strategist, product leader, marketer and team builder with a proven track record of success in growing technology businesses and leading teams to build and launch innovative technology products. I’m an idea guy that has the experience, capability and resources to get it done. Especially strong in the areas of leadership, planning, process improvement, business development, product planning and product delivery. I’m passionate about supporting early stage companies and the Oregon startup community. I launched a campaign to brand the Eugene-Springfield technology community the Silicon Shire in an effort to increase national visibility and attract talent. I’m involved with the Technology Association of Oregon and I mentor University of Oregon MBA students and businesses participating in the RAIN Eugene accelerator. As CEO of Concentric Sky Ventures, I’m working to build partnerships and strategic relationships with local technology startups. Currently, Vice President, at design and engineering consultancy Concentric Sky. Former VP Product Development at Palo Alto Software, makers of the best-selling business planning tools LivePlan.com and Business Plan Pro. Board member at the McKenzie River Trust and the Oregon Center for Digital Learning. Specialties: Consumer software design and development, enterprise software engineering, software product management, software product development, project management, product specifications, software usability, software user interfaces, mobile development (iOS, Android), web development, and team building.
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About Concentric Sky, Concentric Sky: Concentric Sky is an award-winning software development company with a focus on end-to-end product design and realization. Makers of Badgr.
Jeremy Mancheski
President & Founder of OutSolve
Jeremy Mancheski is a Principal and founder at OutSolve. Having been involved in affirmative action plan implementation and employment consulting for over 20 years, he has been responsible for the preparation and implementation for tens of thousands of AAPs and supported clients – ranging from Fortune 100 companies to startups – through hundreds of compliance evaluations within every region of the country. He is a current Board Member and Past President and Vice President of the Louisiana Liaison Group. He also took the role of Program Chair for the 2011 ILG National Conference in New Orleans. Jeremy can often be found at a local field or gym with his wife, supporting their two children.
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About OutSolve: OutSolve is a a widely-respected, national consulting firm whose sole focus is affirmative action planning and compliance.
Michael Macedonia
Assistant Vice President for Research and Innovation of University of Central Florida
Michael R. Macedonia is the Assistant Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Central Florida, Deputy Director for the UCF Applied Research Institute, and Co-PI of the DIA-sponsored Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (IC CAE). UCF is the largest university in the United States and the largest producer of engineering graduates for the US aerospace industry. He is a computer scientist and an expert on simulation technologies. Prior to joining UCF, he was a Vice President and Technical Fellow at SAIC, and a General Manager for a virtual world software startup. Previously, he was a member of the Senior Executive Service and Director of the Disruptive Technology Office (now IARPA) for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Washington, DC. IARPA is the U.S. intelligence community’s centrally funded research activity for advanced technology. Prior to DTO, he was the Chief Technology Officer for PEO STRI (formerly STRICOM) in Orlando, FL and was responsible for the technology strategy of the U.S. Army’s lead simulation and training system development organization. During this time, Dr. Macedonia was the STRICOM lead in developing the Institute for Creative Technology (ICT). Before coming to Orlando, Dr. Macedonia was Vice President for Research at the Fraunhofer Center for Research in Computer Graphics in Providence, RI, which developed breakthrough telemedicine technology for DARPA. He also served as an Army officer in infantry and intelligence positions and as a member of the Uniformed Army Scientist Corps. He has a Ph.D. in computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School, a MS in Telecommunications from the University of Pittsburgh, and BS in Electrical Engineering from the United States Military Academy, West Point. He is a member of the IEEE Computer Society, the Association of Computing Machinery and the Army Science Board.
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About University of Central Florida: University of Central Florida is an American public research university in Orlando, Forida.
John Donohue
Vice President, Enterprise Services of Penn Medicine
John P. Donohue is the Vice President & Enterprise Services at Penn Medicine .
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About Penn Medicine: Penn Medicine is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, providing medical research and education services.
Niko Gianopoulos
CEO/President of Sparta Consulting Group
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About Sparta Consulting Group: Sparta Consulting Group is a leading marketing and sales firm in Hollywood, FL, contracted by Fortune 100 and 500 clients.
Ihab Shahawi
President & CEO of SAILS Group
Ihab Shahawi is the founder and CEO of The SAILS Group, Inc. an international agency committed to the quality of care, supervision and training of adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. An expert in his field, Ihab Shahawi has applied his learned business acumen to the assistance of developmentally and intellectually challenged individuals. The result has been a unique, scalable system and philosophy, as exemplified by the SAILS Group, yielding a 99 percent success rate among individuals placed. Success is measured by improvement in overall well being, reduction in inappropriate behavior, and an increase in skills and appropriate behavior. Ihab Shahawi is also the Managing member of the Legacy Holding Company, which provides project consultation on alternative energy, sustainable construction and other organic, earth-friendly products. He has been the recipient of various achievement awards, including the Who’s Who in California Businessmen “Golden State Award” in 1990 and the Metropolitan Who’s Who “Healthcare Executive of the Year” in 2006.
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About SAILS Group: Committed to the quality of care, supervision and training of adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Alan Ram
Founder & President of Alan Ram’s Proactive Training Solutions
Alan Ram, President and Founder of Alan Ram’s Proactive Training Solutions, is recognized by most as the best in the automotive industry at increasing individual, as well as dealership, productivity through effective utilization of the telephone, Internet, and client base management. He has worked, and continues to work, with tens of thousands of salespeople, managers, business development and Internet staff from coast to coast as well as internationally. Alan has worked with several manufacturers over the years and his training has been a staple of Chrysler’s certification program at over 2300 dealerships nationwide. He is an original partner on NADA University. His workshop, “Five Simple Strategies to Sell More Cars Now,” was the number one attended session at the 2012 NADA convention. Alan combines his sharp sense of humor along with a real world approach to convey a strong tactical set of processes that are easy to implement. Alan served proudly in the United States Marine Corps prior to beginning his career in the automotive industry. He currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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About Alan Ram’s Proactive Training Solutions: Alan Ram’s Proactive Training Solutions is the automotive industry leader in dealership management, telephone, Internet, and BDC training.
Benjamin Bradley
President & Chief Operating Officer of AMOpportunities
Benjamin Bradley is the co-founder at AMOpportunities.
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About AMOpportunities: AMOpportunities connects international medical students and graduates with U.S. physicians and institutions for clinical experiences.
David Lassner
President & Chief Information Officer of University of Hawaii
David Lassner was appointed University of Hawai‘i president effective July 1, 2014. Prior to that appointment he served as interim president from September 1, 2013. He has worked at the university since 1977, and was most recently its vice president for information technology and chief information officer. Lassner is also a member of the university’s graduate faculty and has taught both online and in-person in computer science, communications, business and education. In his prior positions Lassner played an active leadership role in a variety of local, national and international information and communications technology organizations. He served on the boards of Hawai‘i’s High Technology Development Corporation and Public Broadcasting Service affiliate and he chaired the state’s Broadband Task Force. Lassner also served on the board of Internet2 and was a co-founder and board member of the Kuali Foundation, a founding steering committee member and past-chair of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) cooperative and past-chair of the board of EDUCAUSE, the major professional association for information technology in higher education. Lassner led a major statewide federally funded project that interconnected public schools, libraries and campuses on six islands with fiber optics and has received multiple awards from the National Science Foundation focused on research and education networking and cyberinfrastructure. He is principal investigator for the Maui High Performance Computing Center and for the Pacific Disaster Center, major Department of Defense programs on Maui. Lassner earned an AB in economics summa cum laude and MS in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a PhD in communication and information sciences from the University of Hawai‘i. He has been recognized with Internet2’s Richard Rose Award, WCET’s Richard Jonsen Award and as a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Hawai’i.
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About University of Hawaii: The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation was established in 1955 to encourage private support for the University of Hawaiʻi.
John Vlastelica
Managing Director, Founder & President of Recruiting Toolbox
John Vlastelica is the managing director of Recruiting Toolbox, a consulting and training firm focused 100 percent on helping recruiters and hiring managers recruit better. Startups to big global brands — including PepsiCo, Google, Nike, Booking, IKEA, Starbucks, and Pokemon — hire his team of former recruiting leaders to build custom training for their recruiters and hiring managers. He is a former recruiting director with Amazon and Expedia, instructor for Recruiting Leadership Labs, and a popular speaker at conferences in the U.S. and Europe.
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About Recruiting Toolbox, Recruiting Toolbox: Helping Companies Recruit Better
Victoria Zambito
Executive Vice President of Communications and Brand of Vector Solutions
I’ve been with RedVector since its first year in business, and I am often asked what it is about our company that makes it so special. I can sum it up in just a thought. When I find a job I love and a company where I know I can help make a difference, I am not going anywhere. RedVector is that place for me. It embodies the things I value most in a job. It’s a challenge every day. It’s rewarding every day. I learn something new every day. And I definitely laugh every day. As part of the RedVector executive team, I am responsible for, and have been successful in, growing a highly profitable online education business year over year for the past 17 years. As Senior Vice President of Product, Content and Communication for Vector Solutions, parent company of RedVector, I am responsible for aligning and rationalizing Vectors’ extensive library of over 5,000 courses across its multiple brands, enhancing, standardizing and modernizing content, driving creative, agile solutions to deliver products and centralizing strategic communications and public relations as the company seeks to develop its brand around the globe. I apply a deep understanding of market drivers, competitive environment, continuing education, eLearning, and company goals that significantly impact the key strategies and execution of programs to position Vector Solutions’ training and development products and services as a market leader.
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About Vector Solutions: Leading provider of technology solutions dedicated to driving safer, smarter decision-making in the world’s most essential industries.
Tammy Daigle
Vice President of Operations of Vector Solutions
The best way to learn is to teach. This is something I have lived by in my career and this philosophy has helped me to grow personally and professionally. I am excited about technology and how it is constantly changing and enhancing how we work, live, play, and best of all, learn. It with this excitement that I lead the Operations team at RedVector. In this role, I am responsible for Account Management, Client Support and Program Management and I work hard to help RedVector customers understand and use eLearning technology to better serve their own employees and customers and improve operations. I have worked in the technology and communications fields for more than 25 years and started three successful businesses (technology consulting firm, a social networking website and strategic consulting service for non-profits), mentored countless high school and college students as well as junior executives in technology and science careers, developed award winning communications and engineering systems and led multi-million dollar certified project management initiatives. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, mentoring young people, traveling, and spending time with family. I have traveled the world personally and professionally and done mission trips to Nigeria and Haiti. I have 2 children (son Kadin and daughter Christina) and am married to the love of my life, Christopher.
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About Vector Solutions: Leading provider of technology solutions dedicated to driving safer, smarter decision-making in the world’s most essential industries.
Louis Csoka
Founder and President of Apex Performance
Louis S. Csoka, PhD, BCB, President and Founder, has designed, developed, and implemented Leadership Development programs with primary focus on sustained peak performance. He has successfully delivered targeted results as a performance consultant with various organizations across a multitude of disciplines and industries. He has worked with organizations in applying peak performance technology as the primary lever for achieving extraordinary results.
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About Apex Performance: APEX PERFORMANCE is the science behind the art of leadership development and peak performance.
Jerry Weissman
Founder & President of Power Presentations, Ltd.
Jerry Weissman is the world’s number one corporate presentations coach. His private client list reads like a Who’s Who of the world’s best companies, including top brass at Trulia, Mobileye, CyberArk, MobileIron, Yahoo!, Intel, Intuit, Cisco, Microsoft, Netflix, Dolby Labs, eBay and many others. Jerry founded Power Presentations, Ltd. in 1988. One of his earliest efforts was the Cisco Systems IPO road show. Following its successful launch, Don Valentine, of Sequoia Capital and then chairman of Cisco’s Board of Directors, attributed “at least two to three dollars” of the offering price to Jerry’s coaching. That endorsement led to nearly 600 other IPO roadshow presentations that have raised hundreds of billions of dollars in the stock market. Over the last 26 years Mr. Weissman’s focus widened from coaching IPOs to include public and privately held companies. His techniques have helped 1000 plus firms successfully develop and deliver their crucial business presentations. Mr. Weissman is also the author of five bestselling books Presenting to Win, The Power Presenter, In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions, Presentations in Action, and Winning Strategies for Power Presentations.
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About Power Presentations, Ltd.: Coaching the art and science of powerful presentations. Power Presentations, Ltd offers presentation coaching to enhance corporate value.
Gregory Bauer
CEO, President and Co-Founder of ESC Business Solutions
Greg co-founded ESC in 1995 and currently serves as President, leading the Executive Team and overseeing all functions of the business. Prior to founding ESC, Greg ran a family auto business. While in that role, he recognized that a company that could help businesses with employment administration and human resources would be a valuable addition to the WNY marketplace. Shortly thereafter, he co-founded Employer Services Corporation. Under Greg’s leadership, ESC has grown organically from a start-up business with two employees to an INC Magazine fastest growing company with over fifty employees and is continuing to grow. In addition to appearing on the INC Magazine list 6 times, ESC has been recognized with a number of other awards, including Best Places to Work in WNY, Buffalo Business First’s Fast Track 50, and WNY’s Top Private Employers to name a few. In addition to his role at ESC, Greg is active in the community. He is a Founding Trustee and President of the Charles D. & Mary A. Bauer Family Foundation, which provides philanthropic gifts to organizations focusing on education and the arts. He also sits on the Board of Trustees of University at Buffalo Foundation, currently serving as Chair. Greg’s vision for the business and commitment to WNY serve as guiding principles for ESC.
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About ESC Business Solutions: ESC Business Solutions provides human resources outsourcing services for businesses in the United States.
Kim Bartolotti
Executive Vice-President of Strategic Operations & Chief Information Officer of ESC Business Solutions
Kim joined ESC in 2004 as our Director of Strategic Operations. Prior to joining ESC, Kim was the Director of Human Resources and Corporate Administration for Voice Technologies Group, Inc.(VTG), a local technology company who was acquired by Intel in 2001. Kim’s initial role with VTG was similar to that of her current position with ESC and her contributions were instrumental in the success and growth of VTG. She also was an integral part of acquisition team and once, with Intel, she assumed responsibility for managing the human resources function for four different Intel sites in New York, Toronto, New Jersey and Massachusetts serving over 1200 employees. Kim’s experience with ESC dates back to her days with VTG when she selected ESC as a value-added vendor providing enhanced human resources outsourcing services to VTG’s employees and owners. Kim brings over 25 years of business and human resources experience to ESC and its customers. Her role is to focus on the evaluation of strategic projects and continuous improvement of core business practices in support of ESC’s mission to earn customer loyalty on a daily basis.
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About ESC Business Solutions: ESC Business Solutions provides human resources outsourcing services for businesses in the United States.
Martin Schwartz
President of Vehicles for Change
Martin started Vehicles for Change (VFC) in April 1999 with $30,000 in personal funds invested by senior management of Precision CertiPro Warehouse, an auto parts distributor. Martin has directed an expansion that included Maryland, most of Virginia, Washington DC and Detroit, Michigan. VFC was selected as a “best practice” organization in a national study completed by the “National Economic Development and Law Center” and generally recognized as one of the premiere low-income car ownership programs in the country. In 2005 Martin started Freedom Wheels, a retail used-car business that is a subsidiary of VFC. He was selected as the University of Baltimore 2007 Social Entrepreneur of the Year and the Baltimore Visitors and Convention Bureaus “Sales Person of the Year” award. In 2011, Martin was recognized as an “Influential Marylander” by the Daily Record and Vehicles for Change received the MassMutual Citizenship Award for its private-public partnership developed with Precision Tune Auto Care. Martin co-authored a book on Social Enterprise titled Effective Social Enterprise: Practical Advice and Best Practices from Leaders in the Field and serves on the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board and the local Board of the Social Enterprise Alliance.
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About Vehicles for Change: Vehicles for Change is a company that helps people donate their old cars for tax benefits.
Joe Marziani
Executive Vice President Of Sales of Oxford Medical Simulation
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About Oxford Medical Simulation: Oxford Medical Simulation is delivers virtual reality medical simulation – training healthcare professionals.
Krish Mani
President, CEO of Mobiplex
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About Mobiplex: Mobiplex develops ProView and Motion Analysis with sports motion detecting technologies to improve the skill levels of sports enthusiasts.
Karl Williams
President of Pacific Architects and Engineers
Karl Williams serves as President of PAE, responsible for the company’s operational excellence and growth strategy. He joined PAE in 2014 as Chief Operating Officer and in that role oversaw the company’s three business units. Before joining PAE, Karl served as the Vice President and General Manager of Engility’s $620M government services business. Prior to that role, he served as Engility’s Business Controller and was responsible for the financial management of the company’s operational assets deployed worldwide. Karl has also served as Vice President of Harris Corporation’s Commercial Management Services, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of Multimax, and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Vodium. Karl held several leadership positions within Lockheed Martin, Martin Marietta and General Electric, and he served as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Master’s degree in Systems Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic and State University, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
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About Pacific Architects and Engineers: Pacific Architects and Engineers provider of services that support military readiness, peacekeeping missions, nation building activities.
Charles Anderson
President of Technical Services of Pacific Architects and Engineers
Charles (Chuck) Anderson joined PAE in January 2017 as the President of its Technical Services business unit. In this role, Chuck provides operational and strategic leadership of a $1B portfolio of infrastructure and base operations, aviation services, test and training ranges, and expeditionary logistics. Before joining PAE, Chuck served as the Senior Vice President of Facility and Logistics Services at Vectrus. Prior to this role at Vectrus, which spun out of Exelis in 2014, Chuck served as the Businesses Area Vice President and General Manager in the Mission Systems Division of Exelis. Chuck retired from United States Army in 2011 at the rank of Major General, following 32 years of service. In his last active duty role, he served as the Commanding General of Division West at Fort Hood, Texas, where he was responsible for training and validating Logistics, Security and Aviation units for global operations. Chuck earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, as well as Masters’ degrees in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, Business Administration from Long Island University, Physical Education from Indiana University and Systems Management from the University of Southern California.
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About Pacific Architects and Engineers: Pacific Architects and Engineers provider of services that support military readiness, peacekeeping missions, nation building activities.
Kenneth Myers
President of National Security Solutions of Pacific Architects and Engineers
Kenneth (Ken) Myers is President of PAE’s National Security Solutions (NSS) business unit. With nearly 3,000 employees, the NSS business unit provides full spectrum identity management services, forensic and biometric operations, analysis and comprehensive training to customers engaged in complex national security missions worldwide. Prior to joining PAE, Ken served for nearly seven years as Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and US Strategic Command’s Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction. As the longest serving leader in this role, Ken was responsible for providing expertise and capabilities to the Combatant Commands and military services and overseeing a $2 billion research and development portfolio. His achievements while in this role have been recognized with three Department of Defense Joint Meritorious Unit Awards and numerous science and technology accolades. Prior to his role at DTRA, Ken served for six years as a Senior Professional Staff Member on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He managed a team responsible for overseeing nonproliferation, counter-proliferation, and counter-terrorism programs; arms control treaties; arms sales; annual authorization for the Department of State; and the development of legislative strategy for Committee legislation and nominations. He served as the Senior Legislative Assistant for National Security in the Office of Senator Richard Lugar for eight years prior to that. Ken earned a Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech University with concentrations in Political Science, International Affairs, History and English before completing a Master’s degree in World Politics at the Catholic University of America. Most recently, Ken completed The Corporate Leader program at Harvard Business School, focused on corporate leadership, strategy, finance and governance.
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About Pacific Architects and Engineers: Pacific Architects and Engineers provider of services that support military readiness, peacekeeping missions, nation building activities.
