These critical, non-C-suite contributors work the long hours, build the products, and run the projects that propel our businesses forward. What all of these individuals have in common is their exceptional work contributions, their positive energy and attitude, and their remarkable community impact.
The Tech 25 Class of 2022 was honored during a special joint event with the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Tech Exec of the Year awards.
They are critical and exceptional performers helping to grow our community’s tech and tech-enabled companies, but who — not being the CEO or other C-suite executives — don’t get celebrated publicly as often as they deserve.
Team members are nominated by executive leadership. Limit one nominee per company.
Tech 25 winners represent a wide range of roles within tech companies, such as software developers, financial analysts, marketing directors, and product managers. In addition to being star performers at their companies, winners are committed team players who build others up through mentoring, volunteering and positive example, and are committed to contributing to the broader community.
“Without our development team, we couldn’t lead our clients to activate their digital and online customer experience. Leaning into full-stack development capabilities is a big deal for a marketing services company because it enables tight control over key integrations so we can deliver ROI to clients and elegant experiences to consumers.”
Tiffany Sauder, President, Element Three
“It’s an incredible honor to be selected as one of Indiana’s Tech 25 winners. The community that TechPoint has built is one that I’ve enjoyed and been a part of for a couple years now, which makes this selection all the more meaningful.”
San Pathak, VP Technology, Element Three
Katie Baird serves as Content Marketing Specialist at Codelicious. A proud graduate of Butler University, Katie joined Codelicious as employee number four. Katie is a hard-working, growth-minded marketer, who sets an example for the team by embodying the Codelicious culture. Outside of the office, Katie serves as a mentor for high-school women as they prepare for college and careers. She’s a novice drummer, an avid runner, and a University of Michigan basketball fan.
Drew Beechler is the Director of Marketing at High Alpha, an Indianapolis-based venture studio. Since High Alpha’s inception, Drew has been responsible for building and overseeing all aspects of its brand marketing strategy. He also advises and leads marketing and brand development in the early days for High Alpha Studio companies. While at High Alpha, he’s had the privilege to help create and launch over 25 world-class brands, including Zylo, MetaCX, Docket, Casted, Bolster, Mandolin, Demandwell, Filo, and many more. Drew began his career as a part of the Orr Fellowship and spent his early career at ExactTarget and Salesforce.
Brad Beutler is the Director of Content Marketing at Terminus where he leads the overall content strategy for all stages of the sales funnel. He joined Terminus via the Sigstr acquisition, where he started with the founding team as marketer #1 and helped build a category-leading brand. Brad’s Sigstr + Terminus content has gained recognition in the last few years by winning “Best Customer Lifecycle Campaign” and the “B2B Choice Award for Content of the Year” at the Killer Content Awards. He and his wife, Jennie, reside in Fountain Square with their mini husky Blue and newly born son, Brooks.
Drew is the Director of Marketing and Acquisition at DemandJump. Drew’s background in analytics allows him to lead the marketing team at DemandJump utilizing a data-driven approach. An Indianapolis native, since graduating from Indiana University, Drew has been involved in the Indy tech community. He has also been a mentor to Indianapolis teenagers through the Starfish Initiative over the last 5 years. Beyond DemandJump and mentoring Drew enjoys learning new things, playing golf with friends, and spending his free time with his wife and two young children.
Kat Gordon is the Head of Customer Success at Malomo, where she leads a talented team of success managers and implementation specialists to define and execute a world-class implementation, support, and customer success strategy. Prior to Malomo, Kat discovered her passion for customer experience as a hotel inspector and restaurant critic throughout North America. This experience led her to founding a direct-to-consumer eCommerce business specializing in curated cocktail kits, which became a national market leader. Her bootstrapped business was successfully acquired in 2018. She was named to High Alpha’s inaugural Emerging Leaders Class of 2020 and currently mentors fellow entrepreneurs in the Indianapolis community.
Sally Perkins is an Insight Storyteller at Authenticx, where she analyzes call center interactions, surfacing and presenting compelling, data-backed, customer and patient stories to help clients hear the voices and needs of the people they serve. Both within and outside of Authenticx, she serves community organizations, training people to craft and tell strategic stories for advocacy, sales, data communication, and fundraising. On nights and weekends, Sally travels the country, performing stories of all sort: historical, wisdom, personal and ghoulish. Holding a Ph.D. in rhetorical studies, she also teaches public speaking and strategic storytelling at Butler University.
Since earning a PhD in astronomy, Owen Boberg’s data and engineering efforts have enabled the science of hundreds of researchers. In academia, Owen developed open source software pipelines and simulations, helping scientists plan 10 years of night sky observations for a petabyte-scale telescope project. Owen most recently shifted into civic tech, leading data science initiatives across state agencies. His contributions helping to develop and scale the Management Performance Hub’s Enhanced Research Environment were critical to enable Indiana’s covid response. In his free time, Owen enjoys attempting to be a blues guitarist, long distance running, smoking meats, and watching the Cubs.
As we witness an unprecedented wave of innovation in human biology with a range of therapeutic modalities coming to fruition with the concurrent wave of innovation in digitization and artificial intelligence, Andrea de Souza continues to be instrumental as an innovator and world leader in the transformative use of data, technology and analytics that positively impacts healthcare. An immigrant, a market maker, a translator and a strong proponent for women in STEM, Andrea integrates her love of art with strategy, science and business to enable teams to realize the impossible. She has been recognized internally within her companies and externally by the NIH, Bio-IT and Forbes.
Ben is a Senior Advisor in Elanco’s IT organization focused on delivering against value capture targets associated with ERP related M&A activities. Ben was responsible for implementing Elanco’s ERP solution that allowed for a successful separation form Eli Lilly and Company in just over 2 years. Ben is continuing his M&A activities by managing the ERP transformation and migration of acquired Bayer Animal Health into Elanco’s ERP solution.
Josh Hurst sparked a passion for tech while at Ball State University through several collaborative software projects. He built on his university experience at a small software shop where he developed collaboration software for Fortune 500 clients such as Eli Lilly and Company, Cisco, Intel…and the Dr. Phil Show. Today Josh is a Software Architect at Trava, a cybersecurity startup that serves small and mid-sized businesses. Josh is passionate about building high-performing teams, designing amazing software, and exceeding customer expectations. You may find Josh hiking through the backcountry, practicing guitar scales, and exploring a nearby city with his wife and daughters.
Chris is a Raytheon Technologies Chief Engineer as well as a Senior Technical Subcontract Manager. He is a technical leader responsible for leading a diverse team in developing hardware, software, and cyber security solutions for Ground Combat Systems within the US Army. Chris earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and joined RTX in Indianapolis in June 2009. While working as a systems engineer for RTX, Chris earned his master’s degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Chris lives in Indianapolis with his loving family including his wife, LeAnn and two children Alexa and Macy.
Maggie transitioned from the public sector as a PR professional to the private sector as an IT professional and has loved the challenges of learning a new world and mastering the art of leading software delivery teams. Her passions are customer-centric products and cross-team collaboration. She believes in the power of teamwork and excels at establishing relationships. As the Build Coordinator for Allegion’s Habitat for Humanity sponsorship, Maggie fulfils another passion by supporting new homeowners and giving back to the community. She coordinates 150+ Allegion volunteers each year.
Amrutha is currently an #IndianinIndianapolis. She has lived in 9 cities across 3 continents. Her nomadic childhood is the reason why she’s curious, resilient, and constantly seeking challenges. As a data scientist, she has helped forecast the impact of policy decisions on COVID-19 hospitalizations, monitored vaccine demand and supply to aid vaccination programs, and complimented clinical data with social determinant data to identify patients who were at risk of adverse health outcomes. When she steps away from her computer screen, she loves to travel, cook, write, and raise her two-year-old toddler, Mico.
Rick began his career in tech as an electrical engineer working with instrumentation and computer system validation. He soon started a computer business and impressed clients with his devotion to customer service, technical skill, and business acumen. The International School of Indiana put his skills to use – first as a volunteer and later as a key member of the growing school’s staff. In supporting ISI’s fundraising events, Rick encountered OneCause, where he’s worked since 2011 and holds the title, Sr. Director, IT. Rick has served nonprofits including the Indianapolis Rowing Club and Castlewood Singers. He’s performed with Castlewood for 18 years, serving as its President for the past five.
Scott is the Director of the Employment Brand at Community Health Network who oversees the digital transformation of the network’s talent brand and internal communications. Scott leads a team of professionals responsible for talent branding, marketing integration, and SaaS solution development. As part of these efforts, Scott collaborates with clinicians, healthcare professionals, marketers, executive leaders, developers, and external technology providers to build a diverse and collaborative work environment supported by human relationships and cutting-edge technology. Scott is a graduate of Purdue University, a frequent speaker at future-tech and talent acquisition conferences.
Matt Smith is the IT Applications Manager for the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) serving millions of passengers that travel through the Indianapolis International Airport (IND) each year. He’s worked for the IAA in various roles for 13+ years beginning as an intern and is now responsible for nearly all customer-facing systems at IND. Matt received his undergraduate degree from Ball State University in System Analysis and Design with a specialization in Networking and Security. A Hoosier native, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children. In his free time, he takes a break from screens and does woodworking.
Matt Swanson is a Lead Product Engineer at SEP. Matt leads engineering project teams working to help customers build the right products, incorporate product thinking, and ship often. He also served five years as a volunteer and board member for IndyHackers — a non-profit that connects local developers, designers, and makers through meetups and social events. In his free time, you can find Matt listening to podcasts on long walks.
Phil Tarnowski is a product-enthusiast, certified personal trainer, and dad-joke connoisseur. After graduating from IU’s Kelley School of Business, Phil was selected to join the Orr Fellowship at PSI Talent Measurement. During his time at PSI, Phil discovered his love for product. Phil then worked with numerous Indy tech companies as a Sr. Product Manager at Innovatemap, and earned his Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction from IUPUI. He is now Director of Product at Elate. Phil volunteers through Big Brothers Big Sisters, is on the Alumni Board for Orr Fellowship, and loves spending time with his wife and pup.
Marie is a curious explorer, asking questions and doing whatever she needs to find the answers, whether in a book or deep conversation. As a lover of learning, collaboration and sharing knowledge, Marie has had several career changes that have led her to being a UX Designer at enVista. Marie grew up in Sacramento, CA, then moved all over Southern California. She and her family escaped to Indiana eight years ago. She’s a big fan of science fiction, space exploration and her husband and two beautiful children.
Stephanie Zircher is the VP, Programs at Nextech where she leads educator and student programs, such as district recruitment, teacher training, and the expansion of K-12 student experiences. After graduating from Purdue University, she joined ExactTarget as the Manager of Training in 2005 and has been with Nextech since 2015. In the 15 years working in the Indiana tech industry, she realized people of all backgrounds—not just coders can be successful in tech and has dedicated her career to make that happen. Stephanie is on the ECEP-IN Steering Committee, AI4K12 working team, and leads the Code.org Regional Partner Advisory Group. When not working, Steph can be found with her three boys and husband on a soccer field, golf course, sidelines at a swim meet, or listening to melodic tuba.
Jaylan Fisher is an HR Professional and Entrepreneur from Indianapolis, IN. After gaining experience in the staffing industry, Jaylan is now working as a technical recruiter and manages the recruitment efforts for the Product and Engineering teams. Jaylan is also Founder and CEO of Goal Fit, LLC, a lifestyle brand that focuses on professional and personal development services to coach women on how to market themselves as professionals and walk with confidence in their careers. Additionally, Jaylan is Co-Founder of Black in HR Indy, an organization created for Black HR Professionals to connect and network. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., serves on the alumni board for Center for Leadership Development and is passionate about giving back to her community.
“Resources don’t think, people do” is a mantra Miranda lives and leads with. It’s this mantra that’s enabled her to build an award-winning, remote-first culture, integrate teams, and make work fun at Formstack over the last eight years. When she’s not leading her HR team or mentoring young professionals, you’ll find her hosting game nights with friends, family, and maybe a margarita.
Val Spangler is a Senior Manager of Business Intelligence (BI) Operations at hc1, focusing on providing real-world tech experience with a collaborative approach to information systems. She turns powerful data into actionable insights, empowering clients to make the most of their hc1 solutions. As the only woman and minority in a team of six, Val serves as a role model, and her high-performance brings immeasurable value in how her team thinks and solves problems. Val holds an undergraduate degree from Carroll University and an International MBA from Anderson University.
Patrick Wagner is a servant leader and program consultant with demonstrated experience in guiding digital transformations, implementing new ways of working in high performing teams, and coaching executive-level sponsors to champion change. Patrick is currently a Senior Program Consultant on the Digital Strategies and Transformation team at BCforward, where he has worked to deliver tremendous solutions for his clients since 2014. Patrick is an Indianapolis native; he is a proud Ben Davis alumnus, he holds an undergraduate degree from DePauw University and a master’s from the Purdue School of Science. Patrick is relentless in his efforts to push the needle towards progress—both for his client teams and for his hometown.
Stephanie has been a dedicated public servant for nearly 16 years and has built an impressive career at the State of Indiana. Stephanie began her career at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and was able to advance quickly and gain experience in project management, knowledge management, and organizational development before shifting her focus to information technology and accepting a position with the Indiana Office of Technology. Stephanie has been able to use her experience and insights in business and organizational development to shape her technical career path. She is now able to combine her experience and passion for real world business outcomes to lead programs and communities that bridge and connect the technical and business workforces.
Michael Akers is a Raytheon Technologies Mission Assurance Engineer with a focus in Software. He is a technical leader and is responsible for aiding engineers in their pursuit of following Mission Assurance principles throughout the engineering development lifecycle. Mike works with programs and supports their journey in continuous improvement and growth. Mike served in the Indiana Army National Guard and holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from IPFW and a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from IUPUI. Mike enjoys spending time with his son, playing volleyball, and playing board games with friends and family.
Meghann Arnold began her career with one main focus: to serve others. Her passion for others led her to becoming the Director of Team Success at One Click in 2016. She’s a published author on numerous professional websites while having also spoken at conferences such as L.E.A.D. and DisruptHR. Meghann holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management from WGU Indiana and an SPHR certification. She’s a feminist in title, theory, and practice, and when she isn’t working tirelessly, you can find Meghann spending quality time with her six kids and knitting as much as possible.
Jennifer is a Senior-level Agile Coach and Servant Leader with over 25 years of experience in IT Operations, Application Development, Project Management, and Product Development. She has a proven track record of successfully leading project teams, facilitating product development, coaching individuals and teams, and getting results. She is passionate about coaching teams to maximize performance and leading technology driven organizations to success.
Alex is the Manager of Product and Technology for Codelicious. He combines a degree in Computer Science with innate people skills to lead a team in building the platform and technology supporting the creation of computer science curriculum. A Butler University graduate with infectious energy, Alex proudly calls Indianapolis home. Outside of the office, Alex is committed to making Indy a place that young tech talent will want to call home as well. He is a board member for the LiFT scholars program, volunteer with TechPoint talent programs, and a huge fan of the Fountain Square neighborhood.
Casey is a former middle school math teacher turned software engineer on a journey to help individuals unlock their potential and make the world a better place. She is currently an Engineering Manager at Lessonly after joining the company in 2017 working to help engineers do their best work. Casey’s passionate about diversity and inclusion and believes the “soft” skills are more challenging than the technical skills. In her spare time, you can find her training for triathlons, building furniture, or watching sports.
Christine DeWeese is a Senior Director, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Product focusing on product adoption and customer experience. Christine has worked in the software industry for 20+ years, the last 10 in the digital marketing space. Her passion is customer success, delivering solutions to help customers be successful, understanding their goals and challenges and how to bring solutions to market to address those needs. Christine holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Math from Indiana University, an MBA from Butler University and an altMBA with coursework from Seth Godin.
Anita Donnelly is the Director of Technical Services at SmarterHQ. Before joining in 2017, she held various roles with Dominion Dealer Solutions and taught Special Education for seven years. At SmarterHQ, Anita is a vibrant, highly collaborative, and strategic leader who has played a pivotal role in defining and expanding the company’s product, support, and implementation teams and processes. Her innovative approach to project management has been featured by Salesforce and TaskRay. She’s mentored several Xterns, volunteers with EmployIndy, and as a long-time dog lover, helps them find forever homes through Kindred Hearts Transport.
Software developer with five years of experience, technical writer, and remote consultant – focusing on web and blockchain technologies. I have worked with a variety of languages and technologies – especially JavaScript, Python, and AWS Cloud.
Poppe is a passionate life-long learner and community builder. Growing up in rural southern Indiana, she developed a worldly curiosity. Studying languages at Purdue, serving in Wyoming with AmeriCorpsVISTA, and gaining a graduate degree in Human Computer Interaction Design at IUB gave her a platform to explore technology and the human experience. Feeling inspired to stay in Indiana, she founded the Indianapolis chapter of the Interaction Design Association, the annual Indy Design Week, and Indy Coffee Box with her husband. She is grateful to work with SEP building exceptional products with exceptional people, a rare opportunity.
Charlie oversees product management and strategy for the Digital Health organization at Eli Lilly and Company. In this role, he is responsible for leading digital health solutions from ideation through delivery, managing teams to deliver clinically-relevant, high-quality solutions to engage and support the people who need it most. As part of these efforts, Charlie partners with researchers, clinicians, marketers, developers and external innovators to help find the right digital solution for Lilly’s portfolio.
Chris Hicks is a Practice Manager for Kronos Incorporated at its Indy Tech Center focused on recruiting and developing tech talent for Kronos Professional Services. Chris leads a team that is responsible for implementing workforce and human capital management SaaS solutions. Outside of the office, Chris serves as the Make‐a‐Wish Emerging Leaders Board Chair, is a member of the United Way’s Emerging Leaders YP group and spins some of your favorite tunes as his alter‐ego DJ 290West. Chris received his B.S. from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and his M.S. from Keller Graduate School of Management.
With more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Mike Horrocks possesses a unique blend of financial expertise, technology skills, industry insights and product management experience. Horrocks is the VP Product Management for Baker Hill. Previously, Horrocks served as Baker Hill’s VP of Marketing and Client Services. He is also an adjunct professor at IU Kelley School of Business. Horrocks started his career in banking at Zions Bank. Horrocks attended Brigham Young University and earned his MBA at Indiana University. In his free time, he enjoys traveling internationally with his wife and five children.
Jon is the VP of Design & Product at High Alpha, an Indianapolis-based venture studio that creates and invests in B2B SaaS startups. Jon oversees all design and product initiatives with a focus on the creation of new High Alpha Studio portfolio companies. Along with a team of talented designers, engineers, and marketers, Jon helps take new business concepts and develop them into world-class brand and product experiences. Prior to High Alpha, Jon spent 8 years at Studio Science where he served SaaS-based startups and technology enabled enterprises in developing world-class brand experiences and innovative new products and services.
Eva Jackson is the Director of Demand Gen Marketing at PFL. She leads a team of marketers focused on driving revenue programs for PFL’s Tactile Marketing Automation® software. Eva is also the co-founder of Agile Marketing Indy, a content community for process-minded marketers looking for new ways of getting stuff done. The popularity of this professional community led Eva and her co-founder to launch the Agile Marketing podcast, sharing agile approaches with a nationwide audience. In her free time, Eva loves traveling with her husband or staying home and attempting new recipes.
Andy Kennedy is a Principal Brand Strategist at Innovatemap, where he leads the brand team. An Indiana native, Andy graduated from Anderson University in 2010, and since then has been helping businesses of all sizes tell their stories through written and visual communications. At Innovatemap, Andy spearheaded the product brand discipline and has been key to developing the talent, philosophy, and offerings that make Innovatemap’s clients successful today. Andy’s work is behind some of the most successful tech companies in Indianapolis as he’s helped to bring those brands to life through in visuals, messaging, websites, ads, and motion.
As a senior data scientist at KSM Consulting, Dan has had the opportunity to help clients tackle complex challenges with broad societal impact. He has created an interactive map that predicts where vehicle crashes are likely to occur, helped the state understand individual-level factors related to substance use, and forecast the impact of policy decisions on COVID-19 hospitalizations. Dan is a “recovering engineer” and has the introverted personality to match, but his amazing wife and two exceptional kids balance out their family and add spice to their home.
Dr. John F. Matlik currently serves as Engineering Digital Transformation Lead at Rolls-Royce Corporation, championing development and implementation of customer and business prioritized digital capability across the Rolls-Royce Defense organization. He joined Rolls-Royce in January 2005 after graduating from Purdue University. External to Rolls-Royce, Dr. Matlik collaborates with US Federal and State government leadership toward integrating Digital Engineering capability into product life cycle development systems for increasing US national security & competitiveness. He lives with his wife and three kids in Danville.
Lukau has held various roles within Marketing with a focus in partnering with sales to identify, develop, and accelerate sales pipeline. Lukau enjoys working with people and is passionate about mentoring the youth, especially young ladies. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc where she cochairs a program developed to foster leadership skills, build character, increase self-esteem, and assist middle school girls in reaching their maximum potential. Lukau strives to constantly challenge herself and others to grow. She also sits on the board at Eastern Star Church and a DeVoe Division of Business Advisory Board Member.
David has worked at OneAmerica for nearly 20 years in many capacities, rising in the ranks of leadership and responsibility. Before joining OneAmerica, he was the President of Bolt Computer Services. Prior to this, he worked as a software analyst at IUPUI for seven years. He earned an associate’s degree in computer technology and computer systems technology from IUPUI, and a bachelor’s degree from Western Governors University in information technology-security. David is a father of two adult children, a husband, and a grandfather. He resides in Clayton, Indiana with his wife.
Matt began his career in Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy & Operations practice, helping large enterprises navigate M&A transactions. He entered the Indy tech scene as part of High Alpha’s finance team, and joined Zylo as one of the team’s first Customer Success Managers, owning many of Zylo’s marquee enterprise accounts. He helped build the framework of how Zylo’s SaaS Consulting team approaches driving value and ROI at its customer base. He moved over to Sales team as a Solutions Consultant in 2020. Matt was born and raised on the northeast side of Indianapolis, attended Cathedral High School, and graduated from IU’s Kelley School in 2015.
A love for data and meet a passion for business strategy and decision-making in Ninad. Before Roche, he held various positions as a research scientist, consultant, and marketer. He also founded and exited a seed-stage fintech company as a student at Cornell University. In his current role as a People Insights Analyst, Ninad is an advisor across the Roche’s Americas region for answering tough questions about People and Culture with his unique skill-set of data science and advisory acumen. He also is highly involved in his community serving on the board of the United Way of Central Indiana and as a liaison to tech organizations in Indy.
Gary’s career in tech began 25 years ago at Intel Corp where he was a Level 3 Engineering Technician. His experience ranges across industries from insurance to logistics to government to e-commerce and most currently to aviation. Gary moved to Indy in 1999 from California to help an Indianapolis company with a Y2K bug and he’s made a big impact at several Indianapolis businesses and organizations ever since. While technology is Gary’s profession, he is also proficient in five languages and has a passion for sports cars, motorcycles and racing. His knack for taking things apart and putting them together is valuable in his job and hobbies.
Brennan is an empathetic, process-oriented, and results-driven leader. Since studying Marketing & Finance at Butler, he has brought tremendous value to DemandJump and the Indy tech community. In addition to creating & leading multiple professional meetups in Indianapolis (Indy Customer Success & SmartUps, respectively), he has been integral to the success of DemandJump’s Customer Success & Sales organizations. As one of DemandJmp’s first employees, Brennan developed the first iteration of the company’s CS strategy and has trained every member of the team since. He currently fills the role of Director of Digital Strategy & Solution Consultant.
A Marian University alum, Rachel started her career in real estate at CBRE. After 9 years of learning different aspects of real estate Rachel shifted to tech and served as an Account Executive at MOBI for 5 years. Rachel found her calling when she married her real estate and tech experience, along with her passion for delivering exemplary client experience, when she began with Realync 3.5 years ago. When Rachel’s not “online”, she can usually be found at a soccer game or gymnastics meet cheering on her 3 kids, at a great concert with her husband, or eating pizza.
Geoff came to gener8tor after spending the last 14 years leading different sales, service, and client success teams. Most recently, he worked for UpNest, a bay-area real estate start-up as the Director of Client Success. Throughout his career, Geoff has focused on work that makes an impact both on customers and their community. An Indiana native, Geoff graduated with his Bachelor’s in Sociology from Franklin College in 2006 and he is also an avid musician and loves to talk about music.
Max Brundige is a Senior Consultant at KSM Consulting. He started at KSMC in June 2015 after graduating from Miami University (Ohio). Daily, Max focuses on connecting people and process through the right applications of technology. Outside of the office, Max enjoys leveraging and contributing to open-source development projects to continue developing his competencies and adding value to the world using software. When he’s not at his computer, Max enjoys working out at Orangetheory where he can apply data to physical fitness.
As an Enterprise Cloud Architect for Franciscan Alliance, Chris is helping to lead digital transformation at Franciscan Health. Prior to joining Franciscan Alliance in 2001 he was president and CEO of Beech Grove Hardware Inc. which was a family hardware business in Beech Grove Indiana. In his spare time Chris, his wife Michelle and his 2 girls work with Sheltie Rescue of Central Indiana as fosters for senior and high needs Shelties. He has also been involved as a board member of the Friends of Indianapolis Animal Care Services Foundation.
Dr. Haoda Fu is a senior research advisor and enterprise lead for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at Eli Lilly and Company. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. Dr. Fu is also an adjunct faculty at the biostatistics department, Indiana University school of medicine. Dr. Fu received his Ph.D. in statistics from University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2007 and joined Lilly immediately after. Since he joined Lilly, he has been very active in algorithms research. He has more than 80 publications in areas such as Bayesian adaptive design, survival analysis, personalized medicine, and rare events analysis.
Madhavi Isanaka, Executive Director, Information Technology, is currently leading Digital Software Engineering, enabling digital strategy for Cummins as well as leading IT for Engine and Electrified Power businesses. She has been with Cummins for over 20 years and has led large transformational initiatives. Some of her prior roles include Executive Director IT for Supply Chain and Manufacturing, divisional CIO for Cummins Power Generation, leader of the global application development and support organization, and interim CIO for Cummins. She has an BS in Electrical Engineering from S.V. University, India and an MBA from Indiana University.
John Moore is an Engineering Fellow and the Indianapolis Hardware Department Manager for the Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services (IIS) business. John has nearly 30 years of engineering experience. John’s professional career began in 1990 as a mechanical engineer at the Indy’s Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC). John left NAWC for 2 years to gain management experience for Alitec Power. John then returned in 1997 to NAWC, which had been privatized by Raytheon, and has continued to advance his career in various technical and leadership capacities.
Jon Moore was born and raised in Indy. After completing degrees in Machine Learning and Mathematics at Purdue in 2012, he joined the UX team at Aprimo. There, he helped merge several acquired products into one cohesive experience. In 2015, Jon was brought on at Innovatemap as their sixth full-time employee. With Innovatemap, he has designed thousands of screens for over 50 tech companies in Indianapolis and Chicago. On the side, he is co-founder of UX Power Tools, a suite of design resources made for designers, and a top-ten design writer with over 23,000 followers on the popular blogging platform, Medium.
Diana Nolting serves as Director of Product at Anvl, leading product vision, strategy and execution. Prior to Anvl, Nolting spent six years at Bluelock where she had a front-row seat to see the impact digital transformation can have on the business. An Indianapolis native, she dedicates time to helping ensure Indy’s tech and product communities are welcoming to all through programs like Teacher TechConnect, ProductTank, and mentoring. Diana holds an Information Security Postbaccalaureate Certificate (Purdue University Global), Bachelor of Journalism (IU Bloomington), and several technical certifications. She and her family live in Carmel, IN.
As a Software Architect at LifeOmic, Mark is applying his 20 years of experience in software development to build an innovative platform that will improve patient healthcare using precision medicine. He has helped in building a talented development team in Indianapolis for LifeOmic. Previously, Mark has worked on flight simulators at Boeing, and served as an architect of the PureCloud platform at Genesys. Mark grew up on the family farm in Southern Indiana, and now lives in Brownsburg with his wife and two daughters.
PehKeong Teh is the VP of Product for Salesforce Marketing Cloud. He has over 13 years of industry experience in tech and product development, that spans from start-ups to large organizations. His expertise is in building enterprise software, highly scalable distributed services, and operating systems. Prior to Salesforce, he was in various product leadership roles at Oracle and Microsoft building mission-critical large-scale enterprise cloud services such as Oracle Cloud, Microsoft SQL Azure, and the Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. He holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Technological University.
Ryne Rayburn is a Firmware Engineering Manager within the electronics engineering function at Allegion, PLC. He first joined the company in 2011, and now leads a team of nine individuals responsible for developing innovative electronic access solutions to support Allegion’s long-term vision of seamless access for a safer world. In addition to his passion for innovation, Ryne is passionate about health and wellness and pursues this passion through his involvement in many employee resource groups at Allegion as well as community engagement events to support charitable causes.
Luke was born and raised in China. He came to the US at a young age to pursue the American Dream. After winning three years of math national championships in high school, Luke went on to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where he graduated with a triple major. Throughout Luke’s college career, he worked part-time and interned for multiple companies on the West Coast and in the Midwest. Companies range from prestigious Silicon Valley unicorn corporations to small startup companies. Luke chose to become a TechFellow and to start his full-time career as a Data Scientist at DemandJump in downtown Indianapolis.
Since moving to the United States in 2011, Arwa has completed a degree in Software Development from Ivy Tech, graduating with honors, and will finish her bachelor’s degree in Informatics from Indiana University by 2022. She completed an internship at the Secretary of State in Business Analysts before joining Infosys. Arwa was also recently selected as Diversity and Inclusion Representative for the Indianapolis technology and innovation hub where she makes an effort daily to help Infosys align with other organizations and build a foundation for partnerships, while coordinating that bridge cultures and ethnicities.
Noah Hankinson is the Director of Esports at Player One Esports. Currently age 21, Noah already has 6 years’ experience in the esports industry, both as a professional athlete, coach, manager, and as a businessperson. He is truly a pioneer in this rapidly growing industry, making it his mission to promote Player One and to establish a bridge between amateur and professional players, forging the paths through which amateurs develop into professional athletes. Noah was also the coach for the Noblesville High School League of Legends teams, and he proudly serves as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.
Julia Kauffman is the VP of HR at High Alpha, a leading venture studio based in Indianapolis, IN. Julia leads High Alpha’s talent, recruiting, and HR organization. Julia is responsible for driving business results through talent management, performance management, leadership development, and effective recognition/rewards strategies for both High Alpha and High Alpha Studio portfolio companies. Prior to High Alpha, Julia spent five years at Salesforce where she served in various leadership positions in the HR organization.
With more than twelve years of experience in project management, IT and operations across a number of industries, Kelly is the Product Manager at Pondurance, where she works with clients from across the globe to keep data safe from cyber-attacks. Kelly currently holds the esteemed Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, and is a graduate of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington. Outside of work, Kelly serves as an officer of the Board of Directors for Women & Hi Tech. Additionally, she volunteers time with Pass the Torch for Women Foundation and Indy Reads Books.
Emily Williams is the Senior Director of Operations for Codelicious and understands how technology, operations, and business results are all interrelated. By combining data analysis and business acumen to make informed decisions, Emily has built operational processes that not only drive the company towards its strategic goals but also align with corporate values. Outside of work Emily can be found volunteering with organizations like Women & Hi Tech and the Indiana 4-H Foundation board, where she is helping to bring her rural/ag roots together with technology as 4-H expands into Computer Science, Robotics and general STEM fields.
My great-aunt invested with HomeAdvisor’s parent company, IAC, many years ago. And about 12 years ago, she sent me a newspaper article about ServiceMagic (HomeAdvisor’s previous name) and said I should apply because it was a great product. I’d been doing sales since high school, so I knew I could continue to do that with some success. I began my due diligence — and the more I learned about HomeAdvisor’s consultative solutions, the more I knew HomeAdvisor was where I wanted to start my career.
As a passionate content marketer, Kristy Esch enjoys working with innovative and creative teams to engage audiences, expand products and build a brand. In her current role as Director of Content Marketing & Brand, Kristy’s innovative approach to content has helped PERQ, a marketing technology company, become a leader in driving and improving online consumer engagement within the home furnishings, multifamily property and auto dealership industries. Prior to PERQ, Kristy worked in various content marketing roles at Angie’s List, and was a writer and editor for national, regional and local print publications.
Amber Ferrari is a marketing and business development professional who excels at creating opportunities for early stage companies. Thus far in her career, Ferrari has focused on planning, designing, and implementing integrated marketing and sales strategies. As a Marian University communication major alumna and Orr Fellow, Ferrari’s experiences influenced her learnings about multiple facets of the business world, leadership, and networking, ultimately landing her a spot as a founding team member at Canvas, the world’s first text-based interviewing platform. Canvas was acquired by Jobvite approximately 16 months after launch, where Ferrari continues to drive Canvas’ growth.
As the Senior Director of Revenue Operations and Strategic Partnerships, Dan plays a critical role in growing the OneCause revenue engine, technology infrastructure, and partner ecosystem. Prior to OneCause, Dan spent 5 years as a Manager for Accenture refining his technical and consulting expertise. Dan is a connector of people and passionate for helping organizations scale their revenue operations and identify new areas for growth. He holds degrees in Information Systems, Process Management and Ops Management from Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business and is an active member in the Noblesville community with his wife and two girls.
Carlee Montgomery enjoys being around people who challenge her to improve and learn new things. She is a devoted employee, spending the last three years making contributions as an Orr Fellow in various roles at Genesys. Today, Carlee leads her customers in executing their CX strategies as a Customer Success Manager. She also sits on the board of a non-profit focused on breaking the stigma of addiction. Carlee is mature beyond her years, is thoughtful in her approach, and collaborates well with everyone she has the opportunity to work with. In her free time, she enjoys working out, reading, personal finance and spending time with family.
Molly Horstmann is the Marketing Communications Director at SmarterHQ. Prior to joining the team in 2018, she led content teams at One Click and Found Search Marketing. Molly graduated from DePauw University with a bachelor’s degree in English Writing. Her talents for storytelling, partnership, and communications propels SmarterHQ’s content, brand, and culture forward. Molly is passionate about fostering Indiana’s young female talent and helping them navigate careers in writing, marketing, and tech. She’s volunteered with the ALS Association for 12 years and served on the Walk to Defeat ALS Committee from 2011-2017.
Meg has 15 years of experience writing technical, professional and marketing copy. As Technical Writer for Sharpen, Meg oversees the request for proposal (RFP) process. She works cross-functionally with marketing, development and sales to help Sharpen acquire new customers faster. Meg brings dedication, patience, loyalty, fairness, inclusivity, authenticity and hard work to all that she does. Meg is also a passionate supporter of the Indy-area animal rescue community and wants to know: Have you considered adopting a pet lately?
Chad Siovaila is the Director of Performance Marketing at One Click, an ecommerce retailer who sells eyewear across Readers.com, Sunglass Warehouse, and felix + iris. With proven success in areas like television, pay-per-click advertising and email marketing, Chad leads a team that is responsible for the majority of the company’s revenue and customer acquisition. After seeing the impact of mentorship in his career, Chad is passionate about mentoring others and investing in their career and personal futures. He currently volunteers with the Brookside Community Reentry Program. He’s a graduate of Purdue University.
In 2018, Pat led an initiative to create the Strategic Solutions Team made up of experienced technical advisors who work with clients to solve business issues using tech-enabled solutions. Additionally, Pat also closed the largest deal in the company’s history and was recognized in 2018 as the “Portfolio Sales Person of the Year”. Pat brings this same energy to the Indy community and donates his talent and treasure to Coburn Place, Indy Teacher TechConnect, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, and LifeBridge Community. Pat has been married to the love of his life, Debbie, for 33 years and cherishes his two daughters, Tori and Cassie.
Justin Bates is the Director, Finance & Accounting at SmarterHQ. Prior to joining SmarterHQ as the finance and accounting leader, he co-founded MaxTradeIn leading a team of 15 and raising $2M. His leadership, financial modeling, and fundraising skills were put to good use at SmarterHQ helping to raise $23M in venture capital and $14M in venture debt. Justin is an alumnus of the Ball State Entrepreneurship Program and regularly gives his time to help aspiring entrepreneurs graduate from this program. He also holds an inactive CPA license.
As SupplyKick’s Director of Logistics, Fulfillment and Partner Success, and with 15 years experience in Operations, Ryan Culver leads multiple teams at one of the fastest growing private companies in Indiana. He is obsessive about maximizing the potential of his employees and considers himself lucky to have such incredible teams. Ryan enjoys developing intricate solutions for efficiency gains which continuously benefit the company as it scales. Outside of work, Ryan volunteers time in improving the lives of underprivileged children.
Doug Ding is Practice Director for Kronos Incorporated at its Indy Tech Center where he leads the development of tech talent for Kronos Professional Services. Doug has a strong background in strategy and operations, previously holding leadership roles with high-performing management consulting firms. He has strong experience in global account management, leadership development, professional services, and mergers and acquisitions. Doug received his Bachelor of Science from Purdue University and his MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
As a marketer and brand strategist for Innovatemap, Kristin is tasked with growing big ideas and helping them stand out. From startups establishing go-to-market credibility and scale, to corporations transitioning analog brands to the digital era, she builds leading brands and marketable digital products. For Innovatemap, Kristin leads digital marketing efforts and expands brand reach amongst the tech community. Outside work, she’s invested in Indianapolis, serving on several nonprofit boards and playing an active role in community initiatives.
Stephanie is the Operations Director for netlogx with several years of experience in the consulting world. She is passionate about making her team and company work as efficiently and effectively as possible. She strives to always think about what problem they are trying to solve and how to make it better, faster and cheaper. She has spent most of her time in different Team Leader positions and enjoys the diversity of her day to day role. Stephanie has volunteered at Scecina and Our Lady of Lourdes and is a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha alumni.
Adam is a compassionate leader, perpetual learner and selfless teammate at Bolstra. As Customer Success Director, he draws upon 20 years of leadership, learning and experience that started with the United States Army. Leading teams big and small, Adam excels at making the complex simple for his teams as well as his customers. He understands that people have different skills and experiences and he meets people where they are and helps them get the most from their tools, teams and from themselves. Adam makes every other teammate better.
Aaron joined Torchlite in August of 2016. With a 12-year background in tech sales and best practices from Salesforce and Adobe, Aaron serves as the Senior Director of Sales. Aaron is dedicated to building relationships with businesses from start-ups to enterprise organizations. He is passionate about sales & marketing alignment, culture building, and continuous improvement. Professional contributions aside, Aaron’s the office barista, an automotive-enthusiast, a husband & father of two and a founding board member of Circle City Prep.
As the VP of Global Sales Operations, Corey oversees a portfolio of sales programs that cover sales strategy, enablement, analytics, and technology supporting field operations. His career spans 18+ years of working in the tech industry developing high performing pre-sales teams to accelerate pipeline growth and designing CX solutions. Prior to joining Genesys, Corey was with Interactive Intelligence for 10 years and a key member of the team that drove the company’s hyper growth. Corey enjoys spending time with his family and coaching sports.
Nicole heads partner and experience strategies at Emplify. Strategically minded, creatively inclined, she leads a dynamic team focused on attaining and growing new partner and customer relationships through meaningful brand experiences. Passionate about gender equality in the workplace, Nicole founded the internal female affinity group at Emplify and continues to serve as an advocate in various organizations across the Indy community. You can find her helping people (classic 2) with enneagrams, losing at trivia, and re-watching Parks and Rec.
Clare is a passionate advocate of infusing technical problem solving with design thinking to empower innovation. After receiving a BA in History from Saint Mary’s College, Clare was accepted into the Orr Fellowship and placed at ClearObject. At work, Clare leads the company’s Design Thinking branch, in addition to leading content, product and partner marketing. She is the author of “An Introduction to IoT for Dummies”. Outside of work, Clare can be found with her rescue pup, running on the cultural trails, or in a book club.
Making customers wildly successful has been the focus of Thom’s entire career, via stops at iGoDigital, ExactTarget, Salesforce and now Zylo. Thom currently leads Zylo’s Customer Success team, driving customer engagement and ensuring every customer realizes the full value of Zylo’s platform. Thom’s responsibilities also include being the Voice of the Customer across the company. Thom’s passion for the Indy community led him to Vice-Chair the YP Board for the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, the nonprofit responsible for all aspects of the Trail.
Egan meshes creativity and analytical thinking to help fuel DemandJump’s predictable revenue engine. He graduated from the Lacy School of Business at Butler University in 2016 where he studied marketing. Egan has been with DemandJump since graduation. Outside of work, his passion is educating university students about the flourishing technology ecosystem in Indiana. His mission is to help tech in Indiana attract and retain more university talent.
Purdue and IU grad that has served in a variety of diverse roles, including account executive, project manager, wholesale banker, marketer, analyst, corporate lender and strategic planning manager–with graduate degrees in both business and technology. A hybrid with the ability to speak the language of business and the language of technology well while delivering for the benefit of stakeholders.
Kelly Wilson is the Director of Marketing & PR for SEP, a software product design and development company. She joined SEP in 2007 to help build upon SEP’s outstanding reputation and to create awareness for the traditionally ‘under the radar’ company. Since 2009, she has helped organize Lean and Agile industry conferences across the US and was honored with a Community Contribution Award from the Lean Software Systems Consortium in 2012. She a graduate of Ball State University and lives in Fishers with her husband Jim, and two children.
Lori Boyer is a Software Application Developer for Barnes & Thornburg. She has a solid track record in the development of cloud-based applications and possesses excellent project management skills. Over the years, she has refined her coding skills and continues to enhance her C#, VB.NET, and SQL development skills. As of July 2018, Lori is studying for an Android Development Nanodegree. She is a graduate of Indiana University and currently serves on the Women & Hi Tech Board of Directors. Lori lives in Indianapolis, with her husband, Marty.
Brian Brinegar is a Director of Engineering at Salesforce. Since joining in 2012, he has led development teams for the Marketing Cloud user interface, integrations, performance, stability, and security. Brian graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelors of Technology and minor in Computer Science. In his current role, he is responsible for broad security initiatives to ensure customer trust. In 2008, Brian founded a charity fundraiser which has raised over $667k to improve the lives of children in hospitals through the power of play.
Shawn Hall is the Director of Next Generation Data Center Engineering at Kinney Group, where he leads an awesome group of talented Engineers who create and build solutions for customers in both the commercial and federal markets. Shawn graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Management Information Systems and has been working in tech in the Indy area for almost 18 years. Solving complex problems with technology has always been his true passion. Building high-impact high-performing teams is the aspect of his position he enjoys most.
Kevin Marshall is a User Experience Architect at PERQ, where he has been instrumental in building PERQ’s user experience team and mentored multiple employees with raw design talent into the next generation of user experience professionals. He earned a BFA from Ball State University and a master’s in media arts and Science from IU. Prior to joining PERQ, he was the former director of CGT for Purdue University at IUPUI, Manager of interactive media with the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Kevin resides in Fisher’s with his wife and daughter.
Since 2008, Thomas Marshall has championed the game development industry in Indiana. An Army veteran, he began his civilian career as a game artist for an indie startup, eventually becoming a program manager for the Indiana National Guard while running his own game studio. In 2011, he founded Indiana’s first game developers association, bringing hobbyists, students, and professionals together in a single network. He currently works at BitLoft Game Studios where he fosters a work culture dedicated to process change and professional empowerment.
Alexander Meadows is a Principal Systems Engineer and Innovation Center Lead for Raytheon, where he promotes innovation and empowers employees across the business. Alex is a Virtual Reality expert, Raytheon Global Mentoring participant, and an avid supporter of Diversity & Inclusion initiatives. Alex is also an Adjunct Professor for Purdue School of Engineering & Technology at IUPUI, where he was named the 2016 Distinguished Alum. Alex served in the US Army and holds a BS in Engineering Physics and a MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering.
Jon has been a resident of Indianapolis since moving here from northwest Indiana 18 years ago. He works at DeveloperTown and previously at DyKnow and Angie’s List. He believes strongly in lifelong learning and continuous improvement. As a human, he likes spending time with his family, reading science fiction, and making things. He is a board member at TechPoint Foundation for Youth and helped bring the Coder Dojo movement to Indianapolis. He also co-owns Rabble Coffee on east 10th street. Despite initial impressions, he likes people.
Jason is Sr. Integration Engineer and has worked in related roles since graduating from Purdue University with a BS in Computer Science in 2009. Prior to joining Pondurance, Jason worked as a defense contractor at NSA and at NASA in Mission Control. Jason loves the challenges brought by a career in cyber security and working to secure national infrastructure. Outside of cyber security, Jason is a maker with a passion for edtech, an IoT hobbyist, an amateur cartographer, and is inspired by human achievements in spaceflight and space exploration!
Melanie has been with Cummins for 20+ years, starting as an intern and advancing to her current role as Executive Director of Components and Corporate Functions IT. She is responsible for IT strategy and solution delivery for five global business units and many enterprise-wide functions. Melanie graduated from Purdue in Information Systems and received her MBA from Indiana University. She is committed to giving back by mentoring employees from around the world and as the founder of Cummins Community Involvement Team in Jennings County.
Joan Schrenkel is the Director of Automation Engineering at MOBI, an enterprise software company that helps its customers manage smartphones, tablets, and other connected devices. Fueled by high fives and great ideas, Joan’s highly skilled, forward-thinking ETL(Extract, Transform, and Load) and RPA (Robotic Processing Automation) teams accomplish three main objectives at MOBI: create the most efficient processes, deliver quality analytics/reporting to help support customers and drive business, and ensure data accuracy and integrity in MOBI’s software.
Passionate about driving complex projects to success, Virginie has played the part of Program Manager at Salesforce since 2013. She started as a Scrum Masters, and now manages strategic initiatives across Salesforce. She enjoys staying busy inside and outside the office, running programs like Lean in Circles and the Indianapolis chapter of Girl Develop It. Virginie studied Computer Engineering and Engineering Management at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She was the only graduating female computer engineer in her class, inspiring her to start the Indianapolis chapter of Girl Develop It. She’s grown GDI from a team of 3 to an organization with 20 volunteers and over 1000 members. She enjoys renovating older homes and running 5ks in her free time.
Kelsey (Adams) Briggs is an Engagement Manager at Octiv, which offers a sales productivity platform designed to create efficiencies in sales document workflows. Dedicated to great customer experiences, Kelsey partners with clients to develop and grow best-in-class sales processes and drive SaaS adoption. With a background in consulting, business development, and customer success, Kelsey works passionately at the intersection of fast-paced technology and unrelenting customer advocacy. Kelsey holds a bachelors degree in Marketing from Butler University and an MBA from Indiana University- Kelley School of Business.
Chris Brown is Director of Product Development at MOBI, where he leads an amazing team of software developers, quality assurance testers, and solution configurators. He joined MOBI in January 2013. In his current role, his focus is on team development, expanded product capabilities, process automation, and user experience. Chris brings nearly two decades of leadership in web and enterprise technologies to his role. He is a graduate of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business (B.S.) and School of Informatics (M.S. Media Arts).
Beyond MOBI, he enjoys time with his dog, outdoor activities, video games, geek conferences, and exploring new technologies.
Passionately inspiring, guiding, and helping lead teams, Tim has used his background in engineering to help corporations reach their desired outcomes through technology. After graduating from Purdue in Computer Engineering, he spent a decade at Aprimo, went on to start his own venture, GreenSuite, and then lead teams at ReachForce & Salesforce. Tim is currently the VP of Customer Success at Lumavate where his team provides best practice guidance and services for Customer Experience in Progressive Web Apps. Tim is excited about getting the local Customer Success community engaged with the “Assure Success” Meetup group he has helped build.
Jon Corwin is the Director of Growth at One Click Ventures, where he leads the Growth team’s data-driven approach to new channel experimentation and development with a core focus on identifying and scaling new customer acquisition opportunities. A 2010 graduate of DePauw University with degrees in Economics and Computer Science, he was brought to Indianapolis by way of the Orr Fellowship with cloud IaaS provider Bluelock. After four years at Bluelock, Jon joined One Click Ventures in 2014 as Product Lead spearheading their testing and optimization process. Doubling down on his passions for testing, Jon applied One Click’s experimentation framework to their marketing efforts by founding their Growth team focused on amplifying new customer acquisition and channel diversification. Outside of One Click, he enjoys traveling, competing in triathlons, and volunteering over the past 7 years at Verge and Powderkeg, a network of entrepreneurs, investors, developers, and supporters who are passionate about creating massive value through software, technology, and their innovative businesses.
Claire is driven to create exceptional experiences to ignite digital marketing programs. She first fell in love with the high-growth, tech industry through her experiences at ExactTarget as a part of the Orr Fellowship. With a passion for health and fitness, she enjoys being outdoors, traveling, and exploring her hometown of Bloomington with her husband Michael and golden retriever Bailey.
Anna is an expert researcher, passionate designer, selfless advocate, and compassionate leader. As Senior Design Partner at Innovatemap, she leads the research team and helps bring Indy’s biggest tech ideas to life. Whether she’s guiding customer research or conducting workshops, Anna helps emerging companies uncover their biggest challenges, prioritize their requirements, and ensure they build well-designed products. Outside of work, Anna volunteers her time, expertise, and knowledge to support women in tech and mentor young designers.
Elizabeth is the Senior Director of Corporate Communications for Appirio, leading both internal and external communications strategy, encompassing public and media relations, social media, executive communications, and analyst relations. Friedland was instrumental in the communication strategy for Appirio’s half billion dollar acquisition in 2016 by Wipro. Her work has won more than 20 Public Relations Society of America and American Advertising Federation awards. She’s earned her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), an honor designating executive-level communications leaders. Outside the office, Friedland is a filmmaker, foster mother, and advocate for foster care. She serves on Connected by 25’s Foster Success Leadership Council.
Jon Fuller is the Director of Software Engineering at SEP. He joined SEP in 2008 after diving into software product development for a financial services company. Jon graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a degree in Computer Engineering where he caught the bug for writing code, solving problems, and making things happen. Jon has diverse experience working with complex software products including embedded systems, mobile apps and enterprise scale systems. In his current role, Jon is responsible for improving and safeguarding SEP’s engineering fitness. This means continually working to improve SEP’s environment and culture, push technical excellence and advancing the community. Jon helped start Indianapolis Code and Coffee, which now has 4 locations in the Indy area. Jon also helped start Indy Software Artisans and is on the board of directors for IndyHackers. Jon lives in Noblesville with his wife Sandi and two daughters Camryn and Caitlyn.
As Director of Security Operations for Rook Security, Tom Gorup oversees Managed Security Services and develops proprietary security operations management tools and services for organizations ranging from Fortune 100 firms to fast-growing startups. Prior to joining Rook, Tom served 6 years in the U.S. Army. As an Infantry Squad Leader, Tom served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received a Purple Heart alongside several other awards for actions on the battlefield. Tom is GCIA certified, a participant in the GIAC mentor program and advisory board, Indiana Infragard Sector Specialist, and on the NexTech advisory board.
John Harden has been in the software industry virtually his entire life. Emerging 2nd in the nation in a highly competitive application development contest, he was recruited by AxiaTP to develop internal software and streamline business workflows during the early years of the company. Turning his focus from internal to external software development, he led the effort to develop AxiaTP’s award-winning communications workflow product Kerauno, and in his current role, he is now also responsible for User Interaction and Product Development. Mr. Harden studied computer science and business at Indiana University, and was recently appointed to the Board of Eleven Fifty Academy, where he also serves as a mentor for students pursuing careers in technology.
Joseph Ignatius Jr. was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up in the city of Chicago created challenges, but the adolescent training Joe received is what shaped the compassionate man he is today. After completing his B.S in Computer Engineering in Washington, DC, Joe moved to the Hoosier state. Planting his roots here in Indianapolis, Joe has joined a multitude of organizations that align with his passions and supports his goals. Joe Ignatius is a passionate IT sales professional at Matrix Integration as well as a mentor sincerely caring for the well-being of all and especially youth development.
Kristi Kennedy is the Director for the NCAA IT PMO, headquartered in downtown Indianapolis. Her primary responsibilities are to lead the IT project management office and project portfolio, and all related activities. Additionally, the User Experience and Testing & Quality Assurance teams report to her, as well as the Business Intelligence technical lead and NCAA.org web administrator. Kristi began her IT career after college graduation, implementing PeopleSoft HRMS platforms with Ernst & Young. She worked through various business analyst and project management positions to her current Director role. Kristi lives in Indianapolis with husband, Sean, and toddler daughter, Alexandra.
Rachel Kilroy is a Sr. Product Manager at PERQ, where she has been an integral part of designing and delivering PERQ’s Web Engagement solution. She holds degrees in Computer Information Systems and Marketing from Indiana University. She began her career as a developer and transitioned into Product Management, focusing on the Marketing Software industry the past seven years with Aprimo and PERQ. Her technical background blended with her ability to communicate with business stakeholders has been a great asset to lead development teams and create innovative solutions for the market. Rachel resides in Carmel with her husband and three children.
Aaron is a Senior Software Architect at DemandJump. His technical skills and general business acumen are above and beyond. His mentorship and leadership skills are even greater. If you ask anyone at the company, they will tell you that it is a privilege working with Aaron. He makes everyone around him better – and not just those who are on the engineering team. More important than his passion for software engineering is Aaron’s passion for leadership, mentoring and healthy organizations. His greatest professional calling? To build effective teams of people that accomplish more together than they ever could individually.
Andrea Massimilian is the Multi-Channel Marketing Manager at ClearObject. Having been placed with the company through the prestigious Orr Fellowship, she decided to stay on after her fellowship ended. During business hours, she’s hard at work assembling newsletters, managing social feeds, chairing the company’s philanthropic committee and planning corporate events (such as the MIRA Award Winning “IndyIoT”). In her spare time, Andrea can usually be found exploring Indy’s cultural events including local theatre, food festivals, yoga classes and everything in between.
After college at Bradley University and time in Kansas City, Kolby landed in Indianapolis as a Designer at a local agency. It wasn’t long until she made the switch to the tech world and starting volunteering with the Indianapolis chapters of AIGA and Junior League. Now, she’s a Designer at High Alpha and Studio Science, implementing design and product strategies for portfolio companies like Sigstr and Quantifi. Additionally, she is the President of the AIGA Indianapolis Board leading the evolving creative community. Kolby loves spending her free time exploring new parts of the city and racking up reward points at Sakura Sushi House.
Megan McNames is the Director of User Experience at Emplify, where she applies her obsession for learning about and understanding people to helping business leaders to do the same. Leveraging her background in journalism, instructional design and interaction design, she oversees the design of experiences that foster employee voice and help businesses turn employee data and feedback into deep and actionable workforce insights. Prior to joining Emplify, Megan was a faculty member in Ball State University’s Department of Journalism where she taught human-computer interaction, digital media design and one of design’s most important lessons: everyone has a story.
During San’s freshman year at Purdue, an advisor suggested Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology. San listened, and quickly discovered a passion for technology. Over the next decade, San learned how to code on numerous platforms – everything from microprocessors and mobile to desktop and cloud-based systems. As a Software Engineer and later VP of Engineering, San developed a reputation for knowing how to manage giant projects from concept to completion. And while San’s latest interests involve IoT and connected devices, his greatest love is and always will be his wife, Ebony, and his four children, Elijah, Haliyah, Eden, and Havanah.
Elliott Shultz has been a Sales Development Manager for just over a year with BidPal Inc. Aside from aiding the growth and development of his team and ensuring their success on a day-to-day basis, Elliott continues a 16-year career in the Indiana Air National Guard and cites the mentoring received there as a key element to his success. Elliott lives in Indianapolis with his two sons, Henry and George, and his high-school sweetheart, wife of 8 years, source of inspiration and best friend, Kristi.
Greg is the Finance and Analytics manager at Kinney Group, a cloud solutions integrator. In addition to playing an integral role in the company’s series A capital raise, Greg oversees a team responsible for helping business stakeholders optimize decision-making through actionable and insightful data. Before Kinney Group, Greg worked in finance at ExactTarget (and later Salesforce.com), where he was also a member of the Orr Fellowship. Outside work, he recently brought the Gus Macker charity basketball tournament back to Indianapolis for the first time in 14 years through nonprofit Near West 21. Greg graduated from Wabash College and currently resides in Irvington with his wife, Joanna.
As Vice President of Finance and Operations, Matt is responsible for all financial and operating functions including but not limited to financial planning and analysis, accounting, treasury, governance, human resources and facilities. Prior to joining SmarterHQ in 2011, Matt served as an auditor with Dauby, O’Connor & Zaleski. Matt graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with an MBA in Accounting and a BS in Accounting & Finance. Matt spends the majority of his days in and around the numbers but his true passion is leading people. It is the people of SmarterHQ that push him to deliver at a high level, day in and day out.
Josh is the Customer Solutions Lead for Trek10, a Consulting Partner of Amazon Web Services. In his role with Trek10, he focuses on understanding customer requirements during the sales process, building statements of work, and overseeing delivery of engagements. Prior to Trek10, Josh worked for Accenture’s Security Consulting practice on a variety of implementations for Fortune 500 clients across many industries. Since Josh’s brother, Eric, was diagnosed with ALS in 2013, Josh has been extremely active in the ALS community with contributions to several initiatives including leading an annual ALS fundraiser and supporting Les Turner ALS Foundation fundraising. Josh also has a passion for education. He is a Lynda.com instructor for their AWS curriculum and is also teaching an Enterprise Architecture course at the University of Notre Dame. Josh graduated Cum Laude from Notre Dame with a dual-degree BA in Economics and BBA in IT Management.
Keith joined the NextGear Capital team in 2014 and is currently working as a Software Development Manager where he focuses on growth and development of his software team members. Keith started his career as a developer focused in the Microsoft .NET technology stack, embraced the Agile Mindset as a Scrum Master, and eventually moved into a Development Manager role where he empowers his teams to do great things. Keith resides in Noblesville with his wife Christa and son Luke. His interests include bowling, car restoration, wood working, and assisting those who desire to learn new technologies and grow as professionals
With 15 years of internal audit and risk management experience, Meredith joined The Mako Group in 2014 and works out of its Indianapolis office. She applies her passion for auditing to the firm’s clients, helping improve their cybersecurity and IT compliance efforts through detailed control analysis and recommendations. In addition, she currently volunteers as treasurer for the Indianapolis Chapter of The Institute of Internal Auditors, where she previously held several leadership roles, including member of the board. Meredith resides in Fishers with her husband and son, and enjoys scuba diving, snow skiing and playing viola in her church orchestra.
Nick Badgett is the Senior Director of Global Marketing at Return Path. Nick and his team are responsible for generating and accelerating global sales pipeline through inbound and outbound prospecting, field and corporate events, and worldwide marketing efforts. His approach to marketing has been shaped by 12 years of experience in a variety of sales, sales support, and marketing functions. Before joining Return Path, Nick led field marketing, partner marketing, and sales development teams at ExactTarget. Nick holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and a master’s degree in Information & Communication Sciences, both from Ball State University.
Since January 2015, he’s headed up Innovatemap’s design solutions. He has a passion for innovation and applies this insight to over 20 clients’ products, giving them a modern look coupled with highly usable designs. He began his career as a UX designer at Autodesk in Silicon Valley. His roots brought him back to the Midwest where he spent several years at Teradata as a design lead and UX manager, revolutionizing the UX vision and leading a team in building usable and marketable products. He continues to be active in both the UX technical community and with local universities and groups.
Jill Casey is a Marketing Manager at Renaissance Electronic Services, where she leads a team of talented creative professionals. She has bachelor’s degree in marketing from Indiana Wesleyan and a certificate in graphic design from IUPUI, both of which she obtained while working full-time. In addition to her marketing experience, Jill’s career has also included several IT roles, giving her the irreplaceable experience of providing answers to co-workers like, “have you tried restarting it?” while Googling the answer. Jill lives in Broad Ripple with her wife and daughter and enjoys gardening, coffee, wine, and working on her 1930s home.
Grant Dawson is the VP of IT for T2 Systems. Prior to T2, Grant worked in proprietary education as both an IT instructor and campus technology specialist, as well as previously working as a small business IT consultant. Grant leads the IT teams that operate four SaaS Environments across North America that serve the cloud based parking technology needs of enterprise customers. Grant resides in Noblesville with his wife Tori, and their three children. When not working, Grant’s a child at heart, filling his free time with video games, tinkering with Virtual Reality, and epic Nerf battles with his kids.
Brian started his career as an analyst delivering executive reporting and analysis at ChaCha. After brief stints running his own software startup and as a digital marketer, he managed design, development, and launch for a half a dozen software products in two years as a consultant at Developer Town. This diverse experience combined with a B.A. in Economics enables Brian to lead the Bluebridge effort researching and defining Employee Engagement and building a model of measurement and improvement we use with our customers. In his spare time Brian enjoys spending time with his wonderful wife and two young boys.
As VP of Customer Success at Sigstr, Dave is responsible for all aspects of the customer experience post sale. He oversees, implementation, support and education, success management and customer communication while also assisting with company-wide operations initiatives. Prior to joining Sigstr in June of 2015, Dave spent ten years at ExactTarget/Salesforce serving multiple existing business roles ranging from account management and customer experience to sales management. Dave is a graduate of Indiana University, originally from Muncie, IN, currently residing in Zionsville with his wife Vikki and daughter Olivia.
As the Director of Product Management at Geofeedia, Andy is a product and company leader who demonstrates the unusual balance of technical and business skills that repeatedly results in getting industry-leading products to market. Over the past two years, Andy has driven the successful definition and delivery of over 70 features, resulting in Geofeedia’s recognition as “Innovation of the Year” at SIA’s ISC West 2016 show and the Techpoint MIRA Award of “Scale-up of the Year.
Ryan Feiock is the Tech Solutions Manager at PAN where he works with some amazing developers on the world of DevOps, Test Automation, Cloud Infrastructure, and most recently, acquiring and assimilating software assets into the company. When he is not focused on continuous improvement at work, you will find him coaching soccer, running a Cub Scout den, and spending as much time outdoors with his family as possible. Ryan is passionate about technology and spends most of his free time learning about the latest innovations in hardware and software that he can incorporate back into the company.
Tyler Foxworthy is a mathematician who over the course of his career, has tackled problems in domains ranging from brain mapping and mass spectrometry to fraud detection and algorithmic stock trading. Tyler is a native of Indianapolis and graduate of Purdue University, where he studied applied mathematics and neuroscience. At DemandJump, Tyler leads a team of data scientists and engineers in developing artificially intelligent systems for conquering the biggest problems in digital marketing using a novel mixture of graph theory, algebraic topology, and cutting edge machine learning techniques.
Adam is an Indianapolis native – born and raised on the north side of Indy. While attending Indiana University, Adam was heavily involved in the computing community on campus. He served as a student leader in the School of Informatics and Computing, and had the privilege of being an early member of the DoubleMap team. Adam joined ExactTarget in 2011 as a designer and developer spearheading innovation for the sales organization. During the transition to Salesforce, Adam took on a senior engineering role, responsible for architecting the content management platform. After an amazing tenure with ExactTarget and Salesforce, Adam joined Brian Powers and Eric Prugh to co-found Indy’s legal-tech startup, PactSafe. As Director of Development, he is building a talented team of engineers and creating extraordinary software.
As TinderBox’s Director of Talent and with nearly 8 years of recruiting and talent management experience, Samantha Haddad-Foster oversees talent acquisition, talent management and people operations. Samantha is passionate about everything relating to attracting, acquiring and retaining top talent for high growth technology companies and is committed to aligning people development and strategy with company growth objectives. Prior to TinderBox, Samantha served as Talent Manager at Bizo in NYC (a B2B digital marketing and data management company later acquired by LinkedIn). Samantha graduated from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis with a Bachelor of General Studies in Arts and Humanities.
Kristen Hamerstadt is Director of Marketing at SmarterHQ where she leads marketing campaigns, brand management, and demand generation. Prior to joining SmarterHQ, she led campaigns and partnerships across the globe at ExactTarget and the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. In her free time, Kristen has a passion for helping others realize and reach their potential. She has founded Ladies in SaaS which brings professional women in tech together in order to build empowerment and community in Indianapolis. She also recently mentored a high-school student at Starfish Initiative and helped her become the first in her family to attend college.
John Henry is currently combining his interests in consulting and entrepreneurship as Manager of Customer Success at Vennli, a startup out of the University of Notre Dame. John began working there while earning his MBA at Notre Dame. Prior to resuming his academic studies, John had launched two successful online startups, worked in new product development at Corporate Executive Board, and led consulting engagements in Washington, D.C. for Booz Allen Hamilton. John and his wife, Monica, love raising their two young children in Indiana and participating in South Bend’s downtown business renaissance.
After graduating from Taylor University in 2010, Adam joined the Flagship to help launch their new Small Business Administration (SBA) Microloan Program. Under Adam’s leadership of the loan program, the Flagship team has made 300 loans totaling over $7.5 million to small businesses who are unable to secure traditional financing from banks. In five short years the Flagship has become the second largest SBA microlender in the country. Adam has led the Flagship’s software development efforts which have allowed the Flagship to scale quickly and grow loan dollar volume by over 150% four years in a row.
Corey grew up in Northern Indiana before attending Indiana Wesleyan University. The Orr Fellowship brought him to Indianapolis with technology startup Compendium. He worked there for three and a half years through its acquisition by Oracle. Shortly after, Corey joined the Lesson.ly team as its fourth employee to start and develop the team’s Client Experience department. In the two and a half years since Corey’s coming on board, Lesson.ly has grown to 40 employees and 300 customers. Corey joined learning software provider Lesson.ly as its fourth employee and serves its 300 customers as the Director of Client Experience.
Joshua Knox is currently the Service Delivery Manager at Diverse Tech Services. Before working in IT Josh was a high school teacher focused on equipping students for the journey ahead. Now Josh’s focus is on equipping his clients for whatever challenges may face, and developing his team members so that they can do the same.
Mr. Moskalick is a Sales Manager with Cimcor Inc. There, he works to develop sales of the company’s IT security and compliance product, CimTrak. Mike received a B.S. in Management and a B.A. in Psychology from Purdue University, where he is currently pursuing his M.B.A. He is president of the Purdue Alumni Club of Northwest Indiana, of which he formerly served as treasurer. Previously, he was a board member of the Purdue Alumni Association Inc., where he served on the executive and marketing committees, Purdue Alumni Calumet, and the Central Indiana chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) where he served as the communications director.
Amy Oviedo is the VP of People Operations at Kinney Group in Indianapolis, Indiana. She spearheads an analytics-driven approach for helping its people love their work. To lay her career foundation, she earned a B.A in Organizational Communication from Ball State University. Amy’s career spans 18+ years of focused Talent Acquisition, Training, and Colleague Development. Her background in fast-paced technology environments has shaped her philosophy: that culture is hardened by a focus on unrelenting communication and organizational health. She is committed to driving strategies and tactics that help her company hit goals while maintaining a progressive environment.
Steve Pruden is Appirio’s VP of strategy and partnerships. Steve co-founded and leads Appirio’s Indianapolis operations – growing this team from 4 to 180+ in a few short years. Steve is also responsible for Appirio’s Amazon Web Services practice & strategic partnership. Prior to his current role, Steve was vice president of CRM services where he led Appirio’s global Salesforce.com practice. He has partnered with Appirio’s largest customers including Facebook, NetApp, and Robert Half to move millions of dollars in infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of users to the public cloud. A graduate of Indiana University, Steve joined Appirio in 2010.
Elliott Shultz has been a Sales Development Manager for just over a year with BidPal Inc. Aside from aiding the growth and development of his team and ensuring their success on a day-to-day basis, Elliott continues a 16-year career in the Indiana Air National Guard and cites the mentoring received there as a key element to his success. Elliott lives in Indianapolis with his two sons, Henry and George, and his high-school sweetheart, wife of 8 years, source of inspiration and best friend, Kristi.
Ian Runyon is the Director of Solutions for MOBI, where he oversees the design, development, and execution of solution strategies for MOBI’s clients – a position to which he brings over 10 years of experience in solution architecture and enterprise sales engineering. A graduate of DePauw University with a degree in Computer Science and Economics, he is also an alumnus of the Orr Fellowship, a program designed to foster young entrepreneurial leaders in the state of Indiana. Outside of MOBI, he enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, working on technology and design projects, and engaging in the Indianapolis start-up community.
As a leader, Alex is passionate, inspiring, creative and determined. After Co-Founding hardware industry tech start-up Vendor2Member in 2013, Alex quickly became addicted to the sheer scale of opportunity in the Indianapolis tech scene. Following V2M’s acquisition in 2015, Alex connected with Steve Hershberger, founder of SteadyServ Technologies. Inspired by Steve’s drive and vision, Alex ignored his wife’s better judgement and joined the team at SteadyServ to help revolutionize the way draft beer is sold, managed, and distributed around the world. Cheers!
With a background in Marketing and Human Resources, Jessica Stephenson passionately works at the intersection of content marketing and human resources technology. She has been with the HR software firm, ExactHire, for six and a half years and currently serves as Vice President of Marketing and Talent. She is also Director of Communications for IndySHRM, the central Indiana chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management. Outside of work, Jessica spends time with her husband and two kids, volunteers for her kids’ sports programs, explores new recipes to satisfy her inner “foodie” and loves being outdoors.
Ashley Walsh is the Director of Marketing at Formstack, where she leads a remote team of rockstar marketers driving user and business growth. She got her first taste of tech working at Angie’s List for eight years. After experiencing the rush of fast-paced growth and possibility there, she was hooked on startup culture. When not on video calls connecting with her team, Ashley can be found buried in reports measuring results.
Noelle Webster-Milam is a Lead Experience (UX) Designer/Architect focusing on enhancing human experiences in many different industries. She joined SEP in 2013 bringing her vision of delivering innovation and delightful experiences to the many startups and Fortune 100 companies that hire SEP for product design and development needs. Noelle has been instrumental in helping SEP transform from an engineering company to a product development company. Her passion for building great products has also extended into the Indianapolis design community. Noelle spends time mentoring, advising/leading local Meetups, and volunteering her time to make Indianapolis a forerunner in the design industry. In 2014, Noelle and other local leaders brought the 4th Annual Midwest UX Conference to Indianapolis for the first time.
Shannon’s team is the first point of contact for our customers globally–and so important. This past year, she led the integration of the existing ExactTarget team into the Salesforce model—not an easy task, especially with a global workforce. Through all of this, our customers were handled with the greatest care–and felt little disruption in the support model. Shannon’s team is based in Indy , and she is constantly hiring and developing talent locally to achieve her goals.”
Courtney has been a long-time participant in the success of Indianapolis technology companies. From her early days at Software Artistry, working both in professional services and product development, through her time serving in leadership roles at my company, PeopleStrategy and later at NextGear Capital, she always brings technical and people leadership skills that help build teams and create successful products. Most recently, at NextGear Capital, Courtney has helped lead a recruiting effort that interviewed a candidate pool of nearly 800 applicants to select an elite team of 85 technology professionals to build the next generation of products that will take the company from $3.2 billion dollars to over $6 billion.”
Prior to Nicole’s arrival, CloudOne struggled like any startup to define its position in the marketplace and it’s ‘voice’ above all of the other noise…Since she arrived, CloudOne’s monthly revenue has more than doubled, and our strategy for connecting with the marketplace has evolved accordingly. At each turn of the wheel, Nicole has acted with the maturity and poise of a professional twice her age, but has never failed to introduce the creative, dynamic and youthful approach that was our hope when we offered her the job – a hope that has turned into a brilliant reality for us.”
Megan joined the team when we were working out of an apartment. Her skills and oversight have expanded immensely from initially handling just paperwork to overseeing a staff of 30 part-time and full-time employees. She’s personally overseen all hiring, contract fulfillment, accounting & finance, and HR functions. She’s integral to our growth.” – Peter SerVaas, President, DoubleMap
As we grew into a SaaS company, Austin was the driving force behind developing our sales and business development tactics to support a new product and to be competitive in a new industry. I cannot speak highly enough of his business acumen, and the impact he has had on growing our business. Austin doesn’t just grow his business, he grows the leadership skills and talents of his teammates through mentoring and coaching. Austin understands the power of a collaborative effort and ensures that all of his actions contribute to the collective success of his sales team.” – Cameron Weeks, CEO, Fathom Voice
You can’t build or grow a company without compensating your sales team well. Josh is the wizard behind Appirio’s sales compensation system. He is the wittiest financial analyst in the world…period. Josh lives and breathes our culture. Josh started as our payroll analyst and quickly moved well beyond that role. He led our payroll team for a while and now supports our global sales team – not an easy job. Josh never seeks the limelight, but you can’t have a successful tech company without a person like Josh. They are rare and never rewarded for their hard work – Josh is the “go to guy” for all things finance at Appirio.” – Steve Pruden, VP Mobility and Crowdsourcing, Appirio
Robin is a unique individual who understands the intersection of technology, strategy and business results. In addition to providing strong domain competence in SaaS, continuous engineering, and quality disciplines, she has been a role model leader for others to emulate. She has taken personal interest in helping people new in their careers learn the basics of how to be effective in an established organization. This commitment to people makes her stand apart personally and professionally amongst her peers.” – Bob Boehnlein, CEO, Perscio
Steve Fouty is the best kept secret in Indiana, except that he isn’t a secret to any of the people responsible for the most successful exits in the area, like Bill Godfrey (Aprimo), Scott Dorsey (ExactTarget), and others.I can’t tell you how excited I was when Steve chose Emerging Threats to be the next company he wanted to join. I knew he had a track record for picking winners, and I was hoping his joining us would be a good omen. Clearly it was. Steve’s expertise has been instrumental in us cleaning up our finances and moving from ‘startup mode’ to that of a real business. He is knowledgeable across a wide range of areas. Obviously he is an expert in finances, but he also can handle human resources, benefits, leasing, facilities, and about anything else you can think of.” – Ken Gramley, CEO, Emerging Threats
At 2 PM, 2 AM or anywhere in between, Mat is who I turn to when I need it most. His ability to solve abstract problems and create a repeatable, sustainable capability that a client can believe in is second to none. Two years into his career, he is performing and delivering on the same amount of revenue, at a higher margin, with lower level resources as his peers with 15 years of experience. I can’t say enough great things about Mat’s capabilities. We’re blessed to have Mat on our team, as he is an honest, genuine guy who cares more about others than himself.” – J.J. Thompson, CEO, Rook Security
Carson brings a unique, and difficult to replicate, set of skills to the hc1.com sales team. He is an intense high performer that continues to be laser focused, persistent, and resourceful as well as an integral part of the company’s success. Carson exhibits strong attributes of a first-class team player. He is able to lead his team strategically to create solutions that thoroughly address the evolving needs of clients across global markets in the most efficient, innovative manner possible.” – Lori Smith, Sr. Director of Human Resources & Talent Development, hc1.com
Joe joined TinderBox as the company’s second full-time engineer. He brought experience, unparalleled work ethic and leadership to the company’s budding product department. His impact was felt from day one, even though he contributed from afar. He lived in Virginia and then Washington while developing the next generation of the TinderBox product. He mentored the growing team and consistently contributed to product innovations that, today, serve as the backbone for many partnerships, successful customers and competitive differentiators. His commitment to team brought him to Indianapolis, to serve as the company’s lead engineer and Senior Software Architect…Not only was Joe a critical resource in taking the earliest software concepts of TinderBox and shaping them into a leading software product, he continues to deliver new innovations and mentor a highly competent team.” – Dustin Sapp, CEO, TinderBox
Kara is one of the true rising stars at SmarterHQ. She’s a conscientious, honest, intelligent, creative leader that always wants to find a way to say yes for her customers. She’s a true advocate of their needs and will work whatever hours or whatever channels are necessary to get them the value they deserve. She’s a demanding but fair manager of people and I’ve been really impressed with her from day one.” – Michael Osborne, CEO, SmarterHQ
Ian has grown our tourism business from nothing to being the largest tourism app platform in the world. As our best sales rep to-date, he’s closed 60+ tourism deals for us, including our first non-US country client, South Africa, and our largest tourism customer, Kissimmee, FL. He is only 24 years old and had zero sales experience before starting, which makes his contribution to Bluebridge even more meaningful and inspiring. He’s also a huge culture cornerstone for us, uniting and energizing our team.” – Santiago Jaramillo, CEO, Bluebridge
One Click Ventures’ winning model relies on actionable data and insightful recommendations. Tim Klausmeier is responsible for delivering on that model as Director of Business Intelligence. In his role, Tim oversaw the creation of a system that allows for all of One Click to receive weekly updates on revenue and profitability. The system functions off of inputs from each department to estimate month end revenue and costs based on MTD trends. This gives every team member full transparency into the state of the business. Tim also plays a critical role in delivering a seamless customer experience for the company’s new eyewear brand, felix + iris. The Business Intelligence Team has worked hard since the brand’s launch in fall 2014 to push out initial findings on website activity. With these insights, Tim and his team provide solutions to improve the customer journey.” – Leigh Hamer, Director of Communications, One Click Ventures
Eric knows the tech media landscape better than anyone, and consistently lands stories for clients in Mashable, TechCrunch, NYT, WSJ, WIRED – just to name few. One of his biggest successes was his work on the 2012 Super Bowl Command Center. In January 2012, Eric had a new client kickoff meeting with Taulbee Jackson, who was at the time the CEO of Indianapolis-based digital marketing firm Raidious, which was hosting the first-ever Super Bowl Social Media Command Center. Taulbee was looking to generate buzz surrounding the command center, which would officially launch just a week later. In fewer than three hours after this getting-to-know-you meeting, Eric secured an exclusive interview with Mashable. But Mashable was only the beginning. In the days following that initial meeting, Eric secured national coverage surrounding Raidious and the command center in outlets such as CNN and MSNBC, top marketing trade outlets, including ClickZ and MediaPost, and every local media outlet in Indianapolis (Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Business Journal, FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC). The buzz even prompted a visit from Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard who requested a tour of the command center.” – Christy Chen, Partner, Dittoe Public Relations
Jenn has produced and directed content strategies for high-growth companies like Chase, Angie’s List, Mindjet, ExactTarget, Compendium and others. Jenn’s hard work is only outpaced by the care she shows for her clients. She is an indispensable resource for DK New Media and has stuck through the company in both thick and thin. It’s why Jenn is now my business partner.” – Doug Karr, CEO, DK New Media
Mike originally joined Scale in our tech support group, and quickly established himself both as a tech wizard and a great customer-facing evangelist as well. Today Mike heads our our services team, which means he’s the one who helps customers implement our solutions successfully. Our support and services team has achieved a net promoter score (NPS) of +79, which is higher than any company in technology I’ve even seen. NPS scores range from -100 to +100, and anything over 20 is considered world class. For reference, Apple, well known for it’s fervent customer based, scores +40.” – Jeff Ready, CEO, Scale Computing
Dr. Abdelaziz Mahoui is the lead architect for the critically important and highly visible internal entrepreneurial-like program at Lilly — the Open Innovation Drug Discovery (OIDD) initiative (openinnovation.lilly.com). This effort created a new paradigm in the world of drug research – what the media has termed “crowd sourcing pharma drug development.” Functionality includes real-time visibility to biological screening, tracking and management of activities, support for the Sunshine Act, support for virtual screening and a new computational chemistry platform (Plexus). The impact of OIDD can hardly be over stated as it is featured in several Lilly communication efforts and was notably recognized by National Institute of Health’s director Francis Collins in his visit to Lilly as well as featured in Lilly’s Annual Report to Shareholders. As the lead architect and developer, Abdelaziz deserves recognition and full credit for the IT work as well as direct influence on both the business process and the science.” – Mike Meadows, CTO, Eli Lilly and Company
Within 90 days, Becky deconstructed our vision into technical requirements and organized 200 employees and consultants across Product and Engineering, all while learning a brand-new business model…I’ve never seen anyone work as hard or as thoroughly as Becky. She’s as comfortable at 40,000 feet as she is at 5,000 and she’s upped the game of all those around her, including me…Before Becky came on board, there was no visibility or predictability with our planning. Now, we know 60 days ahead if we’re off-plan, so there’s time to course-correct. Establishing confidence among business stakeholders that we can deliver what we say we’ll deliver is helping us build serious momentum.” – Shelly Towns, SVP of Product, Angie’s List.
A single word best sums up Steven: REVOLUTIONARY! His knowledge and expertise is applied in literally the most practical manner. He has created an inbound marketing flow that is second to none. As a one-man show he generates hundreds of leads for the sales team each and every month! His web content and videos are groundbreaking and have become near and dear to most of the nonprofit world. Much of our rapid growth is due to his expertise and tenacity.” – Jay Love, CEO, Bloomerang
Five years ago, Chris created a new service line for SEP around Collaborative Discovery. The gist is helping clients make better decisions about new investments. In his very first engagement, he helped a prominent life sciences company do analysis on a new system around which it would launch a service line. He was able to identify flaws in the plan that would have greatly delayed the launch and redirect them to a better approach. In another engagement, he saved a large credit union a quarter million dollars by identifying capabilities they did not need to build in a new product. The product launched on time and budget, and has won industry awards. Ten years ago, Chris was part of a significant redesign of SEP’s recruiting and candidate evaluation process. Our already exceptional system was improved and these changes contributed to our incredible 95.5% year over year retention rate. Four years ago, Chris was instrumental in bringing design and user experience services to SEP. Today, design services are a part of nearly every engagement and vital to our competitiveness.” – Raman Ohri, President, SEP
As Design Director at Studio Science, Nathan Sinsabaugh has shaped the brands, products, and experiences of some of the most successful businesses in Indianapolis and around the world. Nathan has also played an instrumental role in building the high-performance, tight-knit team at Studio Science. Under his leadership, the firm has grown from 2 to 24 people during the 11 years that he’s been with the consultancy. As Studio Science’s fist employee, Nathan’s humility, insight and ambition, played a pivotal role in shaping the culture of Studio Science. His commitment to Studio Science, our clients, the design community, and our city cannot be overstated. I can think of no one more deserving of this recognition.” – Kristian Andersen, Founder, Studio Science
I interviewed Brad in the midst of his senior year in college. He dedicated himself to a rigorous education and it was clear he gained invaluable analytical and problem solving capabilities through his work as a physics major. While we were excited by his academic strengths, we soon discovered we were interviewing a special leader as we uncovered his leadership and mentorship capabilities during our rigorous interview process. Although he was still in college, it was clear Brad had the type of leadership ‘compass’ we were in need of at Apparatus. He spoke of ethics, integrity, and leadership in a manner well above his years. We were excited to extend an offer and quietly hoped he would focus on his influence at Apparatus as quickly as possible…As expected he developed his technical skills from the get-go, but more importantly, he influenced and mentored those around him. Due to his sustained, high-level of performance and influence, Brad was promoted to manager. Notably, he earned the opportunity to manager in record time. Now, many months into his formal leadership responsibility, he continues to have enormous influence on the direction of our company. We are a technology and operations company and Brad is at the heart of what we hope to deliver for our employees and clients every day.” – Aman Brar, President, Apparatus
Muhammad has been with PERQ for almost 2 years. During that time, he has helped us overhaul our brand, launch a digital services division, and build a new marketing team that fits our vision. His ability to execute and lead a high performing team within a fast paced culture in such a short time is a testament to his talents. I witness daily a person who wants to learn, grow, and increase his impact for the company and the community. This makes him a leader by example and translates into a team that performs at a high level. We are lucky to have him on the team and I can’t wait to see what he great things he accomplishes in the coming years.” – Andy Medley, President, PERQ
Todd manages a large and diverse group of software developers who are optimizing and enhancing our existing product line and also working on large parts of our next generation cloud architecture. Todd strikes a delicate balance between meeting the expectations of current customers while investing in future technologies. He has to manage everything from complex client-server communication to large scale web onboarding facilities.” – Don Brown, CEO, Interactive Intelligence
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