The Legends of Impact17

Aaron Hillegass

Founder, Big Nerd Ranch

Aaron Hillegass started his career doing research for the US Navy at The Mitre Corporation’s Advanced Signal Processing Lab. He was part of the most important merger of our lifetime: Aaron was working at NeXT when it was purchased by Apple. He left Apple to create Big Nerd Ranch, a training and consulting firm that specializes in mobile and other emerging technologies. Big Nerd Ranch clients include Facebook, Google, Amazon, and LinkedIn. Aaron is the author of three popular books on software development including “iOS Development: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide”.

Aya Zook

Chief Business Development Officer, DefinedCrowd

Aya Zook is Chief Business Development Officer at DefinedCrowd, responsible for managing sales and marketing. Prior to DefinedCrowd, he spent 10 years at Microsoft in various senior roles from product management in MSN, Windows Live and Bing to managing marketing teams and media partnerships at Bing Fund, Microsoft Ventures and Accelerator. Before joining Microsoft, Aya worked for an interactive agency as a designer and a project manager. He sits on the International Executive Council of the Internet Marketing Association (IMA) and serves as an advisor to Hing Hay Coworks. He graduated from the University of Washington where he studied philosophy.

Bernadette Coleman

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Advice Local 

Bernadette Coleman is the founder and CEO of Advice Local, A 3 time inc500 an award-winning local search technology and local presence management company focused on improving visibility for clients across the local digital universe.
She has been actively involved in digital marketing with an emphasis on local SEO since 2001. Referred to as the Queen of Local SEO by industry peers, Bernadette is always thinking about how businesses, small and large, can leverage content marketing, search engine optimization and social media to dominate local search.

Among the many awards she has received, Bernadette is quite proud of her Female Entrepreneur of the Year – Stevie Award. Being a female CEO is no small feat, and to inspire other women day to day is one of her many passions. You can find her speaking locally and nationally on local SEO and search strategies for businesses and brands.

In her spare time, she and her husband, Tom, work as advocates for brain injury awareness through their co-founded nonprofit, TryMunity.com

Visit BernadetteColeman.com to follow her digital marketing journey around the web.

Dr. Stephane Muller

Business Programs Department Director, University of  California Irvine 

Stephane Antoine Muller is a longtime believer in online continuing education since he completed a Doctorate of Education from Universite du Maine (France) in 2006. As an educator, he taught French in eight countries at prestigious institutions such as Cambridge University, United World College of Canada and National University of Singapore. He has been teaching French online with UCLA Extension since 2008 and became the Director for the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2012. Dr. Muller received the 2014 Annual Staff Honors Award for Leadership in appreciation of his contributions to the UCLA community. He is currently the Director of the Business Programs Department at UC Irvine and has the Digital Marketing Certificate program as part of his portfolio. He utilizes a variety of Internet marketing strategies to promote his courses online.

Eric Lundbohm

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Enough Content

Eric Lundbohm is a recognized CMO with three decades of marketing and executive experience, including over 15 years of cybersecurity industry background. He is the founder of Enough Content, a B2B marketing consulting firm that delivers global marketing strategies and demand generation programs for rapidly growing technology companies. His background in cybersecurity has been shaped by running marketing for several security firms, including M86 Security, iSheriff and NSS Labs. Eric holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from The Ohio State University and a Bachelors in Management Information Systems from the University of Rhode Island.

Helen Norris

Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Chapman University

Helen Norris is the Chief Information Officer at Chapman University. She has almost 30 years’ experience working in IT leadership roles. Originally from Ireland, Helen earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, and a Master’s degree in Computer Resource Management and Business Administration from Webster University in St. Louis. She holds a project management certification (PMP) from Project Management International (pmi.org) and is a fellow of the Educause Leading Change Institute. She serves as a board member of the Southern California Society of Information Management (scsim.org) and a trustee of the National Endowment for Financial Education (nefe.org). Helen also previously served as the Director of the Sacramento Women in Technology International network (witi.com).

Ian Kalin

Chief Data Officer, eHealth, Inc. 

As Chief Data Officer for eHealth, Ian Kalin oversees all data services for the company, leads its data sciences practice and leverages business intelligence to improve operations. Before coming to eHealth, Ian was the U.S. Department of Commerce’s first Chief Data Officer. His data experience also includes roles as a Presidential Innovation Fellow for the Department of Energy, Director of Open Data for Socrata, Special Data Consultant for Google and Managing Director for Power Advocate. Ian started his career in the U.S. Navy where he served as a nuclear engineer and as a counter terrorism officer. He holds degrees from Georgetown University and Old Dominion University and was awarded the Robert Seamans Fellowship from the Harvard Kennedy School for leadership in technology and public policy.

Isabelle Bart

Marketing & Communications Director, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses

Isabelle Bart is the Marketing and Communications Director at the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN. In her current role, Isabelle oversees marketing, communications, creative and digital strategy efforts for AACN, which represents the interests of more than 500,000 acute and critical care nurses. Isabelle is currently leading her team in shaping the digital journey for this community of exceptional nurses. Her professional experience includes more than 15 years in healthcare and medical devices, working in business planning and marketing strategy for globally recognized companies such as Abbott and Advanced Medical Optics. Isabelle holds a Masters in Business Administration from ESSEC Business School in Paris. She also holds the CIM (Certified Internet Marketer) certification from the Internet Marketing Association. Isabelle serves on the Board of Directors of the Child Creativity Lab and has been involved in numerous non-profit events such as Team In Training and the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles.

Jason Garcia

Vice President, Silicon Valley Bank

Jason Garcia is a Vice President in SVB’s tech practice where he focuses on early and growth stage software and hardware companies in Utah. He is a portfolio manager for a $50MM venture debt portfolio and has contributed over $200MM in capital commitments. Before SVB, Jason worked in M&A investment banking for Goldman Sachs and public accounting for KPMG. He is passionate about helping startups understand the broader innovation economy, develop capital strategy, and form relationships with investors and partners.

Jason Neubauer

Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Santa Claus Affect

Jason Neubaur is one the top influencer marketing professionals in the world according to Forbes, Huff Post, Entrepreneur and others. He has built three multimillion-dollar businesses utilizing influencers for brand development. He has personal relationships with over 250 influencers and has collaborated with over 1,000 influencers and more than 30 brands to create authentic influencer content. Some of his top influencer campaigns include Helicopter Trampoline for Sprint with Jake Paul, Sprint’s LiveUnlimited campaign and The Santa Claus Affect. Jason is also Co-Founder of Sprint’s Millennial and GenZ division, “Candy Bar.” He started his first company with $31,695 won on Wheel of Fortune and five years later made a deal on Shark Tank for a company he founded with his best friend, Chris Stoikos. Jason is currently Founder and CEO of Santa Claus Affect and Co-Founder of Challenged, YouBetMe, Coolbox (as seen on Shark Tank) and 123Wish. Jason serves as an advisor to Dollar Beard Club and 15 other companies. He is a member of the Young Entrepreneurial Council, a board member of the non-profit Deedly, and a mentor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the seventh best entrepreneurship program in the country and an industry thought leader for IVY. Jason’s mission is to effect change around the world by shifting the way people view charitable acts with the motto, “your legacy is defined by how many people’s lives you’ve touched.”

Jay Symonds

Senior Account Executive, Amazon

Jay has more than 15 years of experience in marketing including advertising, media, brand development, interactive marketing and search engine optimization. Over the years, he has worked with some of the largest and most brand-focused organizations in the world including Target, Toyota, GM, Honda, Staples, CBS and Sony. Jay is currently a Senior Account Executive at Amazon, working in the Amazon Media Group, based in Seattle. Prior to his role at Amazon, he was a partner at 451 Marketing, a national award-winning firm specializing in PR, digital media, search marketing and social media. Early in his career, Jay helped create and launch some of the most dynamic and innovative web ad campaigns seen in the last decade, having the pleasure to work with personalities such as Tiger Woods, Lebron James and Eli Manning. With a unique blend of passion, enthusiasm and creativity, he enjoys working with a wide variety of companies from startups to Fortune 500 and all aspects of helping companies grow. Jay has stayed true to his desire to provide outstanding results for his clients. His goals are to continue to be the person that people know will deliver on his word and be a pleasure to work with. As he puts it, he wants his clients to be “raving fans.”

Jeanniey Mullen

Global Chief Marketing Officer, Mercer 

Over the past 20+ years, Jeanniey Mullen has worked with the world’s leading entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs inside client side businesses and agencies. She has focused on defining and growing results by creating powerful digitally-enhanced marketing programs, partnerships and distribution that strengthen brands and drive innovation. From startups to new divisions within Fortune 500 organizations, this work has delivered short-term results and helped create longer term gains with defensible, unique selling propositions (USP’s) that ensure competitive advantage, growth and a digital presence. Jeanniey is driven by the opportunity to inspire global brand advocacy by creating a compelling combination of innovative go-to-market strategies and growth-based, digitally driven, data-oriented marketing programs. Her unique combination of traditional and digital expertise enables her to effectively and creatively design and deploy initiatives that drive straight to the bottom line. Organizing multi-functional, powerful teams that hit the ground running to drive results that compound with collaboration is a fulfilling success she continues to enjoy. As a recognized mentor and advisor, Jeanniey continuously helps others excel as a frequent speaker, columnist and published author.

Jeff Hassemer

Chief Strategy Officer, Alterian

Jeff Hassemer is a global product marketing executive known for his thought leadership and notable product achievements in the areas of customer experience, marketing technology and advertising technology solutions. As CSO for Alterian, he oversees marketing and sales to effectively position and sell its Adaptive Customer Experience™ platform. His 20 years of experience in the industry and passion for teaching others make Jeff a strong and knowledgeable leader. In his spare time, Jeff can be found at one of his kids’ many sporting events. From ice hockey to fastpitch softball to golf, and more, he and his family love sports. In fact, he and his wife even have their own sporting goods franchise. Based in Denver, Jeff also loves spending time in the Colorado wilderness.

John Costello

Corporate VP Business Development & Government Relations, Microsemi Corporation 

Mr. Costello earned a degree in business from Loyola University in Los Angeles in 1983 and Management Development Program UC Irvine in 2005.

Mr. Costello is employed by Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC) a company offering a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and system solutions for communications, defense & security, aerospace and industrial markets. Products include high-performance and radiation-hardened analog mixed-signal integrated circuits, FPGAs, SoCs and ASICs; power management products; timing and synchronization devices and precise time solutions, setting the world’s standard for time; voice processing devices; RF solutions; discrete components; security technologies and scalable anti-tamper products; Power-over-Ethernet ICs and midspans; as well as custom design capabilities and services. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif., and has approximately 4000 employees globally.

Mr. Costello currently holds the title of Corporate Vice President of Business Development for Security/Defense and Government Relations, where his responsibilities include developing and implementing strategy related to forward looking technologies, markets, as well as promoting laws and policies conducive to the Microsemi’s technology roadmap. These markets include information assurance, anti-tamper technology, advanced weapons systems and satellite payload applications where security and reliability are paramount. Mr. Costello is responsible for Microsemi’s major initiatives involving Government Relations including the acquisition of “Trusted” microelectronics and GPS denial mitigation solutions.

Josh Decker

Chief Executive Officer, Tagboard

Kevin Maloney

Chief Executive Officer, International Executive Council 

Kevin Maloney is a sales and marketing executive with 22 years of experience in business development, technology, operations, finance and investor relations with early to mid-stage companies. His track record encompasses leadership, strategic relations, innovative marketing, sourcing capital and building companies. He is an expert at attracting and motivating productive teams and executing clear strategic plans. His skills in establishing, cultivating and managing client, media and investor relationships have resulted in increased company sales, exposure and funding through more than 1,000 early to mid-stage investor pitches, 100+ corporate road shows and nearly $60M+ in capital.

Lindsey Germono

President, Germono Advertising Company 

Lindsey Germono, President of Germono Advertising Company and Host of Drop and Give Me 20 podcast, is an expert in traditional and new media advertising with extensive experience working with small and medium sized businesses seeking to broaden their marketing strategy. She has over a decade of traditional media planning, placement and management experience, and has stayed on the forefront
of advancements in new media marketing. She is a sought after speaker on marketing and advertising topics, and has led speaking engagements at Old Dominion University, Regent University, The Milspo Project, Internet Marketing Association, and more. She serves as an advocate for military entrepreneurship, serving on the board of directors for The Milspo Project, and has been featured in
Forbes, U.S. Small Business Administration, and NextGen Milspouse. Lindsey is a graduate of Old Dominion University, and received her MBA from Regent University. She is an active member of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity and contributes both on a local and national level with their philanthropic causes. In her spare time, Lindsey enjoys traveling and spending time with her family, friends, and dogs.

Mark Samuel

Chief Executive Officer, IMPAQ

Mark Samual is a thought leader and CEO of IMPAQ, an award-winning international consulting firm that guides organizations in achieving measurable breakthrough results within six months through a unique system that links Execution, Culture and Deliverables. Mark is the best-selling author of the acclaimed “Creating the Accountable Organization” and the award-winning “Making Yourself Indispensable: the Power of Personal Accountability.” Mark is considered a “practical visionary” by top executives in many Fortune 500 companies. CNBC, Bloomberg and Fortune magazine have recognized him as a top authority on how companies can eliminate silos and replace blame with shared ownership and accountability. Mark’s work has effected long-term, positive, profitable improvement in companies worldwide, including The Royal Bank of Canada, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Enbridge Pipeline, Pacific Seafood, Chevron Corporation, American Express, Genentech, Kaiser Permanente, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Fairchild Semiconductor, Honda Corporation, Texas Instruments, AMGEN, The GAP, Baxter Pharmaceuticals, Hewlett-Packard, Ameren, Florida Power & Light, City of Red Deer, the University of California at Berkeley, Habitat for Humanity, Hilmar Cheese, Pacific Gas & Electric, Michelin Tires, UK National Health Service, Siemens and many more.

Michael Aburas

Integrated Media Director, MGM Resorts International

Michael Aburas has been executing performance marketing campaigns for MGM Resorts International that drive increased direct sales and contribute to exceeding business goals since 2010. As the Integrated Media Director for MGM Resorts International, Michael leads the media investment strategy, planning, buying and campaign execution for SEM, international advertising and the M life Loyalty program.

Additionally, Michael has been the project manager overseeing the implementation, onboarding, training and strategy for the Adobe media tech stack for the MGM Resorts enterprise, enabling deeper audience segmentation and more efficient acquisition and communication across paid media. Michael joined MGM Resorts in 2004. Prior to joining the media team, he held multiple roles in marketing, HR, finance, sales and development.

Michael has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Michelle Frank

Senior Manager, Global E-Commerce, Harman

Michelle Frank is a 10-year veteran in the e-commerce space. She began her career working with iconic fashion brands in North America, including Bloomingdale’s, Louis Vuitton and Nine West in roles focused on e-commerce marketing channels. In 2013, Michelle expanded her horizons globally and joined HARMAN as the Senior Manager of Global E-Commerce, managing their lifestyle consumer audio brands JBL, Harman Kardon, Infinity, AKG and Harman Audio. At HARMAN, she is in charge of the Demandware platform, global expansion onto Demandware and managing all third-party relationships. To date Michelle has helped HARMAN launch 50 e-commerce sites and 45 content sites in 28 countries and 19 languages.

Paul Smith

Chief Marketing Officer, Tangram Interiors 

Paul Smith is Chief Marketing Officer of Tangram Interiors, an innovative commercial interior solutions provider based in Southern California. He launched his career in Portland, specializing in user experience and marketing within shared spaces. His work with hospitality leaders, including Bruce Carey Restaurants, led to developing locations in Los Angeles. Soon after, Paul was recruited by Tangram to develop and implement a progressive marketing department and strategic direction. He believes in creating and curating immersive experiences for customers, clients and cultures through strategic thinking, collaboration and technology integration.

Perry Evoniuk

Chief Technology Officer,  Evite

Perry Evoniuk has been Chief Technology Officer at Evite since March 19, 2015, and has more than 25 years of IT experience. He has served as Director of Information Systems for Amgen and as Vice President of Software Engineering and Enterprise Architecture at drugstore.com. Perry was responsible for the drugstore.com technology platform including the long-term roadmap, technology standards and guiding principles. He joined drugstore.com in 1999 and has held several positions managing development and implementation of web store infrastructure. Prior to joining drugstore.com, he served in research and development positions at Attachmate Corporation, a host connectivity provider, and at Hughes Aircraft, an aerospace and defense company. Perry holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado.

Perry Viscounty

Latham & Watkins LLP

Perry Viscounty, a nationally recognized trial lawyer and partner at Latham & Watkins, serves as a trusted advisor to leading and emerging global brands seeking to protect and leverage their most important intellectual property assets. Apple, craigslist, GE, VIZIO and Entrepreneur Media, as well as several video game developers and publishers, trust Perry’s holistic approach to litigating and counseling on cutting-edge technology, data privacy and intellectual property issues. He is widely regarded as a go-to lawyer for complex, multifaceted and high-stakes cases that often set precedent and define the legal landscape. Offering a unique combination of business-savvy technology and policy acumen, Perry helps clients in a wide variety of industries meet and overcome the challenges of rapidly evolving market and legal considerations. Perry’s perspective and insight on issues relating to trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets, among others, is documented through extensive thought leadership that includes numerous speaking engagements and authorships that address the latest IP trends and issues across the technology industry.

Ruth Brajevich

Vice President & Strategic Initiatives, Ware Malcomb

Ruth Brajevich is Vice President, Strategic Initiatives for award-winning, international design firm Ware Malcomb. The company is ranked in the top 25 architecture/engineering firms by Building Design + Construction magazine and top 40 interior design firms by Interior Design magazine in the United States. A member of Ware Malcomb’s executive team, Ruth collaborates with company leaders across the firm’s 22 offices. Since 1998, she has played a key role in the company’s transformation from a regional to international design firm.

Ruth oversees strategy for the Ware Malcomb brand, marketing, public relations, communications and culture for Ware Malcomb. She is involved in organizational development and leads strategic initiatives within the firm. She originated and oversees strategic planning, leadership development and culture initiatives.

Ruth is both an accomplished speaker and gifted writer. She has given numerous presentations and has been published on a variety of digital marketing and leadership topics. In 2017 she was recognized via Science of Digital Marketing as one of the Top 50 Most Influential CMO’s and Marketing Leaders for 2016. Ruth was also honored by the Internet Marketing Association with a Women Leaders Award in 2016.

Peter V. Lopez III

Cloud Solutions Architect, Microsoft

Over 20 years of experience leading innovation and security in technology.

Ryan Miyaki

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Comped Marketing 

Ryan Miyaki in a serial entrepreneur specializing in disruptive and innovative technologies. His entrepreneurial career began at the age of 18 in the production industry when he created a series of workshops and events. After production, Ryan transitioned into the technology industry and began developing mobile applications. He created a mobile app allowing customers to order beverages from their phone to the bar which was eventually adopted and modified by Anheuser-Busch. Seeing opportunity in Las Vegas, Ryan moved to pursue the trade show and conventions industry where he procured a position with Trefis out of M.I.T as a junior analyst with primary emphasis on tech analysis. From that role, Ryan was able to position himself among leaders across various industries. Ryan is currently the Founder and CEO of Comped Marketing, an award-nominated and highly disruptive advertising tech distribution platform powered by IBM Watson’s artificial intelligence with a mission to expand the ad-tech industry.

Sue Rebar

Founder & President, Welcome Home Troops

Susan Akbarpour

Co-Founder & CEO, Mavatar Technologies Inc.

Susan Akbarpour is the co-founder and CEO of Mavatar Technologies Inc. She oversees the strategic and creative direction of the company, leveraging her extensive network and proven background in product design, development and marketing.

Susan is a visionary entrepreneur with over 25 years of hands-on experience building and advising successful and innovative products and businesses in technology, media, retail and management consulting. She founded Mavatar soon after receiving her MS in Management from Stanford University in 2010.

Under her leadership, Mavatar has emerged from a simple web browser application to modular, turnkey and cloud-based enterprise software equipped with a large array of omnichannel solutions such as large-scale Phygital Marketplace enabler software, Shoppable Content Publishing platform, mCart and Social e-Commerce Engine.

The Mavatar cross-channel PaaS platform straddles Marketplace, Affiliate and Social Marketing. Mavatar-powered Marketplace and mCarts Operators allow shoppers to buy products from impressions in digital and physical worlds, changing the way retailers acquire new customers and stimulate incremental sales by empowering and incentivizing their greatest brand advocates’ authentic voice. Mavatar solutions help enterprise customers to close the gap between online and offline shopping, sales and advertising.

Throughout her journey as an entrepreneur, journalist, publisher, investor, board member, community advocate and political fundraiser, Susan has received multiple media, community and business awards, spoken at various conferences and is frequently featured in mainstream media. Susan is also a general partner at Monjeri Investments, member of the board of directors at IMA International Executive Council and VOMax Corporation, member of Stanford Business School Alumni Association, Stanford Women On Boards, and a prestige member of Watermark, a nonprofit organization that is a community of executive women.

Tim Moran

Chief Executive Officer, CMO 100 

Back in 2009, a small team was assembled to bring to life a deceptively simple idea: Curate content from around the web that would be of interest to chief marketing officers. This was the vision of Josh James, CEO and co-founder of Omniture. With little to go on but that idea and a great url, this little group went on to create CMO.com. Tim Moran was fortunate enough to be the editorial lead for this project, along with Austin Bankhead, Gayle Kesten, and the terrific folks at Axis41 in Salt Lake City. In looking back at emails from ’09, he reports that the team was thrilled when it managed to top 1,000 page views for a day and 30,000 for the month. There were barely a few hundred subscribers to its weekly newsletter, and almost all of the content was blurb-and-link curation. When Tim recently left Adobe (where CMO.com ended up after that company purchased Omniture), monthly page views were more than 10 times that (400,000), newsletter subscribers passed 40,000 and Twitter followers were north of 85,000. Curated content is now limited to a few a day, with more than 25 pieces of original content by some of the best writers, executives and consultants in the business are posted a week. The likes of the Content Marketing Institute’s Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi, Velocity Partners’ Doug Kessler and others regularly cite CMO.com as a prime example of “brand-as-publisher” at its best. Among other accolades, the site was recently highlighted as a Top 50 Content Marketing Brand by NewsCred and won the 2014 CMI Award for Best Overall Editorial—Digital. There are other, new CMO.coms out there waiting to be created in almost every industry and for any enterprise. In the meantime, Tim has joined the IMA as CEO of its new CMO 100 Network: Leading the Digital Transformation. More on this terrific community as it develops.

Tracy Morgan

Senior Director, Engineering & Data Science, nContext 

Victor Cho

Chief Executive Officer, Evite

Victor Cho has 24 years of experience in software and Internet technology with extensive expertise in defining, developing, scaling, marketing and managing profitable Internet and software products and businesses. Victor is currently the CEO at Evite, the leading digital invitation and social event planning service with over 32 million registered users. He is also a key board member at Modo Payments, a mobile payments hub that connects any payment system with any other payment system through a proprietary digital COIN.

Vitaly Pecharsky

Head of IT Operations , Slickdeals