The GlobalEnglish management team brings together extensive experience in global business, learning, and technology. They focus on creating value for clients, employees, investors, and partners.
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Deepak Desai
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Desai has over 20 years of strong financial and operating experience, most notably with Time Warner Inc., where he spent twelve years in senior financial positions in New York and Asia. From 1995 to 1999, he served as General Manager/CFO for Time Life Asia, managing the children's education, ESL, and direct marketing businesses. He received a B.S. in commerce from the University of Bombay and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Les Schmidt
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Schmidt has over 20 years of executive experience with technology and emerging-growth companies. Most recently, he was Vice President of Worldwide Custom Solutions and Business Operations for the Mobile and Devices business unit of Adobe Systems (formerly Macromedia). Previously, Mr. Schmidt was a founder of The Information Privacy Company. He has also held senior leadership roles at Quokka Sports, MECON, Inc., The Learning Company, and Applied Immune Services. Mr. Schmidt holds an M.S. in taxation from Golden Gate University and a B.S. in political science and economics from Antioch College.
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Roger Piskulick
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Piskulick has over 20 years of experience in finance and public accounting. Since 2007, he held positions as Vice President of Finance Operations at The Active Network, Inc. and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, Inc., a start-up developer of interactive entertainment software. Prior to this, he served as Vice President of Finance and Operations at Blackboard Inc. where he helped lead the company to one of the most successful technology IPOs of 2004. Mr. Piskulick holds a B.S. from Arizona State University and is a certified public accountant.
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Sheila Madden
Senior Vice President, Global Talent Management
Ms. Madden has worked in the areas of talent management, executive leadership development, human resources, and organization effectiveness for over 20 years. Most recently, she served as the Principal of Madden Coaching & Consulting, providing executive and organization coaching and consulting to leaders of high-growth companies. Previously, Ms. Madden served as Vice President of Human Resources for The Learning Company and held senior management roles at Tandem Computers and the IBM Corporation.
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Mahesh Ram
Vice President of Worldwide Business Development & Corporate Sales Director - EMEA
Prior to joining GlobalEnglish, Mr. Ram held a variety of senior management positions with The Thomson Corporation, including Senior Vice President and General Manager of WisdomLink, a leading Internet learning service provider to the corporate, education, and lifelong learning markets. Mr. Ram received a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in American history from the University of Pennsylvania and the Advanced Information Technology Management (AITM) Certificate from Columbia University.
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Tom Kahl
Vice President & Corporate Sales Director - United States
Mr. Kahl is responsible for USA sales, support, and global sales operations. Prior to joining GlobalEnglish, he spent seven years with SmartForce (now Skillsoft), serving in various management positions, including Vice President of EMEA with responsibility for sales, support, marketing, and operations. Mr. Kahl received his B.S. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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Diarmuid Russell
Vice President & General Manager of Consumer Business
Mr. Russell has over 15 years of experience in a range of international strategy, marketing and commercial leadership roles for leading international businesses. His most recent position was at BBC Worldwide where he advised on the acquisition of Lonely Planet, the world's leading travel publisher, and subsequently became Commercial Director for Lonely Planet's digital division. Earlier experience includes serving as Vice President of International Strategy for Expedia, Inc. where he helped steer the company's expansion into Europe and Asia. Mr. Russell holds an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in economics from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
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Michelle Haag
Vice President, Products & User Experience
Ms. Haag has over 13 years of experience designing and developing innovative Web, desktop, and mobile products for the consumer and enterprise markets. Prior to GlobalEnglish, Ms. Haag held several strategic senior management roles at Yahoo! Inc., most recently for Yahoo! Global Mobile products. Previously, she held a variety of senior management positions at IBM, Rational Software, Pets.com, and Documentum. Ms. Haag received a B.A. in political science from Colorado State University.
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Santosh Jha
Vice President of Product Development & Technology
Mr. Jha has over 20 years of experience in technology strategy, architecture, implementation, engineering management, and product design. He has held senior positions with several global companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Tata Engineering, and Intuit. Mr. Jha received his M.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India.
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Sam Neff
Vice President of Consumer Product Development
Mr. Neff has over 18 years of experience in the field of educational software. He is currently creating a community for worldwide English learners, EnglishCafe.com. Prior to joining GlobalEnglish, Mr. Neff designed and engineered personal investment software for Intuit. Mr. Neff received his B.A. in psychology from Stanford University and his M.S. in computer science from San Francisco State University.
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Antonio Pastor
Regional Vice President, Corporate Sales - Latin America
Prior to joining GlobalEnglish, Mr. Pastor spent 7 years with SmartForce (now SkillSoft), serving in various management positions, including Latin American Business Development Director and EMEA Channel Sales Director. Mr. Pastor received his B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Connecticut and is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and his native English.
