Leadership
Officers and Directors
Jonathan Levene, President
Jonathan is Sr. Product Manager at Lavastorm, a provider of business assurance and data analytics solutions to enterprises in the telecom, utilities, financial services, and healthcare industries. He is responsible for researching market requirements, defining product strategy, and managing complete product lifecycles from definition through launch to a global customer base in over a dozen countries. Prior to assuming the BPMA Presidency, Jonathan served as Vice President and lead numerous committees where he helped to define and execute strategic plans, build online presence and community, develop co-marketing programs, and streamline operations. He holds an MBA from Babson College, and both graduate and undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT.
Karen Anderson, Vice President
Karen is a Principal with ZIGZAG Marketing, a product management and product marketing training firm. With over 15 years experience bringing software products and solutions to market, Karen has held leadership positions in the content management and document imaging industry - establishing brands, developing strategic marketing plans and defining product roadmaps. Before joining ZIGZAG Marketing, Karen held the position of VP of Marketing at Smart Page Technologies, playing a key role in the successful launch and sale of the company. Karen's career experience includes tenures at Fortune 1000 companies such as Banta Corporation and startup Leaf Systems. Prior roles include Director of Product Management, Director of Product Marketing, Sr. Product Line Manager, and Technical Sales Support.
Andrew Shepard, Treasurer and President Emeritus
Andrew develops and implements strategies to improve profitability throughout the value chain including product development, product positioning, inventory management, and product pricing. Andrew services customers across Automotive, Appliance, Paper, and Hi-Tech industries. Andrew's work is recognized for helping companies capture value from new innovations and sustain competitive advantages. As a Product Manager at Stoneridge Inc., Andrew is building a new technology-leading product line of sensor products. He holds an MBA with Highest Honors from Boston University and a Double Major, Engineering and English, from Dartmouth College.
Sarela Bliman-Cohen, Director of Staffing
Sarela is a highly experienced product manager and product marketing professional with extensive experience in the Hi-Tech industry. She has worked with various Hi-Tech companies where she analyzed and defined market direction, developed and implemented go-to-market
strategies and marketing plans. In recent years she has worked with several start ups where she has successfully implemented product management practices. Sarela holds a MSEE from Northeastern University and a BSEE from the the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Linda Lecomte, Director of Online Content
Linda owns the marketing and technical communications firm Relevant Space LLC. A proven communicator, Linda has a successful track record of building communications groups at fast-paced startups, creating and implementing high-impact communications strategies, and managing corporate and fund-raising events. Linda holds a Master's in Communications Management from Simmons College, as well as a Graduate Certificate, Technical Writing, and a BA, English Literature from Boston University.
David Klein, Director of Online Community
David is currently the Product Director for Brainshark, the leader in on-demand business communication solutions, where he recently launched and now oversees the Brainshark Content Network, an online marketplace and community of business expertise. David thrives on the evolution the internet, and has been involved in many web-based startups: as a member of the pre-launch team at Eons, an online social media startup lead by the founder of Monster.com; to being employee number 21 at Monster focusing on international expansion, with his latter years based in London; as well as working to improve the technology presence of the Houghton Mifflin's college market of educational publishing. David holds a BA from the University at Albany, NY.
George Zhukovsky, Director of Event Operations
George has 10 years of experience in Product Management, Software Development, QA and Product Release. He presently works as a Product Manager for WorldWinner, Inc. where he is responsible for developing product definition, creating product strategy and roadmap and translating business goals into product requirements. Prior to that, George held Product Management and Engineering positions at AGFA Corporation, Progress Software Corporation and more recently Endurance Int'l Group. George earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Northeastern University. While working full-time, he has completed the Babson Evening MBA program with honors.
Chuck Anastasia, Director of Program Planning
Chuck joined the Product Management team at Dassault Systemes in Providence, RI in 2004, where he focuses on software licensing, pricing, platform support, new product planning, and launch issues for enterprise engineering applications. Chuck has over 25 years of professional experience in engineering, sales, and technical marketing in companies ranging from a small start up to Fortune 500 corporations. He holds a MS degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, and worked as a design engineer, project manager, and engineering supervisor before transitioning into technical marketing and sales. Chuck is a co-inventor on five US patents. Chuck served on the Steering Committee for the Boston Software Process Improvement Network from 2005 to 2007.
Leslie Ament, Director of Employer and Recruiter Relations
Leslie, Managing Partner, Hypatia Market Research & Consulting, is a technology thought-leader and Customer Intelligence professional. Leslie provides research-driven market intelligence, strategy & services that deliver high impact industry-specific best practices, performance benchmarking, vendor selection and ROI assessment methodologies that reduce cycle-time and influence customer management, product strategy and channel development goals.
Previously, Ament served on management teams and lead global marketing and market research groups at Demantra, Inc. (acquired by Oracle), Arthur D. Little Management Consulting, Harte-Hanks, Banta Corporation, International Thomson Publishing (Chapman & Hall, UK) and Carnegie Hall, Inc. She is a member of the American Marketing Association, Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals, Customer Relationship Management Association, DataShaping Certified Analytic Professional, Arthur D. Little Alumni Association, Software Industry Information Association and Phi Kappa Phi. Ament completed her doctorate at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and her Master's and Bachelor's degrees at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University. Her passions are international travel, food and jazz.
Mike Urbonas began serving the BPMA in 2005 as Founder of BPMA's newsletter Productivity, which now reaches over 2,000 recipients. He served as Productivity Contributing Editor from 2005 through 2007 and still contributes articles to the newsletter. In 2006, Mike joined the BPMA Board of Directors and went on to serve as President for 2007. Mike is Product Marketing Manager for Datawatch Corporation's family of Monarch business intelligence and enterprise information management solutions, providing strong product positioning and informative industry-specific collateral for effective marketing programs. Mike holds an MBA with an IT concentration from Bentley College and an undergrad business degree from Northeastern University.