S. Christopher Gladwin, President & CEO

Cleversafe is led by Chris Gladwin, who has created and managed a series of successful new technology companies. Chris founded Cleversafe in November, 2004 and wrote the algorithms for the first Dispersed Storage software prototype.  Chris was previously the inventor of the industry's first personal storage server.

Before Cleversafe, Chris was the the founding Chairman, President and CEO of MusicNow (initially known as FullAudio) and built the company to 100,000 customers before its acquisition by Circuit City. MusicNow, whose venture financing was led by New Enterprise Associates, was one of the largest digital content storage and distribution systems in the world and provided white label digital music services marketed by distribution partners including Best Buy, Clear Channel, Microsoft, SBC, Charter Communications and Earthlink.

Prior to MusicNow, Chris invented the wireless thin client and then was the founding Chairman, President and CEO of Cruise Technologies, which became the dominant supplier of wireless thin client technology. Cruise Technologies, whose venture financing was led by Battery Ventures, provided wireless thin clients that were marketed by distribution partners that included Motorola, IBM, Wyse, Telos and Zenith Data Systems.

Chris has created over 200 issued and pending patents related to Dispersed Storage™ technology, wireless remote interface and Internet service technology. Chris’s work has been recognized by 32 industry awards for the products, services and companies he has created.
   
Chris holds an Engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jose R. Figueroa, Sr. Vice President of Sales & General Manager of International

For more than 20 years, Jose has worked in setting strategic direction, managed billion dollar businesses, and generated multi-million dollar sales in the telecommunications industry.

During his long-term career at Motorola, Jose was based in London and was the former Corporate Vice President General Manager for Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and Latin America, focusing on driving sales and business strategies effectively across both regions for the Networks business.

His previous career at Motorola saw various leadership roles including general manager for the United States and executive positions in Motorola's paging sector, personal communications and cellular subscriber sector.

Jose holds a Masters of International Business from Nova Southeastern University. He also attended Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business where he received his General Management Certificate. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Management and Marketing from Maryville University St. Louis, Missouri.

Robert Joy, Vice President of Finance and Operations

Robert Joy has more than 20 years of wireless communication, automotive, telematics and software development experience, including significant roles within several successful startup ventures.

Before joining Cleversafe, Rob was most recently Senior Director of Business Development within Motorola’s Mobile Device business. At Motorola, he also held roles in general management, business operations, portfolio and product management, and finance.  For 12 years, Rob worked in Motorola financial roles including North American Mobile Devices Director of Finance, Automotive Director of Finance, Telematics controller, financial planning and reporting manager, and Corporate auditor. Rob joined Motorola in 1990 after working as a software programmer at Arthur Andersen starting in 1986.

Rob holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business and a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration from University of Illinois.

Tom Shirley, Vice President of Product Development

Tom has 30 years experience in the telecommunications and enterprise software and systems business, and is currently responsible for Product Development and Delivery.

Prior to joining Cleversafe, Tom provided management and engineering consulting services for TelXecution LCC in the areas of product and operational strategies and post acquisition integration. 

Tom also spent more than 25 years with Motorola, where he was Vice President and General Manager for Motorola’s Networks OSS Division and responsible for CDMA, GSM, UMTS, and WiMax Infrastructure Network Management solutions. He also held leadership roles in product development, IT, customer operations, engineering operations, and manufacturing in the Land Mobile business. Tom spent six years in Europe, and is a board advisor and past board member for the TeleManagement Forum (TMF).  

Tom holds a Masters of Science degree and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from North Carolina State University. He also completed post graduate studies at Southern Methodist University. Tom holds four patents. 

Julie Bellanca, Director of Marketing and Communications

Julie Bellanca has extensive experience in developing successful new technology products and services for start-ups and Fortune 100 companies. Award winning products include a secure mail platform.

Julie previously was a principal/national director at Lante Corporation, a publicly-held software and technology consultancy. Julie also co-founded ingenious inc., an award-winning Internet design and development firm with multiple Fortune 100 clients that was acquired by Lante Corporation.

Julie has marketing/product management skills with strength in understanding customer needs, using findings to influence product strategy and positioning, and translating strategic decisions into product requirements and design.

Julie holds an Engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Chad Thibodeau, Director of Product Management

Chad has more than 15 years of technology experience spanning defense, telecommunications and enterprise storage and is currently responsible for all product management activities.

Prior to joining Cleversafe, Chad held a Senior Product Management role at Compellent Technologies, a premier provider of Storage Area Networks where he was responsible for all hardware products and third-party relationships with partners such as Cisco, Brocade, Emulex and QLogic. Chad also held a Senior Product Line Management role at Dell Inc. responsible for a variety of Enterprise server and storage products. Chad also has worked for companies within the telecommunications and defense industries—Comtech Telecommunications and Lockheed Martin.

Chad holds a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University’s High Technology Program and a Bachelor’s of Science in Manufacturing Engineering degree from Miami University of Ohio. Chad is also Pragmatic Marketing Certified.

Jennifer Browning, Director of Human Resources

Jennifer Browning has more than 10 years of experience bringing value-added and innovative human capital solutions to small, medium and large organizations in the technology sector and professional services firms.

Prior to Cleversafe, Jennifer served as the Director of Human Resources for The Palladium Group, HR consultant to the IT organization at US Cellular, and Human Resources Manager for Teradyne. Jennifer's role at Cleversafe is to drive all people programs that serve to attract, engage and retain the highest caliber of talent to maximize strategic success for Cleversafe. Jennifer's expertise encompasses organizational development, employee engagement, leadership and culture development. 

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Alan Holmes, Director of Customer Solutions

Alan is the former President and CEO of Tympani, Inc., a networking value-added reseller specializing in VoIP and network security solution. Prior to co-founding of Tympani, Alan was the Director of Technology at Network Systems Technologies and the Director of Engineering at Pathfinders Networking Corporation.

Alan holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology from the DeVry Institute of Technology in Lombard, Illinois.

Ilya Volvovski, Senior Software Architect

Ilya joined Cleversafe in January of 2007 and is responsible for overall system architecture. He has more than 20 years experience in software development, with primary expertise in the area of large distributed systems.

Ilya started his professional career in the field of VLSI simulation systems. Later, he worked as a software consultant for various Fortune 500 companies specializing in software system architecture and improving software development processes. In the late nineties, Ilya was one of the primary architects of Concord Solutions Inc., developing universal legacy system access software that has been successfully adapted by several large corporations. In recent years, he was in charge of architecture of large-scale web-based applications in the field of legal compliance.

Ilya holds a Masters in Applied Mathematics from the University of Oil and Gas in Moscow, Russia.