We Solve Business Challenges through Innovative Technology

Bob Colonna is the president and founder of Innovative Systems. He was the principal designer of Innovative’s data cleansing, matching, and marketing database software. Bob’s interest in computational linguistics is an outgrowth of his time in the military, where he attended French and German language schools. This language experience coupled with his degrees in mathematics and management science provided him with the training to develop Innovative’s leading-edge technology. Mr. Colonna holds BA in mathematics and BS in Engineering Mechanics degrees from Lehigh University and an MBA in Statistics/Operations Research from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.

Joseph Fairbanks has more than 30 years’ experience as a sales and business executive, building and leading successful sales and field operations organizations. He began his career with IBM in Philadelphia, where he spent 12 years and held various sales and sales leadership positions. His most recent position was as Global Sales, Support, and Services exec for the industry-leading engineering simulation software company, ANSYS, Inc. He is also a veteran of the US Navy where he served for eight years. Mr. Fairbanks is on the board of two veteran-focused nonprofits: Hire Our Heroes, a national organization focused on enabling successful career transition to private sector, and Veterans Place, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit focused on assisting homeless veterans in the area. Mr. Fairbanks holds a degree in Computer Science from West Chester University.

John M. Schiller’s 40-year career as a software industry executive has focused on strategic alliances and sales. He began as an intern at Innovative Systems and later as vice president of sales, drove Innovative Systems’ initial growth in the financial services industry. After Innovative Systems, Mr. Schiller served as vice president of business development for Transarc Corporation, which was then acquired by IBM Corporation. At IBM, he was the original founder of the WebSphere Business Development team and later became the director of strategic alliances. Mr. Schiller holds a BS from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Tepper School of Carnegie-Mellon University.

Kelly Mistick is a labor and employment attorney, focusing on public sector labor law. She has worked for NGOs on policy and as a labor attorney for city government in labor litigation. Ms. Mistick holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College, a MPA in Management and Financial Analysis from Columbia University, and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh.

Annie Colonna is a product manager on Microsoft’s Modern Workplace Transformation team and builds workflows for industry and frontline customers. Previously, she was a product manager on Microsoft’s Excel Advanced Analytics team, where she delivered machine learning integrations and business intelligence capabilities. Ms. Colonna began her career as a software implementation consultant at Manhattan Associates, specializing in inventory optimization and warehouse management. She has also worked as a product analyst at Hospital Corporation of America.

​

Ms. Colonna holds a BS degree from Vanderbilt University with majors in French, Economics, and Engineering, and an MBA from the Tepper School of Carnegie Mellon University.

Janice Mars has over 30 years’ experience building successful sales and service teams in the software and services industry. Most recently, she was the founder of SalesLatitude, helping B2B companies conquer complex selling challenges. Prior to founding SalesLatitude, Ms. Mars worked for SunGard (now FIS), where she progressed from sales representative to executive, leading multiple global teams and consistently meeting, and often exceeding, revenue expectations. Over the last three decades, she has worked with and mentored hundreds of individuals in sales, presales, sales management, product management and marketing, and many have successfully moved into more senior roles within their organizations. Ms. Mars has recently been an active board member of Women Sales Pros, an organization focusing on B2B sales success. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Organization from the University of Miami.

Lee has over 30 years of experience in corporate finance, most of which was spent as a financial executive for Ansys, Inc., a publicly held software company that grew from roughly $50 million in annual revenue to $1.7 billion during Lee’s tenure.  Lee has also been the Chief Financial Officer for a smaller software and services company, and began his career in public accounting with Deloitte.  Lee brings broad financial experience to Innovative Systems, including management of financial strategy, accounting, financial reporting, procurement, treasury, tax, FP&A and pricing.  Lee has also managed all financial aspects of extensive merger and acquisition activity throughout his career.

Lee has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Penn State University, an MBA from Drexel University and a Master’s degree in Finance from Indiana University.  

Charles E. Leonard is managing director of Coady Diemar Partners, LLC. From 2001–2004, Mr. Leonard served as chief executive officer and executive chairman of Solucient LLC, a leading healthcare information services company. He previously was president of VNU Marketing Information Services Group. He also served on the board of Solucient, Allrecipes.com, eonDigita, Omnicomm, and the National Science Foundation. Mr. Leonard holds BS and BA degrees from MIT and Middlebury College and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.