people first, always

with decades of experience across the private and public sectors, the claira team is changing the future of work

meet the teammeet the team
A decorative image of a treeA decorative image of a tree
Katie Hall Headshot

katie hall

founder & ceo

Ian Brynjolfson Headshot

ian brynjolfson

chief operating officer

Elan Kawesch Headshot

elan kawesch

chief product officer

Pete Eisen Headshot

pete eisen

vp, sales

Melody Alefteras Headshot

melody alefteras

vp, engineering

Rick Machanic Headshot

rick machanic

vp, product

Sarah Herberger Headshot

sarah herberger

lead data scientist

Nick Stabile Headshot

nick stabile

director, enterprise solutions

Amy Clanahan Headshot

amy clanahan

director, enterprise solutions

kelly sandrea-kovacs

customer success lead

Bobby Padilla headshot

bobby padilla

senior customer success manager

Ann Dickinson-Gaglia Headshot

ann dickinson-gaglia

content marketing manager

Joe Podnar Headshot

joe podnar

senior business development representative

Amber Forkan Headshot

amber forkan

full stack developer

Aisha Othman Headshot

aisha othman

ml engineer

Jade Kelly Headshot

jade kelly

front end engineer

elena pronyushkina

qa engineer

Briani Boyd Headshot

briani boyd

business operations manager

Kyra Au headshot

kyra au

digital marketing associate

Marko Gjurevski headshot

marko gjurevski

junior engineer

Katie Hall Headshot

katie hall

founder & ceo

Ian Brynjolfson Headshot

ian brynjolfson

chief operating officer

Elan Kawesch Headshot

elan kawesch

chief product officer

Pete Eisen Headshot

pete eisen

vp, sales

Melody Alefteras Headshot

melody alefteras

vp, engineering

Rick Machanic Headshot

rick machanic

vp, product

Sarah Herberger Headshot

sarah herberger

lead data scientist

Nick Stabile Headshot

nick stabile

director, enterprise solutions

Amy Clanahan Headshot

amy clanahan

director, enterprise solutions

kelly sandrea-kovacs

customer success lead

Bobby Padilla headshot

bobby padilla

senior customer success manager

Ann Dickinson-Gaglia Headshot

ann dickinson-gaglia

content marketing manager

Joe Podnar Headshot

joe podnar

senior business development representative

Amber Forkan Headshot

amber forkan

full stack developer

Aisha Othman Headshot

aisha othman

ml engineer

Briani Boyd Headshot

briani boyd

business operations manager

Jade Kelly Headshot

jade kelly

front end engineer

elena pronyushkina

qa engineer

Kyra Au headshot

kyra au

digital marketing associate

Marko Gjurevski headshot

marko gjurevski

junior engineer

katie hall

founder & ceo

grand rapids, michigan

katie spent eight years in global workforce development building competency models and helping companies and policy organizations prepare for the future of work.  she regularly speaks and writes on a variety of topics including diversity hiring, ai ethics, and automation impact on the workforce. 

having worked in many types of jobs - cleaning hotel rooms, making sandwiches, and assembling windows on a factory line, she believes valuable competencies are used in every role every day, everywhere. the problem isn’t people, it’s the hiring system.

katie holds an mba from mit sloan school of management, an mpa from the university of michigan gerald r. ford school of public policy and a ba in political science from hope college. 

ian brynjolfson

chief operating officer

boston, massachusetts

prior to joining claira, ian spent nearly 20 years in the semiconductor industry, leading large cross-functional global teams. most recently, he has held roles as an executive and product management director with expertise in strategizing, developing, and launching leading edge and innovative products. 

ian has had bad experiences on both sides of the broken hiring system, as a job seeker and an employer seeking diverse talent.

as a life long learner, ian received an mba from the mit sloan school of management, with a business analytics certificate. he also holds a masters degree in electrical engineering, and an undergraduate degree in computer engineering, from mcgill university in montreal.


elan kawesch

chief product officer

boston, massachusetts

elan joined claira after more than a decade as a founder, director, and consultant at major nonprofits. across multiple multi-million dollar program portfolios, he founded initiatives and developed growth strategies that impacted hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries.

a lifelong entrepreneur, elan has worked an array of positions. in college, he was a freelance photojournalist and included the wall street journal, harvard university, and the times of israel on his client list.

elan holds an ma in international economics and finance from the brandeis international business school and a ba in business from brandeis university.

pete eisen

vp, sales

atlanta, georgia

pete is an expert sales leader, with over two decades of experience across a range of industries and verticals. he excels in go to market strategy, complex technical sales, and building high performing teams. 

pete worked his way up from washing cars while managing a rental car business after college to the forefront of tech leadership, so he knows how important it is to recognize talent early. he loves to travel with his wife and two daughters, play tennis, and root for boston sports teams.

pete earned a ba in geography from university of mary washington in virginia. 

melody alefteras

vp, engineering

olympia, washington

melody has spent over 15 years at the cutting edge of computer programming and database management. a talented engineer, she discovered programming when analyzing and visualizing large datasets of lithic technology. she earned the aws solutions architect associate certification after being a forerunner in using aws technologies to modernize information technology at two washington state departments.

until her junior year of college, melody was determined to be an archaeologist and also dreamt of being a writer. she has raised a family, four dogs, and five chickens while doing it all!

melody holds an ms in management information systems from western governors university and a bla in computer science from the evergreen state college.

rick machanic

vp, product

burlington, vt

Prior to Claria, Rick founded and led his own digital agency. He has over 25 years of experience as a UX professional—working across various industries and assisting organizations from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies with their digital needs.

Rick is a systems thinker, researcher, digital strategist, information architect, designer, and teacher with a passion for creating simple and intuitive experiences.

During his career, Rick has built and led highly effective cross-functional teams which have consistently delivered award-winning work for their clients.

A student of design, Rick enjoys studying architecture and urban planning. He lives in Vermont with his wife and three children. He is also a serial entrepreneur who has founded or co-founded several successful start-ups. He loves hockey, lacrosse and traveling.

Rick holds a BA in English from the University of Vermont.

Katie Hall Headshot

katie hall

founder & ceo

grand rapids, michigan

katie spent eight years in global workforce development building competency models and helping companies and policy organizations prepare for the future of work.  she regularly speaks and writes on a variety of topics including diversity hiring, ai ethics, and automation impact on the workforce. 

having worked in many types of jobs - cleaning hotel rooms, making sandwiches, and assembling windows on a factory line, she believes valuable competencies are used in every role every day, everywhere. the problem isn’t people, it’s the hiring system.

katie holds an mba from mit sloan school of management, an mpa from the university of michigan gerald r. ford school of public policy and a ba in political science from hope college. 

Ian Brynjolfson Headshot

ian brynjolfson

chief operating officer

boston, massachusetts

prior to joining claira, ian spent nearly 20 years in the semiconductor industry, leading large cross-functional global teams. most recently, he has held roles as an executive and product management director with expertise in strategizing, developing, and launching leading edge and innovative products. 

ian has had bad experiences on both sides of the broken hiring system, as a job seeker and an employer seeking diverse talent.

as a life long learner, ian received an mba from the mit sloan school of management, with a business analytics certificate. he also holds a masters degree in electrical engineering, and an undergraduate degree in computer engineering, from mcgill university in montreal.

Elan Kawesch Headshot

elan kawesch

chief product officer

boston, massachusetts

elan joined claira after more than a decade as a founder, director, and consultant at major nonprofits. across multiple multi-million dollar program portfolios, he founded initiatives and developed growth strategies that impacted hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries.

a lifelong entrepreneur, elan has worked an array of positions. in college, he was a freelance photojournalist and included the wall street journal, harvard university, and the times of israel on his client list.

elan holds an ma in international economics and finance from the brandeis international business school and a ba in business from brandeis university.

Pete Eisen Headshot

pete eisen

vp, sales

atlanta, georgia

pete is an expert sales leader, with over two decades of experience across a range of industries and verticals. he excels in go to market strategy, complex technical sales, and building high performing teams. 

pete worked his way up from washing cars while managing a rental car business after college to the forefront of tech leadership, so he knows how important it is to recognize talent early.

he loves to travel with his wife and two daughters, play tennis, and root for boston sports teams.pete earned a ba in geography from university of mary washington in virginia.

Melody Alefteras Headshot

melody alefteras

vp, engineering

olympia, washington

melody has spent over 15 years at the cutting edge of computer programming and database management. a talented engineer, she discovered programming when analyzing and visualizing large datasets of lithic technology. she earned the aws solutions architect associate certification after being a forerunner in using aws technologies to modernize information technology at two washington state departments.

until her junior year of college, melody was determined to be an archaeologist and also dreamt of being a writer. she has raised a family, four dogs, and five chickens while doing it all!

melody holds an ms in management information systems from western governors university and a bla in computer science from the evergreen state college.

Rick Machanic Headshot

rick machanic

vp, product

burlington, vermont

Prior to Claria, Rick founded and led his own digital agency. He has over 25 years of experience as a UX professional—working across various industries and assisting organizations from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies with their digital needs. Rick is a systems thinker, researcher, digital strategist, information architect, designer, and teacher with a passion for creating simple and intuitive experiences.

A student of design, Rick enjoys studying architecture and urban planning. He lives in Vermont with his wife and three children. He is also a serial entrepreneur who has founded or co-founded several successful start-ups. He loves hockey, lacrosse and traveling.

Rick holds a BA in English from the University of Vermont.

learn how these folks can shape your business

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