October 31, 2019– Austin, Texas – Personify, Inc. (“Personify”), the market-leading provider of technology solutions for associations, nonprofits and organizations, today announced that in addition to significant growth in bookings posted for the second half of the year, Personify has grown its leadership team, with newly created roles for the organization. New hires include Jeff Lyons as Chief Operating Officer, Joe Hermes as Chief Financial Officer and Cindy Johnson as Global Vice President, People Operations.

Previously Senior Vice President of Professional Services for Skillsoft, Jeff led the global services team for the Skillsoft and SumTotal business units. As Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief of Staff for SumTotal, Jeff Lyons led integration and transformation efforts as he helped grow the company to the largest independent provider of integrated HR solutions, and helped lead the sale of SumTotal to Skillsoft. Prior to SumTotal, Jeff was co-founder and Chief Client Officer of MindSolve Technologies, a pioneer in employee performance management software.

Joe Hermes joins Personify from Marketo, a marketing automation software company, where he served as head of Financial Planning and Analysis and guided the successful acquisition and integration of the company to Adobe, creating one of the world’s leading marketing software programs. At Personify, Joe leads all finance, accounting and corporate development.

Cindy Johnson was formerly Chief People Officer at Rubicon Project, an advertising technology firm, and Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Concur Technologies, now SAP. Cindy has also held human resources leadership roles at Philips Medical Systems and AGRA Earth & Environmental. Cindy leads all people operations including talent acquisition, talent management and serves as the cultural steward for Personify leading merger and acquisition integration efforts.

Personify has also seen significant growth across its business units, with net new clients and client expansions that include the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Allen Press, Inc., Blackboard, Bonnier Corporation and others.

“As we continue to expand our product lines and broaden our client base, these leaders are uniquely qualified to drive strategic prioritization and accountability with a laser-focus on operational excellence to support our clients,” said Eric Thurston, President and CEO of Personify. “They are joining an already successful, energetic leadership team at the perfect time to drive Personify’s continued growth.”

About Personify

Personify is the market-leading Constituent Management and Engagement (CME) platform that empowers organizations to better engage their constituents, maximize revenue and optimize operations. For over 20 years, Personify has served as the technology foundation for associations, nonprofits, event professionals and show organizers as well as YMCAs and JCCs. For more information, visit https://personifycorp.com/.

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I’m excited to share that we recently launched a podcast called Planet Leadership where I get to do that and much more.

Why I Created Planet Leadership

I’ve been working with entrepreneurs, CEOs and some of the largest associations and nonprofits for several years. It occurred to me that I don’t think that anyone is out there telling their stories and discussing the challenges they face, especially in the association and nonprofit market. I made the decision to call the podcast—Planet Leadership—because we feature stories about leaders who are trying to change the planet every day, and in many different ways. They are advocating upon behalf of their members to Congress, providing development and training opportunities to grow their industry and profession, curing diseases, eradicating poverty, protecting our environment, creating new companies and more.

I also work in the private equity world. Some people don’t understand how private equity works and may even have some concerns and questions about the role that private equity plays in both the nonprofit market and the commercial sector. I think there are a lot of great things happening with private equity so I’m excited to bring people from that world on the podcast to explain how it’s shaping organizations of all kinds.

We’ll talk to CEOs, executive directors and leaders who may not have a big title but are doing compelling things for their organization and driving transformation. I’ll ask these leaders things like- How do you build a great culture? What’s important to think about when building a great team? How are you scaling your organization? Why have you initiated a change in leadership? When leaders are successful, what are they doing to move the needle for their organization?

A Focus on Leadership Journeys

I will be sharing stories from some amazing Personify clients who have really interesting stories about their leadership journeys. But this podcast is not just about the association and nonprofit sector. It’s not about Personify. It’s about sharing the leadership journeys of individuals who are enacting meaningful change. And, I’m excited to give some of my colleagues, partners, friends and influencers in the market an opportunity to share how they got to where they are today and their advice for other leaders.

I’ll also reveal some details about my leadership journey. In fact, we spend time talking about it in the first episode. I’ve had several people ask me what it’s like to be a CEO and run a mid-size software company. We’ve gone through a significant transformation at Personify including rearchitecting our product structure and we have bought companies from entrepreneurs who have been really successful. I’ll share the process that we have gone through when we’re acquiring a new company and let the entrepreneurs from the companies we have acquired discuss how they built and grew their organization.

Who We’ll Speak With

We’ll come out with new episodes of Planet Leadership every other week. On the podcast, we’ll feature entrepreneurs, association executives, nonprofit leaders, private equity folks and much more. These are people who are trying to make a difference in the world and do something great. Here is a sneak peek at some of the upcoming interviewees:

• Amy Porter, founder of AffiniPay, a payments technology solution for associations, law firms and accounting organizations.
• Matt Ott, founder of the nonprofit organization Black Fret that supports local musicians in Austin.
• Loretta Deluca, founder and CEO of Delcor, an organization that partners with associations and nonprofits on their technology strategy.
• Michael Wilson, founder of the company Small World Labs (which is now Personify Community) that was created to connect nonprofits and people with disabilities
• Susan Robertson, interim executive director of ASAE, the organization for association management.
• Other leaders that have a great story to tell

Wherever you get your podcasts, I encourage you to go out and subscribe to Planet Leadership. I’m excited to be on this journey and hope that you’ll join me in learning from our amazing leaders that will share their stories.

Listen to the Latest Episode

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