Dale Ferrario - President
Dale Ferrario was most recently VP of SOA/Business Integration at Sun Microsystems. In this role, he was responsible for delivering industry leading platform, frameworks, and composite applications that are at the core of Sun's SOA platform. Dale has broad management expertise. Over the years he has managed most engineering and IT functions and has experience managing employees in the US, India, Israel, Ireland, China, Japan, and the UK. Dale is a former Sun Presidents award winner and has attended Sun's leadership institute. Dale graduated from Santa Clara with a MBA in 1989, and the University of California Santa Barbara with a BA in Computer Science in 1985. Dale is married to his high school sweetheart Julie. They have two sons Anthony and Nicholas.
Username: headbrain
Todd Ferrario - VP Marketing and Business Development
Todd is currently VP of Marketing and Business Development with Freshbrain. Prior to joining Freshbrain, Todd was a successful entrepreneur in Utah and served on numerous Boards and Committees within county and city government as well as serving as Treasurer and Vice President for a large business oriented non profit. Todd attended California State University Sacramento with a concentration in Marketing. Todd started his professional career as a Firefighter for Sacramento County and after retirement became a District Manager for Intermountain Sysco in Utah. Todd is married to Christine, his wife of 18 years, and has two sons, Cooper and Anea.
Username: VPbrain
CT Woo - VP Engineering and IT
CT brings 20+ years of broad experiences to FreshBrain. He has held senior leadership positions in Software Engineering, IT management, and Sales and Marketing, and has worked at Coopers & Lybrand, ITT, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Sun Microsystems and recently, SurfControl Plc. Prior to joining FreshBrain, CT was the VP of both Internet Engineering and Information Technology at SurfControl PLC, an internet security company. Before that, he was at Sun as the Director of Software Engineering responsible for providing end-to-end software update solutions as well as leading the Data Privacy and Security group. During that stint at Sun, CT also held positions (among others) as Director of IT Architecture and Development, and Director of IT Operations , where his responsibilities included developing and implementing various eCommerce solutions, business applications, and managing IT operations. CT was educated in Malaysia, UK and US and has worked in several countries outside of US. He is a lucky husband and is a proud father of 2 young kids.
Username: sesamestreet
Brian Smithey - Chief Engineer
Brian has over 20 years of experience contributing to the development of software systems, primarily for computer system administrators. Brian has extensive experience in all areas of software development, including initial specification and design, coding, integration, deployment, and quality assurance. Much of his recent experience, which includes 11 years with Sun Microsystems, has focused on distributed, web-facing solutions built on Java programming platforms and relational database technologies. Brian graduated from the University of California at San Diego with a BA in Computer Science in 1985. He resides in Colorado with his wife Mary and 3 teenage children, David, Joel and Anne.
Username: rockymtnbrain
Eloisa Tejero - Director of Finance
Eloisa has over 10 years of experience designing, customizing and implementing financial accounting systems for multinational companies. As EMEA General Manager for Myers-Holum, she managed client engagements for Readers Digest International, GEC Alsthom (now Alstom), Dixons, Northern Telecom (Nortel), and maintained the relationship with Computer Associates EMEA offices. After traveling extensively in the EMEA region, Eloisa returned to the US where she served as executive director for Playsongs, an early childhood educational center which offered world music, culinary arts, visual arts, language arts and nature programs in San Francisco. She graduated with an SB in Management Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Username: moneybrain
Amanda Piasecki - User Experience & Content Manager
Amanda has over ten years of experience working in the nonprofit sector in youth media, including stints at YouthNoise and the Salesforce Foundation. Trained as a musician and new media artist, with an MFA from Mills College, she has helped legions of youth tell their stories using audio and video, mostly in under-served, urban communities. Amanda is also a long-time community activist, has performed internationally as an artist, and can bake a mean cake. She's proud to call Oakland, California home and to serve as the User Experience & Content Manager at FreshBrain.
Username: girlbrain
Veronica Minier - Development Specialist
Veronica is a fundraising and grant professional specializing in procuring funds and developing partner relationships for educational nonprofit organizations and associations. Her experience ranges from working with international nonprofits to smaller community services organizations securing the necessary resources to fulfill their missions and goals. Veronica graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education, a minor degree in English, early childhood and ESL endorsements in 1990. She has been a freelance writer since 1984 and taught in the public school system for 7 years before combining her passion for children, education and writing to become a nonprofit fundraising and grant professional. She is married to Edward and has three children, Boone, Bailee and Zeke. She is an active volunteer in her community and the local public school system.
Username: braindevelopment
Maria Barra - Staff Engineer
Maria is a software engineer specializing in web development and social navigation. She holds an MS and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Salerno, Italy, where she was a researcher and a part time professor for several years. Her research focused on collaborative and adaptive systems for the web, especially as applied to educational and e-commerce environments. In May of 2000 while pursuing her PhD, she came to the USA for a Research Internship with IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA where she worked on recommendation systems and clustering algorithms. There she met her future husband Michael and they live happily in the mountains of Morgan Hill, CA.
Username: maria
Shawnna Cook - Office Manager, Program Coordinator
Shawnna has several years working in supplemental educational programs, including involvement with Sylvan Learning and Huntington Learning. She has a Bachelor's degree from California State University Fresno where she majored in Archeology and History. She has volunteered for several public service organizations and currently devotes some of her free time assisting women and children in abusive situations. She has a avid love of computer games and spends time with her husband, protecting the universe. She is a newlywed, sharing her home with her husband Cort and their little white Westie.
Username: gamerbrain