Workplace Answers Executive Leadership - Experts in Online Compliance Training

Executive Leadership

Girish Pashilkar, Chief Executive Officer

Girish is an executive with over 15 years of experience in setting up and growing businesses in the technology enabled services sector. As a senior executive with Infosys Technologies, (NASDAQ: INFY) a $20 billion market-cap technology and consulting services firm, Girish managed a portfolio of businesses exceeding $ 70 million in revenues and grew the business at an annual rate exceeding 30% over a 4 year period. Before Infosys, Girish was a senior consultant at Arthur Andersen, where he led multiple process and technology transformation programs for Fortune 500 corporations. He was most recently a Managing Partner at Finrock Growth Partners, an investment firm, where he was responsible for leading investments in small to medium sized technology companies. Girish is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. For more on Girish, look him up on LinkedIn.

Brooke Fernandez, VP Marketing

Brooke is a technology marketing executive with over 10 years of experience in online marketing, communications and brand building. In 2008 Brooke co-founded OpenNote, a software technology business to help musicians self-release, promote and sell their music on the web. Before OpenNote, Brooke was a marketing and communications executive at Vonage (NYSE: VG) for 5 years. At Vonage she played an instrumental role in growing the start-up Internet phone pioneer to 2.5 million lines in service and $750 million in revenue. Her role also encompassed the creation of various functions within the organization outside of marketing such as investor relations and regulatory affairs. Before joining Vonage, Brooke worked in the public relations industry servicing high-tech and telecom clients for the world’s leading PR firm, Weber Shandwick Worldwide. Brooke is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and UCLA. She can also be found on LinkedIn.

Sondra Solovay, Esq. - Director of Content Development

Sondra is the attorney leading the Content Team of researchers, writers, attorneys and designers who create Workplace Answers’ award-winning course content. She has been teaching, training and consulting on diversity and discrimination issues for more than 15 years. Her book, Tipping the Scales of Justice, was the first published exclusively on the topic of weight discrimination and the law. She is also co-editor of the award-winning anthology The Fat Studies Reader. Her writing appears in the Harvard Business Review and Business Spotlight Magazine. Sondra is frequently quoted by the media on discrimination and bias issues; her interviews include Good Morning America, Wall Street Journal Reports, Court TV, O'Reilly Factor, CNN's Burden of Proof, BBC's Toast, CANAL+, Inside Edition, Canada AM, CNN News, Associated Press Television, MSNBC, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Irish Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and Human Resources Magazine. Sondra's recent invited presentations include: Keynote at the Economic and Social Research Council Conference at Durham University (UK), Ruth Chance Invited Lecture at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, and Panel Presentation on Diversity Training in the Workplace at Management Best Practices Conference. She is passionate about eLearning and adult education, serving as core faculty at California's New College School of Law and, more recently, as President of the Faculty Council and Adjunct Professor of Law at San Francisco Law School.

Sondra has been honored with several awards for her legal work and has been profiled by San Francisco Attorney Magazine. She has trained the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the San Francisco Human Rights Commissioners and their staffs, and was the first attorney to successfully resolve a complaint under San Francisco’s “height/weight” law. Sondra is a graduate of UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law and Brown University (with Honors).

Leslie Cruz - Director of Client Services

Leslie is an executive with over 15 years experience in internet-based service environments. She recently served as Account Services Director for Convio, a leading provider of on-demand constituent engagement solutions for nonprofit organizations with annual revenues of $63 million. She led her group to record-breaking retention rates developing the company’s Account Management methodology. She also worked with computer giant Dell for 12 years, increasing her responsibility through roles in sales operations, program management, service readiness and as part of the team providing professional services consulting and management. A graduate of Truman University, Leslie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Marketing. She can also be found on LinkedIn.

Russell Miller - Director of Finance and Administration

Russell is CPA with over 20 years of experience in financial planning & analysis, treasury & accounting, systems implementations, process improvement and organizational development. As Vice President and Treasurer of ProStar Satellite Systems Russell supervised accounting and finance functions for global enterprise with approx. $400M in debt and $100M in equity financing primarily provided by Venture Capital firms. He has also managed financial reporting, audits, and due diligence for multiple entities in US, Europe and Asia. Russell is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He can also be found on LinkedIn.