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Gary Portney, President and CEO
Gary Portney is a recognized business technology veteran who is the driving force behind the company’s growth and innovation. Gary has led corporate strategy and operations for Convoke Systems since its inception in 2006. Prior to founding Convoke Systems, Gary was a Co-Founder and Vice President of Sales and Operations for KonaWare, Inc. a leading provider of wireless infrastructure for the logistics and supply chain industry acquired by ServicePower (LSE: SVR). Earlier, Gary co-founded Ventaso, Inc. (formerly Market-Touch), the creator of the Customer Message Management (CMM) category within the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) industry. At Ventaso, he served in several executive roles including CEO, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Vice President of Business Development. In the mid 90’s, he served as Senior Vice President of Sales at Vicinity where he helped grow the company from concept to an Initial public offering before it was acquired by Microsoft. Earlier in his career, Gary worked in senior sales positions at Oracle Corporation.
Mike Merritt, Vice President, Product and Services
Mike Merritt is responsible for developing the vision and strategy of the company’s technology operations, and drives the company’s product roadmap, development, delivery and professional services. Before joining Convoke, Mike served as a Managing Director of Symphony Services Consulting where he worked closely with leading edge software companies to define and implement multi-shore development strategies. Prior to Symphony, Mike was the Vice President of Engineering at Portera Systems and headed all development efforts. Mike spent over a decade at Sybase Corporation, where he was Senior Director of Engineering and led the development of the Sybase Enterprise Application Server from its initial concept to full release and full integration into the Sybase product line.
John Tonetti, Vice President, Sales
John Tonetti is a recognized ARM industry veteran whose vast experience in all facets of debt recovery has been pivotal to the planning and development of Convoke’s future. John spent more than two decades on the issuer-side of the financial services industry, serving as a senior executive at American Express and Household (now HSBC) Credit Services. At Amex, he directed activities for Personal Card and Gold Card Credit Operation in two Operating Centers, as well as spearheading the development of technological solutions to fraudulent card activities while head of US Fraud Operations. At Household, John was head of Risk Operations and the Credit Risk Committee, including Collections, Recovery, and Asset Sales, for their Credit Card and Private Label Card Divisions. Subsequently, John co-founded and became President and Chief Operating Officer of First Performance Corporation, a provider of first and third party ARM services. He has also held Marketing and Business Development executive positions at several other third-party service suppliers.
Pat Whelan, Vice President, Business Development
Pat Whelan brings more than 20 years of experience to Convoke Systems. This includes international management experience, development and implementation of consumer facing business and market development strategies, marketing, business development, and sales experience. In his previous role as SVP of marketing and business development for Varolii Corporation (formerly PAR3 Communications), Pat led the company’s rapid development into numerous sectors including the collections and recoveries market and was its lead spokesperson to the industry. Prior to Varolii, Pat served as CEO of Active Navigation Limited, served as managing director, Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for Mosaix Limited, and subsequent to its acquisition by Lucent Technologies/Avaya, became the managing director, CRM solutions EMEA.
Troy Mickle, Vice President, Marketing
Troy Mickle leads the strategic marketing direction of the company which includes the development of marketing communications, public relations, website design and media relations. Troy is recognized for expanding the marketing role to become a key driver for Convoke's growth in both new and existing market segments. Prior to joining Convoke Systems, Troy held several executive level marketing positions with companies including at KonaWare, Extricity, Sun Microsystems and Westinghouse. Troy’s professional background began in the financial services industry, which included a long tenure with Norwest Bank (now Wells Fargo), in both the consumer banking and credit card divisions.
Kay Mendelsohn, Chief Financial Officer
Kay Mendelsohn is an accomplished financial executive with a successful background in establishing operational structure and managing all aspects of accounting and finance across a range of businesses. At Convoke, Kay oversees the management of all financial, human resources and administration functions. Prior to joining Convoke Systems, Kay held high-level financial positions at multiple growth companies specializing in software for development, supply chain, manufacturing and wealth management services. Earlier, Kay served in senior management roles in accounting and tax services for a merchant banking firm.
Nick Kovacic, Vice President, Corporate Development
Nick Kovacic brings to Convoke Systems, over 20 years experience working in and with technology companies, including extensive general management, marketing and sales experience in the Network Security, Telecommunications and Internet Application space. As Vice President of Corporate Development he is responsible for Corporate Development activities for Convoke Systems. Previously, Nick was a founding Partner in The Nicholas Companies (TNC), a Washington, D.C. based consulting firm and was a Partner at Nygmatech LLC, an early stage venture company. While working there, Nick was critical in launching the WebCal brand, defining the strategic direction and orchestrating a successful sale to Yahoo! Previously, Mr.Kovacic was Vice President of Business Development of Vicinity Corporation, which was purchased by Microsoft (May 2004) following a successful IPO in 2000. He has also assisted led the merger of ZipZap into The Athletes Foot chain of retail stores.
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