Board Member Bios:

Neeta Godhwani
Neeta is the Director of Marketing for SVPMA and is responsible for achieving SVPMA goals and objectives through management of overall marketing strategy and delivery with a specific focus on branding, promotions & partnerships. Neeta has over 12 years of experience in product management and marketing. She currently works with Siemens Medical Solutions as a Product Manager within the Ultrasound Division. Prior to joining Siemens, she has worked with Genzyme Diagnostics, Hewlett Packard, Yodlee & geneticXchange. She has an MBA (Marketing & IT) from Santa Clara University & a BS in Biomedical Engineering from University of Bombay.

Brian Lawley
Brian Lawley is the Director of Communications at SVPMA. He is the President of the 280 Group, a Marketing and Product Management services firm that provides hand-picked consultants and contractors to help companies define, launch and market breakthrough new products. 280 Group clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Adobe and Palm, as well as dozens of startups and mid-sized companies. Prior to consulting Brian was Director of Product Marketing and Product Management at Whistle Communications, where he helped create and launch the award-winning Whistle InterJet, an all-in-one Internet appliance for small businesses. Prior to Whistle Brian was Director of Java and C++ development tools at Symantec. He was also a Senior Product Manager for the MacOS Human Interface at Apple, was in charge of direct marketing, sales tools, and market research at Claris corporation, and was in charge of channel sales and marketing at Digidesign. Brian holds a Masters in Business from San Jose State University as well as a Bachelor's degree in Management Science and a minor in music technology from the University of California at San Diego.

Sachin Gangupantula
Sachin is Director of Business Development and is also responsible for SVPMA's web site content and management. He is in-charge of sponsor relationships and strategic marketing. Sachin is currently the Director-Professional Services at IGN/Gamespy Entertainment. He has amassed considerable experience during the past twelve years in software industry with evolving roles in software design and development, product marketing, professional services, strategic marketing and business development. Sachin holds an MS degree in computer science from University of Hawaii and a BSEE degree in Electrical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), India.

Jamie O’Halloran
As Director of Workshops for the SVPMA, Jamie is responsible for developing and managing SVPMA’s workshop series. Jamie manages B2B offerings at Cisco Systems and has 10 years of eCommerce and SCM experience. Prior to Cisco, he held various product, marketing and operations management positions at QRS Corporation, helping to develop numerous collaborative commerce, product catalog and channel management solutions for the retail industry. Jamie Graduated Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a B.S. in Psychology.

Mike Freier
As Director of Membership, Mike is responsible for communicating with members about events, workshops, as well as maintaining the SVPMA membership list. Most recently, Mike was Director of Product Management at an early stage company focused on developing hardware/software products and equipment for companies in the electronics manufacturing space. Earlier in his career, Mr. Freier has held positions in mechanical design, applications engineering and sales management. Mike graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

Greg Cohen
Greg is the interim President of the SVPMA and is responsible for organizational coordination and ensuring that the association operates to meet its goals successfully. Greg has over nine years of product management and marketing experience, including seven years in software and application services specifically with spend analysis, contract management, and e-commerce. Greg is skilled at leading product teams to deliver on time and within budget, with demonstrated expertise at uncovering market needs, analyzing user requirements, and defining product specifications. Greg is currently a product manager at Instill Corporation, bringing analytic and supply chain products to market for leading foodservice companies, such as Subway and Applebees. Prior to joining Instill, Greg worked in various product management and marketing roles for companies including Idealab, Pandesic, Chiron Diagnostics and Smith and Nephew. Greg holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with second major in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from Babson College

Ray Stendall
Ray is the SVPMA Director of Finance and has been on the SVPMA Board since it started in May 2000. In this capacity, Ray is responsible for ensuring the organization operates within budget and that membership fees collected can successfully offset costs to operate. Previously Ray held the position of Director of Membership and transitioned into Finance in June 2002. Ray is a Product Manager with Lucent Technologies' Network Operations Software Division. Prior to joining Lucent, Ray worked in various Product Management roles for Compuware Corporation and 2 software startups in the Seattle area. Ray holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and a Masters of Science in Computers and Information Systems from the University of Phoenix.

Board Member Emeritus

Anar Taori
Anar is the SVPMA Member Emeritus, helping with Membership. She is a Product Manager at Metreo. Prior to Metreo, Anar worked for several years in product development, management and marketing at industry leaders such as Intel, Compression Labs, Sprint, and American Express. Anar holds an MBA from The Wharton School with a MS in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from Purdue University and a BSEE from BITS Pilani.

Previous Board Members

Gautam Patil - Director of Events, SVPMA

Sarah Lynne Cooper - Director of Marketing, SVPMA

Jasmine de Gaia - Executive Director, SVPMA

Ivan Chalif
Ivan is one of the early organizers of SVPMA

Simon Peel
Simon has been on the SVPMA Board since the inception of the organization.

Laura Lukitsch
Laura is a founding member of SVPMA.

Bill Kong
Bill founded the SVPMA in May, 2000.

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