Certification

Joe is the President of Certified EO. He previously founded and served as CEO of an educational technology company that served over 5,000 schools and 6M+ students across the U.S. He graduated from the College of William & Mary.

10+ years of experience in operations and program management to leading operations at Certified EO. Vanessa previously led post-secondary education programs at General Assembly and SV Academy and is excited to continue her focus on increasing economic mobility through growing employee ownership. Vanessa graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Economics.

Susie is a creative that is passionate about the space of animation and story-telling in her work. Before joining the Certified EO team, she was a graphic designer for INC Corporate Services, a small business based in New York. She is also passionate about baking and runs her small baking company on the side. Susie received her B.S. from Queens College, and thrives in the art world.

Rachel brings 5 years of Marketing experience in the multi-family real estate and quick service restaurant industries, providing comprehensive marketing strategies to a multitude of clients. As a Membership Manager, Rachel works directly with Certified EO's members to inform and engage with them on all things employee-owned. She has her B.A. in Communication from Truman State University.

Zarin is excited to help grow the employee ownership community and build national recognition for this unique business model. Before joining the Certified EO team, Zarin was the Executive Director of Community Thrift Store, a nonprofit in San Francisco. Zarin discovered the power of EO while completing his MBA. Zarin graduated from Presidio Graduate School with an MBA in Sustainability and University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Marine Biology.

Kristen is a Membership Manager for Certified EO. She has spent the majority of her career excelling in Customer Success, previously working as a CSM for Podium, Xant, and Entrata. She graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in Communications.

Randy works directly with Certified EO's members to deepen their engagement with employee ownership. Previously, Randy worked in community development finance and underwrote loans for affordable housing projects and small businesses. He currently serves as an advisor for One Up Action, a nonprofit that supports youth climate activists. Randy received his B.S. from Fordham University, and as an undergraduate, he worked as a fellow with the university’s social innovation hub.

Kramer uses his software engineering background to lead technical and operational projects for Certified EO. He co-founded Certified EO after Thomas introduced him to the concept of employee ownership and realized finding and supporting EO companies was too difficult. Kramer graduated from the University of Virginia with an M.S. in Management of Information Technology, a B.A. in Computer Science, and a B.A. in Economics.

Shelly founded her own business management company and spent nearly a decade partnering with employee-owned companies and service providers across the country. After championing the cause for years, it took less than a year away from the EO space for Shelly to realize her skills, her expertise, and her heart belonged to furthering the mission of growing an employee-owned economy.

Thomas is a passionate advocate for employee-owned companies. Thomas co-founded Certified EO while working on a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Thomas graduated from Stanford University with an M.S. in Statistics and the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in Mathematics.