Menu
Our bios are varied, but we all share an obsession with empowering professionals through world-class education
Jonathan Zeidan
Leo Bognadov
Liam Flaherty
Jamie McCormick
Christopher Lam
Colin Ridlon
Darren Surch
Jonah Berg
Sasha LeFlore
Timothy Toomey
As CEO of MMC, Colin brings a wealth of experience from his past at McKinsey & Company and Rose Hill after serving in the army for 8 years.
During his army years, he transformed complex concepts into easily-understood ideas for his target audiences. Whether teaching Arabic to service members or showing senior military executives how data-mining software could add value to enterprise operations, Colin excels at exciting clients about new perspectives, products, and possibilities.
Colin received his MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Sasha has a decade of experience building technology-driven businesses and teams. Sasha graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2010 and started her career at Goldman Sachs where she went on to serve as a Vice President in Goldman Sachs’s Outsourced Chief Investment Officer Group, investing close to $20 billion on behalf of endowments and foundations. In this role, Sasha led the investment and operations teams. She then went on to pursue an MBA and MPA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Kennedy School of Government, respectively. During her time in graduate school, Sasha worked in venture capital and also launched Financial.Therapy, a financial-wellness company.
Sasha lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, 1-year-old son, and 3-year-old dog, and she enjoys biking, rock climbing, and live music.
Terri joined Interskill Learning, Axcel’s first portfolio company, in 2001. Now, as head of North America at Interskill, she oversees the general North American operations and leads and manages the Sales and Customer Success Teams.
With over 20 years’ experience in training and elearning education, Terri is passionate about developing talent and helping people grow personally and professionally.
Terri graduated with highest honors from Enterprise State. Raised in Atlanta, GA, she is a dedicated and committed Southerner, treating colleagues and customers with respect and good ole southern hospitality.
Darren is one of only 32 “lifetime” IBM Champions ever named by IBM, and only the second ever for IBM Z mainframe. IBM Champions are a select global community of 700+ external experts, across all IBM technologies, recognized by IBM for thought leadership, extraordinary expertise and outstanding contributions to the IBM technical community.
Darren is a respected industry expert and thought leader on mainframe workforce training, and a noted speaker at mainframe computing events worldwide.
Over 30 years, Darren has driven the evolution of digital mainframe training, from once simple CBT on standalone PCs to today’s globally deployed, multimodal, mainframe workforce training programs.
After graduating from Villanova University with a degree in economics in 2011, Tim received his commission in the United States Marine Corps. Designated as an infantry officer, Tim completed two overseas deployments and served as a warfighting instructor at the Basic School in Quantico, VA.
Tim left the Marines in 2018 to pursue a joint MBA/MPA program at the Wharton School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Upon completing the program, he joined Bain & Company as a Consultant as a member of their Washington, D.C. office.
Tim joined Axcel in 2022 as the CEO of Web Age Solutions, an IT-focused instructor-led training company based in Toronto, Canada. Tim currently lives with his wife and 4-year old daughter in Annapolis, MD, and enjoys exercise and reading about history and geopolitics.
After decades in sales and then serving as president of a large non-profit organization, Lori joined Michael Management Corporation, where she now leads all growth initiatives and marketing, while also assisting with sales.
Lori’s a true team player with a vast social media and marketing skill set. A lifelong and dedicated technophile, she’s always looking for ways to improve the company’s online presence, product offerings, and reputation across audiences.
Christopher is an accomplished leader with 20+ years of experience. He’s deployed innovative technologies through automotive OEM and dealer partnerships, managed Agile Product Development and Software Engineering via SCRUM methodology, devised B2B2C marketing strategies, sourced, negotiated, and closed strategic alliances and M&A deals, and more.
Christopher holds a BA in engineering and economics from Lafayette College, and a masters of science in business management and business administration from Stanford. He loves leading cross-functional teams through strategy and execution while resolving challenges and conflict. He’s driven to be a proactive team player who listens, motivates, and inspires trust.
Jonah began his career at WPP, where he built iconic brands like Dell Technologies and Pfizer and worked to grow the firms business development organization. While Chief of Staff to the CEO, he steered the restructuring of WPP into a consolidated, integrated global firm.
At Axcel, Jonah is CEO of KMK Optometry, our first acquisition in the healthcare sector.
Jonah graduated with a BA from NYU and an MBA from Northwestern Kellogg. Outside of work, Jonah enjoys playing sports with his son, Brody, and exploring Boston with his wife, Alison.
Liam began his career with Alpine Investors’ healthcare and education teams before branching off to launch Axcel in 2020.
Since then, he has managed each of Axcel’s acquisition and integration processes to date.
Liam graduated from the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce with a degree in commerce and English literature.
Bringing more than 20 years of experience in the digital marketing industry, Jonathan Stephen is currently a Partner at the Chameleon Collective, consulting as the Fractional VP of Marketing for Axcel Learning.
Prior to Axcel Learning, Jonathan has held several roles in the travel industry, including leading Mobile Strategy & Digital Engagement for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. and heading up Mobile & Emerging Technologies at JetBlue with the responsibility of driving both organizations’ overall mobile strategy. His experience has also included various roles throughout the digital ecosystem having worked at companies such as the Elite SEM, MMA Global, Motorola Mobility (a Lenovo Company), Vindigo and Flurry Analytics.
Jonathan was featured alongside many other key industry experts in the book “The Art of Mobile Persuasion” in 2015, written by Jeff Hasen. He has been a keynote speaker to a combined audience of over 40,000 people over the course of 70 events and conferences throughout Europe, Middle East, U.S. and Canada, covering various topics around mobile marketing technologies, marketing best practices, airline innovation, and mobile strategies for brands and agencies. He was named as one of the “Top 40 under 40″ Innovative Brand Marketers by Brand Innovators in 2012 and 2019 and has been featured in many journals such as the Mobile Marketer, Mobile Mixed, Untethered.tv, Mobile Commerce Daily, Digiday, GoMo News, and USA Today.
Chad is a sales leader with a knack for building cohesive teams, launching new products, and closing complex deals. He’s successfully managed sales organizations to exceed growth targets at start-ups and scale-ups in multiple industries (SaaS, education, fintech, manufacturing) and across various regions (USA, Europe, China, Canada).
As a former math teacher and SAT tutor, Chad is happiest in front of a whiteboard, either brainstorming strategy with his colleagues or teaching a new concept to his team.
Chad grew up in Wisconsin, earned his B.A. in economics from Pomona College, and now resides in Brooklyn. Outside the office, you’ll find him chasing his dog, Gizmo; traveling with his wife, Melissa; or sipping a classic cocktail
With a passion to provide meaning behind the numbers, Will Smith is currently the Financial Reporting Manager at Axcel Learning.
Prior to his current role, Will worked at Weinstein Spira for over 7 years where he provided financial services to privately owned companies in a wide range of industries such as: technology, hospitality, distribution, manufacturing, healtchcare, construction and oil & gas.
Over these years, Will became efficient and creative at delivering GAAP sound financial numbers in formats that would best help Management make efficient and accurate decisions of what direction to go with their companies.
Will and his wife Whitney, have two boys, Graham and Reece. He attended Texas A&M University where he received a BBA in Accounting.
Jonathan brings extensive experience in business strategy and growth to his role as CEO of Axcel. He worked as vice president of strategy and growth for Southstar Urgent Care, after holding prior roles at Mango Health and Kaiser Permanente.
Before earning his MBA at Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management, Jonathan graduated with a BA in economics from Skidmore College.
As COO, Tanvi oversees the operations of the Axcel Learning family and brings a special passion for process and growth to the business. Prior to Axcel, she was a VP at Rothschild & Co, an independent financial advisory group.
Tanvi holds an MBA from Stanford, a Master’s degree from University of Cambridge and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Imperial College London.
Leo served as CFO at Waitr Holdings Inc., a publicly traded technology company focusing on third-party food delivery and payment processing. Before being appointed CFO, he held the role of director of financial planning and analysis at both Waitr and the predecessor entity, BiteSquad.com LLC
Leo spent the first decade of his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he held various roles within the assurance and deal practices, focusing on advising corporate and private equity clients on both buy- and sell-side transactions across a variety of industries.
Leo received a bachelor of business management at Gettysburg College and holds an inactive CPA license in Minnesota and New York State.
Leo lives in Connecticut with his wife, daughter, and very stubborn French bulldog, Napoleon.
