Accela, Inc. provides enterprise software solutions to federal, state, and local government agencies in the United States and internationally. The company offers Accela Automation, a Web-based government automation software suite that empowers government agencies to unify its departments to automate workflow, track information, and manage data for asset management, emergency response, permitting, planning, licensing, public health, and public works.
The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Ramon, California with additional offices in Beijing, China; Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates; and Melbourne, Australia.
Maury Blackman is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Accela, Inc. Mr. Blackman joined the company in April 2000 after serving in a variety of business development capacities. Most recently, he served the company as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In this role, he was responsible for all aspects of sales, marketing, partner strategy, and customer relations. Mr. Blackman is also a member of the Accela Board of Directors.
Since his appointment, Mr. Blackman has successfully led Accela to numerous corporate milestones including software internationalization, recruitment of KPMG as the company’s financial audit firm, establishing banking relationships and credit facilities with Wells Fargo Bank, and establishing overseas operations in Australia and the Middle East(Abu Dhabi).
Mr. Blackman maintains an active lifestyle, training for ultra distance endurance races year round.
As Chief Operating Officer, Jeffrey C. Tung oversees Accelas Sales, Professional Services, Marketing, Customer Support, Human Resources and Legal teams.
Mr. Tung previously served as Accelas General Counsel. In that role, he managed the companys activities in such areas as corporate compliance and finance, business transactions, stakeholder and board relations, operations policies, IP and trademark management, and partner/customer relations. He also was a key advisor to the companys various business teams.
Mr. Tung came to Accela in 2000, following more than a decade as a lawyer, representing national and international companies, as well as public entities, in business development, labor and employment, government contracting, real estate, and general litigation.
Since joining Accela, Mr.
As CFO, Prakash Bhaskaran brings more than 17 years of high-tech and finance experience to Accela. Mr. Bhaskaran has significant experience working at both public and private companies and in implementing change in complex and high-growth environments.
Prior to joining the Accela team, Mr. Bhaskaran served as Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller for Freeborders, Inc., where he was responsible for building the finance and accounting infrastructure and managing them to support the rapid growth of the company. His experience includes senior finance management positions at Versata, Inc., a software company that he successfully helped take public.
Mr. Bhaskaran’s experience also includes nine years with Coopers & Lybrand, LLP, as a senior audit manager in their San Francisco Bay Area technology practice.
Mr.
Jerald Lo holds responsibility for all product strategy and development at Accela, and has more than 20 years of engineering management experience.
Prior to joining Accela in October 2007, Mr. Lo directed engineering teams at numerous Silicon Valley companies through complete product development cycles for a multitude of enterprise applications, most recently as Director of Professional Service for Achievo Corporation. His background also includes serving as Director of Engineering at Vayusphere, as well as engineering management positions at Viador, Inc. and Oracle Corporation.
Mr. Lo graduated from Purdue University with a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
As Vice President of Sales, North America, Rob Cassetti focuses on establishing sales objectives and strategies to expand Accelas growth in subscription sales (SaaS), cloud computing, and the mobile applications markets in North America.
Mr. Cassetti brings 16 years of extensive sales and management experience in the public sector market, 14 of which were spent at Silicon Valley, Fortune 500 company, Cisco Systems. As Ciscos Director of Service Sales for the U.S. Western Area State and Local Government and Education segment, Rob oversaw sales and business development planning for new service offerings, licensing models, and program management for the $300M business of hardware and software maintenance, advisory, and professional services.
Previously Mr. Cassetti served as the Senior Sales Manager for the U.S. Public Sector segment of the WEBEX division of Cisco, where he built a new team of Cloud Collaboration Sales Specialists across the U.S.
As Vice President of Marketing, Jeff Stiles is leading Accelas efforts to expand growth in subscription sales of cloud and mobile applications and an open platform for developers and partners.
Jeff is an accomplished senior executive with over 25 years of experience leading high-performing teams in software development, solution consulting, sales, corporate and product strategy and all facets of marketing.
Lee Ann Slinkard joined Accela in February of 2007 with over 15 years of experience in building and maintaining large service organizations within the healthcare technology field.
She was most recently the client services leader at Healthlink, now a division of IBM. Prior to that, she held positions as vice president of operations, vice president of business development, senior vice president of implementations, and senior vice president of sales and professional services at companies in Texas, New Jersey, and California.
Ms. Slinkard graduated with honors from Stanford University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology.
In line with Accela’s global expansion strategy, Mark Watts joined the company in July 2008 to establish its subsidiary in the Asia Pacific Region.
As Managing Director of Accela South Pacific Pty Ltd, Mark is responsible for all sales, projects and support services in the region and for developing locally based Accela expertise.
Mark has more than 35 years experience in IT the last 15 managing companies that supply software and services to the Government sector and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.
Prior to joining Accela he was President of Hansen Information Technologies (USA), Managing Director of Hansen’s Australian Subsidiary, and Unit Manager for Local Government business at the Australian-owned Melbourne Information Technology Services.
Khaled Jaouni joined Accela in October 2010, bringing more than 14 years of experience in business management, development and transformation, as well as systems integration.
Prior to joining Accela, Mr. Jaouni held a number of senior positions with leading multinational firms in the United States and the Middle East, including Ernst & Young, Cap Gemini, and Boeing. His background includes leadership of numerous strategic initiatives, as well as solution-delivery and program-recovery projects for various Fortune 100 companies and leading Middle East businesses.
Mr. Jaouni was also a Partner at Ithmar Capital, a Dubai-based private equity firm, where he served on the boards of seven companies. The Harvard Business School published a case study exclusively on Ithmar Capital as an example of a venture capital success story in the Middle East.
Mr.
Dr. Robert P. Lee is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Accela, stepping down in April 2007. First joining Accela as a board member in 1999, Dr. Lee was instrumental in guiding the Company through six acquisitions in three years and establishing the current management and corporate structure.
After becoming Accela’s CEO in 2002, Dr. Lee set the Company on course to become one of the fastest-growing U.S. companies by providing great products and services to over 500 agencies across North America.
Prior to joining Accela, Dr. Lee was President and Chief Executive Officer of Inxight Software, Inc. and Insignia Solutions, a software company he took public on the NASDAQ in 1995. Dr. Lee’s management experience also includes senior executive positions at Symantec and Shared Medical System corporations. Dr.
Carolyn Maduza has more than 25 years of successful financial and general management experience. Her background includes senior level management positions in technology, life sciences, marketing, and investment banking. She is recognized as an expert in providing strategic direction, financial leadership, and operational management.
Ms. Maduza previously served as the Chief Financial Officer for Alteer Corporation, a privately held health care information technology company. Her areas of responsibility encompass strategy, finance, human resources, legal and administrative functions. In this position, she has taken an active leadership role in successfully transforming the company from software information technology to a leading provider of health care services, focused on electronic medical records and workflow, clinical and administrative optimization.
Ms. Maduza is a Certified Public Accountant in Illinois.
David Tsang is the managing member and co-founder of Acorn Campus, an incubator and venture fund in Silicon Valley. Since the 1960s Mr. Tsang has been a veteran of the semiconductor industry and is widely regarded as an industry expert and a visionary.
Mr. Tsang recently served as chairman of Oak Technology, which he founded and brought to IPO in 1995 (NASDAQ:OAKT). He also founded Data Technology Corporation, manufacturer of disk controllers and high-density disk drives.
Mr. Tsang holds an MSEE from Santa Clara University and an honorary PhD from International Technical University. Mr. Tsang has an impressive track record in attracting, evaluating, and advising portfolio companies, drawing on his considerable experience in communications, marketing, business development, product-planning, program management, and general operations management.
Robert Ausherman was the co-founder and President of Sierra Computer Systems, Inc.
Mr. Ausherman’s background includes 10 years in Government Computer Administration prior to forming Sierra. Mr. Ausherman directed Sierra into one of the leading local government software suppliers. In 1999, Sierra merged with OpenData Systems and the company name changed to Accela, Inc.
Mr. Ausherman remained president of Accela until August 2001 and currently serves as Executive Board Chairman of the company.
Wai-Yan Sandy Chau has been active in Internet investment since 1997. From 1992 to 1997, he was the CEO of one of the largest and most diversified construction and real estate firms in Taiwan.
Mr. Chau began his career heading a consulting firm for start-ups in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was the founding president for the influential Asian American Manufacturing Association (AAMA) in Silicon Valley in 1979.
In 1977, he started Universal Semiconductor in San Jose, California. Since 1984, he has been actively involved in various real estate projects in US and Far East countries.
He has a BS in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a M.B.A.
Governor George Ariyoshi was a three-term governor of the state of Hawaii. He was also Lt. Governor of Hawaii, Territorial and State Senator, Territorial House Representative, and he has held elected public office since 1954.
Currently, Governor Ariyoshi is Counsel of Watanabe, Ing & Kawashima; U.S. Adviser, Japan-U.S. Science, Technology, and Space; Member of President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiation; Chairman, Board of Governor, East-West Center; President of Prince Resorts Hawaii; board of directors, Pacific Technology Application Corp, and he is holding board and executive positions of over 10 other private and public organizations.
Governor Ariyoshi was President of the Bar Association of Hawaii, Chairman of Western Governor’s Conference, President & Founder of Pacific Basin Development Council, President and Founding member of Center for International Commercial Dispute Resolution and other accomplishments and awards.