Learning Management System (LMS) - Meridian

Vince Juaristi is executive vice president of Visionary Integration Professionals (VIP), the parent company of Meridian Knowledge Solutions. Vince provides strategic direction to the teams overseeing the operations and implementation services for Meridian's private- and public-sector clients.

Vince brings a diversity of experience in working with and for federal, state, and local government agencies. With a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University, he provided policy advice at the highest levels of a state's government, including welfare reform, public education, post-secondary education, health care programs and information technology.

Coupled with his VIP duties, Vince accepted a nomination from President George W. Bush in December 2005 to be a board member for the Corporation for National and Community Service. Vince was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in May 2006. Since then, he has helped oversee several national programs including AmeriCorps, NCCC, Learn and Serve America, SeniorCorps and VISTA. He assisted with reconstruction efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Roy Haythorn is Meridian's top executive with responsibility for coordinating day-to-day operations, business strategy and sales & marketing. Before Meridian, Roy spent almost five years as vice president of worldwide sales at Click2learn, now SumTotal Systems. While at Click2learn, Roy oversaw a global sales force responsible for selling learning management systems (LMS) to customers across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

In 1996, Roy entered the training industry when he became partner and chief operating officer at Meliora Systems, a pioneer in developing software for assessing skills and augmenting instructor-led training. At Meliora, Roy spearheaded the development of Ingenium, one of the training industry's first LMS.

Before that, Roy had a 29-year career with Xerox Corporation where he rose to vice president of marketing for U.S. Operations and general manager of Eastern Operations, managing more than 1,500 employees and $1.5 billion in sales.

Roy holds a bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a master's degree in business administration from Monmouth College.

Mike Brennan directs the development of Meridian's product lifecycle from planning and development to quality assurance and budgeting. Mike and his teams rely on their conversations and planning meetings with Meridian's partners, employees and customers to meet the current and future needs of learning and development professionals. His efforts, in part, have made Meridian's learning management system (LMS) the training industry's number-one ranked product for "ease of use."

In addition to developing Meridian's product today and into the future, Mike also manages the customer care teams for Meridian's private-sector clients. Meridian's customer care teams have received as many kudos for their work as Meridian's products have, including a Gold Award from Chief Learning Officer magazine for customer service.

Before joining Meridian in 2000, Mike was a project manager with AMS, now CGI. Earlier in his career, he was an instructional technologist for Universal Systems, Inc., a Xerox Corporation-backed software company specializing in content management software.

Mike received his bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering from Clarkson University.

Geoff Perry manages Meridian's software implementation services. Since joining Meridian in 2002, Geoff and his teams have received numerous commendations for customer satisfaction, which have helped to build Meridian's reputation as a top-ranked provider of customer service.

Along with guiding the company's learning management system (LMS) implementations for customers, he oversees Meridian's Development and Testing Teams. Geoff brings his deep understanding of the software development industry to bear in serving Meridian's government and private-sector clients.

Geoff is also a member of the VIP Meridian Leadership Group, which sets the strategy and direction for Meridian's operations, products and services.

He received his bachelor's degree in computer information systems from James Madison University.

Jason Marceau provides strategic and day-to-day direction to the managers and staff who implement Meridian’s software. His teams are responsible for both the company’s private- and public-sector customers. Jason’s oversight includes financial management, business development and recruiting and retaining Meridian’s project teams.

Jason joined Meridian in 2005. And, since then, he has won recognition for striking a balance between improving the health of Meridian’s balance sheet, while meeting, and in some cases, exceeding customers’ expectations.

Prior to Meridian, Jason held leadership roles with Qwest Communications where his teams were responsible for implementing telecommunications networks.

Jason is a certified Project Management Professional. He earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing management from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Vinay Nilakantan and his teams are responsible for implementation strategy, engagement services and software delivery for Meridian's private-sector and government clients. Since joining Meridian in 2004, Vinay has successfully implemented enterprise editions of Meridian's Learning Management System (LMS) for some of America's largest employers. Vinay also led the effort to put in place a skills assessment solution for one of the federal government's largest competency management projects. As one of Meridian's senior directors, he is a member of the VIP Meridian Leadership Group, which charts the strategic direction for Meridian's products and services.

Before Meridian, Vinay held a variety of senior-level project management roles with both software makers and services firms.

Vinay graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Madras in India. He also holds a Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute.