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About Govenda®

Transforming Governance Management Through Innovation.

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Our Mission

Govenda® equips corporate boards with the most advanced and intuitive technology for governance management to improve decision-making and reduce compliance risks.

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Our Vision

Govenda® strives to implement the most innovative technology to transform the future of governance management.

The Framework of Govenda®

integrity
Integrity Teamwork is a pillar in the Govenda® experience. Employees know how to give and receive help from their peers, learn and grow from failure, and consistently do the right thing.
transparency
Transparency Acting with transparency motivates Govenda® employees to empathize with customers and make sure every voice is heard. Our commitment to customer success is award-winning.
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Accountability Leading innovation is only achievable by hardworking professionals that persevere to make firm decisions and drive exceptional results.
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How it Started

Marion Lewis and Jeanette Thomas are two results-driven entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and business community leaders—each with more than 25 years of experience. As Co-Founders of Govenda, they are passionate about providing best-in-class solutions and modern tools to support organizations’ boards of directors, while also showing the world that a woman’s place is in the boardroom.

Govenda’s Leadership Team

The executive management team at Govenda has assembled a world-class team dedicated to building, supporting, and enhancing a board management platform that’s the trusted choice of companies worldwide.

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Marion Lewis

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Marion Lewis

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Results-driven entrepreneur, investor, and business community leader with more than 25 years of successful digital experience. As the founder and CEO of Govenda, I'm passionate about providing best-in-class solutions and modern tools to support organizations’ boards of directors.

My world-class team and I are proud of our cutting-edge, award-winning board management and empowerment platform that enables effective corporate governance, robust regulatory compliance, centralized control, and interactive board engagement. Our dedicated leadership, technical, and customer support teams are committed to our customers’ success.

Prior to Govenda, I was Co-Founder of Tachyon Solutions, a custom application development and interactive marketing firm, and served as its CEO for 21 years. I created the firm’s vision, executed the strategic plan, and led the renowned Tachyon Interactive Group.

I'm also proud of my work with the entrepreneurial community. I'm a member of the Women Presidents Organization (WPO) and serve as an active investor of NextAct Fund, an angel investment organization that supports women-led companies. I'm also a former member of the Pittsburgh Business Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Pittsburgh.

I am passionate about giving back to the community that sustains me and am a founding partner and past chair of Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners, a network of community-minded individuals who invest time, money, and expertise in organizations that solve problems facing at-risk youth in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. I am also a past member and Secretary of the board of Social Venture Partners International, and past Vice Chair of Goodwill of Southwest Pennsylvania board of directors.

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Jeanette Thomas

Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

Jeanette Thomas

Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

Jeanette, Co-Founder and CTO of Govenda, is a global business manager with a unique background that combines experience in strategic planning, organization development, marketing, and technology. She has a proven track record of achieving business and customer objectives with a well-honed ability to quickly analyze issues and translate them into executable plans. She's an excellent communicator, with outstanding leadership and people skills. Jeanette is also an exceptional mentor, able to build and motivate cohesive teams to accomplish internal and external company goals. 

Prior to Govenda, Jeanette served as CEO of We Do Commerce, where she led a team of consultants and technical resources that provided businesses with operational, marketing, and IT consulting services for their global ecommerce initiatives. We Do Commerce clients included national and multi-national companies like SCA/Tena, Sally Beauty Supply, Bare Escentuals, Burton Snowboards, Amazon, BazaarVoice, and Finish Line. We Do Commerce was sold in March 2017.

Prior to leading We Do Commerce, Jeanette was Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Tachyon Solutions, a custom application development and interactive marketing firm.  

Jeanette holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Planning and Administration from The Pennsylvania State University and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Lara Huber

Vice President, Revenue

Lara Huber

Vice President, Revenue

Lara Huber is the Vice President of Revenue of Govenda, where she leads the company’s sales strategy across North America, EMEA, and Latin America.

Since joining Govenda in 2013, Lara has fueled Govenda’s growth since its first customer by leading go-to-market strategies, building solid technology infrastructure, and scalable processes.  Lara has over twenty years of experience in sales, leadership, and technology. 

Lara holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Management.

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Tom Patton

Vice President, Finance and Administration

Tom Patton

Vice President, Finance and Administration

Tom is an experienced Financial Executive with more than 30 years of experience with high-growth companies.  He's previously been a member of many C-Suite teams and is valued for his financial and operations perspective.

He spent 15 years in his formative years with Ernst & Young, where he rose to the rank of Partner before leaving to follow his passion for working with entrepreneurs and founders.

In  addition to his professional capabilities, Tom was also active as the Chairman of deal screening in a professionally managed angel invest investment network. He also served for 12 years as an elected school board director at a prestigious public school district where he served as the Chairperson of both the Personnel and Finance Committees. During his tenure, two elementary schools were renovated and he led the search for a new superintendent in a very public setting.

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Gavin Guest

Vice President, Product Management

Gavin Guest

Vice President, Product Management

Gavin leads Product Management at Govenda. In this role, he's responsible for understanding customer needs in the corporate governance arena, to enhance Govenda's products and deliver value.

In addition to deep experience in product management, operations, and finance, Gavin has served as executive representation to multiple Boards of Directors. Gavin is Certified in Private Company Governance by Private Directors Association and ESOP Governance.

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TJ Coyle

Vice President, Research and Development

TJ Coyle

Vice President, Research and Development

As the Senior Director of Research and Development at Govenda, TJ guides the strategic direction of Govenda’s technology. TJ is a thoughtful and pragmatic leader and engineer whose mentorship has led to the development of an A team of Govenda developers.

TJ began his career as a web developer, followed quickly by mobile app development. He has been a key player at advancing Govenda’s board success platform by driving development initiatives at a breakneck pace while ensuring cross-platform synchronicity and his unique ability to forward think.

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Dave Helon

Vice President, Information Technology

Dave Helon

Vice President, Information Technology

As Govenda's operational leader, David is responsible for Human Resources, Information Technology, Accounts Receivable / Payable, Vendor / Contract Management and Revenue Expansion in order to drive company headcount and revenue growth.  David's background includes leadership roles with companies both large and small.

He began his career as a telecommunications officer in the United States Marine Corps, transitioned to building customer service organizations for high-speed networking and high performance computing companies, started both a Health IT and FinTech company, and finally joined Govenda four years ago.  David holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the United States Naval Academy.

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