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Phired Up and TechniPhi Welcome Four New Team Members in June

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Branden Stewart

Carmel, Ind. – Phired Up and TechniPhi are delighted to announce the recent addition of four new team members this June. Each new team member brings unique and dynamic skills to the table that will help Phired Up and TechniPhi continue their mission to serve 100% of fraternities and sororities. Read below to learn more about each new team member and how they’ll help contribute to helping fraternity and sorority grow.

“I’m thrilled to see Mary, Colin, Casey, and Rob joining our team this summer and I know that they’ll continue to elevate the level of service and results our clients have come to expect from Phired Up and TechniPhi,” said Branden Stewart, Chief Operating Officer of Phired Up. “This new team of incredibly talented professionals each bring unique perspectives and experiences to our team that I’m confident will help our clients and our industry continue to achieve their growth goals.”

Mary Lark joins the TechniPhi team as a software engineer. Throughout Mary’s education, she has earned her BSCS from San Francisco State University, her PMP from the Project Management Institute, and her CSM from Scrum Alliance. Mary has also completed AppAcademy’s six month immersive Full Stack Engineering Bootcamp.

“Mary is going to make a great addition to the team, I am excited to get to know her and for the experience she brings,” said Gerrit VanderLugt, Director of Software Engineering. “I know that having Mary’s skill set on our team will help us to continue developing software that will help fraternities and sororities meet their growth goals.”

During her career, she has served as a Knowledge Engineer Associate at one of the first Stanford University Artificial Intelligence startups, spent time in enterprise development on ING’s optical character recognition system, and later worked on a bleeding edge radiation oncology therapeutic control system that revolutionized cancer treatment.  Most recently, Mary worked with an educational learning system delivering customized Citrix virtualized desktops through the web browser for for-profit higher education schools like Capella, Kaplan, and University of Phoenix.

“Besides the fact that your team is awesome, supportive, and all seem to really enjoy working there, I love the growth opportunities and management’s philosophy of expanding your toolset!” said Mary when asked about why she’s excited to join the team. “React Native and developing mobile apps is the icing on the cake!”

In her spare time, Mary enjoys outdoor activities like water-skiing, long distance bicycle riding, and riding horses in either Dressage or Western trails. She also plays the flute and piano as her go-to relaxation devices. Mary’s first day is June 21 and she can be reached at mary@techniphi.com.

Colin Nelson-Pinkston joins the TechniPhi team as an Account Executive.  He earned his BA in Spanish and International Studies from the University of Iowa where he joined his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha. Following his undergraduate experience, Colin spent time working for his fraternity before attending graduate school at Southern Methodist University where he earned his M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration.

“Every single interaction matters when it comes to building the future joining experience for fraternities and sororities. Colin joining our team will only elevate the current client experience we already offer,” said Ellen Chesnut, Vice President of Technology. “His understanding of stakeholders from both an organizational and campus level will strategically allow our team to better understand our clients and our users, and bring them end-to-end solutions to meet their growth goals.”

Throughout his professional and volunteer experiences, Colin has worked with fraternity and sorority members on 60 campuses across North America. In his most recent professional role, he served as the fraternity and sorority advisor at Sewanee: The University of the South, advising 12 national and 10 local organizations. In January 2021, Colin worked with Sewanee’s Intersorority Council to change its bid matching structure. The changes led nine out of ten sororities to their largest fall-to-spring growth in the last three years. Additionally, under Colin’s professional leadership, Sewanee saw their 2020-21 academic year fall-to-spring growth for their entire community reach the largest levels in the last three years.

“My purpose is to coach people and organizations to help them gain awareness of their values so they can improve the world around them,” said Colin. “Emerging from the pandemic, there is a tremendous opportunity to strengthen recruitment and retention processes so organizations can find more like-minded people to amplify their positive impact on the world.”

When outside of work, Colin enjoys weightlifting, exploring new restaurants and cooking great meals, investing in stocks, and is an avid reader and podcast listener. Colin’s first day on the TechniPhi team was June 14, and he can be reached at colin@techniphi.com.

Casey Richard joins the Phired Up team as a Growth Systems Coach. She earned her BA in Psychology and Law, Societies, & Justice from the University of Washington in Seattle, where she joined her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma.

“We are very fortunate to be adding Casey to our coaching team. She brings wisdom and excitement from her time as a Kappa Kappa Gamma staff member, and adds incredible new insights from her time with Ernst and Young,” said Woody Woodcock, Vice President of Coaching. “Our coaching team is excited for Casey to be leading multiple coaching community partners.”

Casey’s professional career began when she served as a Leadership Consultant for Kappa Kappa Gamma, during which time she visited over 52 campuses and helped establish four of six new chapters for her organization. Most recently, Casey worked for Ernst & Young in the Bay Area for a little under two years as a campus recruiter. At EY, she owned headcount for multiple markets and led the summer internship efforts for the San Francisco office.

“It only takes one conversation to have an outsize impact on others, and I am so excited to join a team that not only advocates for new ideas but also encourages innovation in this space,” said Casey. “I believe the organizations that partner with Phired Up have tremendous potential for being changemakers not only on college campuses, but beyond, and I cannot wait to dive right in!”

Outside of work you can find her spending time with friends, going to the beach, finding any excuse to get outside, or scouting out the next best local coffee shop! Casey is such a huge coffee drinker that she has an entire Instagram account dedicated to the craft Additionally, Casey is a huge football fan during Football season you can always find her checking scores and making sure she has her game-viewing schedule for the weekend. Casey’s first day at Phired Up was June 14, and she can be reached at casey@phiredup.com.

Robert Webb joined the Phired Up team June 1 as an Adjunct Organizational Growth Consultant. Rob earned his BA from the University of Arkansas – Monticello in General Studies before going on to earn his MS in College Student Personnel from Arkansas Tech University. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.

“I am truly excited to have Rob on our team!” said Tenea McGhee, Phired Up’s Director of Growth. “With the passion and talent Rob brings, he will help us move the needle forward to support the holistic growth development of our cultural based fraternal organizations. Most importantly, I look forward to seeing the outcomes of combining our Phire with his ice cold skills, to impact positive changes across all councils.”

Rob currently serves as the Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he advises the National PanHellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council. Previously, he served as an Area Director of the District of Arkansas for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated where he oversaw chapter/member development, growth, and membership intake. Rob also volunteers annually at the Greek Cultural Leadership Conference (CGLC).

 “It is an honor to be joining the Phired Up team and I’m Phired Up about helping them continue their mission of helping fraternities and sororities grow, more specifically our culturally-based organizations,” Rob said when asked about his excitement for joining the Phired Up team. “I believe Phired Up has the tools that will help these historical organizations thrive and develop. I’m excited about joining a phenomenal group of individuals who are passionate about serving and helping students evolve. As I say often, ‘Until we become what we desire, we will continue to attract what we currently are’. This is truly an incredible opportunity to be a part of the change I want to see.”

When he’s not at work, Rob enjoys traveling, playing piano, singing, reading, and working out. He also enjoys spending time with friends and family, especially his two beautiful daughters Princess Grace Elisabeth Webb and Princess Hannah Jack Webb. Rob can be reached at robert@phiredup.com

Phired Up and TechniPhi look forward to welcoming Mary, Colin, Casey, and Rob this month!

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About Phired Up and TechniPhi: Phired Up & TechniPhi help fraternities and sororities grow. The company’s products, services, and brands are creating the future of fraternities and sororities by transforming the way people join. The company delivers relationship-focused, data-driven, results-producing TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION, and STRATEGY solutions for every aspect of the pre-member experience from first-impression through initiation.