Our management team is committed to developing the right strategies for your organization to allow you to drive business and achieve your business objectives.
- Scott Friedlander - President and CEO
- Marc Tommer - Chief Financial Officer
- Bruce Card - Vice President/General Manager, DOD Business
- Kiran Rathod - Chief Technology Officer
- Dave Gordon - Vice President/General Manager, Healthcare Business
- Tim Holmes - Vice President, Contracts & Legal
- Danielle Clay - Director, Human Resources
- Brian Talbot - Vice President, Marketing
- Gazelle Hashemian - Founder and Board Member
- Dr. Sassan Kimiavi - Founder and Strategic Advisor
Scott Friedlander - President and CEO
As president and chief executive officer, Scott Friedlander is responsible for Paragon's vision and mission supporting our clients and employees success. With his executive team, Mr. Friedlander is focused on building value for Paragon, by delivering high quality, people-based solutions that are driven by technical excellence and aligned to each client's unique mission. He is committed to building on Paragon's suite of leading services including, IT systems engineering and application development, governance and PMO implementation and support, business intelligence and data management, enterprise modernization, and financial and quality management.
Previously, as president and chief executive officer of GTSI, Mr. Friedlander transformed an $800 million publicly traded company into a recognized mid-tier systems integrator delivering technology solutions and enterprise services to public sector clients. His focus on strategic and human capital planning during his 10 years resulted in record-high employee retention rates in excess of 95 percent while delivering exceptional financial performance. GTSI was recognized in 2009 as a "Best Place to Work" by the Washington Business Journal.
Prior to joining GTSI, Mr. Friedlander spent 18 years with Xerox Corporation in positions of ascending responsibility, culminating as vice president and general manager of Public Sector Operations for North America Solutions Group. While at Xerox, he established himself as an accomplished executive with an unprecedented track record of achievement in leading commercial, federal, state & local, K-16 and public sector business unit entities.
Mr. Friedlander is a graduate of University of Maryland's Smith School of Business with a degree in finance. He is a "Serge" Committee Member of the Virginia Tech Science & Engineering Regional Growth Enterprise. Mr. Friedlander previously served on the University Of Maryland Alumni Board of Governors, was a director of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a board member of Tech America and an advisory board member on The Volgeneau School of Information Technology & Engineering.
In addition, Mr. Friedlander has been active with his wife, who founded Heartsongs, a National Children's Medical Center charity in honor of Mattie Stepanek. Founded in 2002, Heartsongs has contributed close to a million dollars to Children's Hospital in Washington, DC.
Marc Tommer - Chief Financial Officer
Marc Tommer serves as Paragon's chief financial officer. Mr. Tommer brings to Paragon more than 25 years of experience working with publicly traded and growth-oriented companies. Most recently he served as vice president of finance for Vangent, a global provider of information management and strategic business process services that was sold to General Dynamics in October 2011 for $960 million. In that role, he led a worldwide department, overseeing financial reporting, treasury, risk management and pricing for the private equity-owned company. He previously served as senior vice president of finance for SI International, where, over the course of a decade, he integrated nine acquisitions into the company and helped to drive annual revenue from zero to nearly $600 million.
Mr. Tommer holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Maryland and
is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the State of Maryland.
Bruce Card - Vice President / General Manager, DOD Business
Bruce Card has more than 29 years of professional experience in military and civilian aviation, transportation and logistics with over 18 years in various military and civilian senior management positions. During his career, Mr. Card led a wide range of military and civilian organizations. In his current role, Mr. Card is responsible for managing all defense programs for Paragon to include such clients as the services, combatant commands, defense agencies, the Joint Staff, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Prior to Paragon, Mr. Card was a senior program manager and business analyst for C5T Corporation and Dynamics Research Corporation where he provided senior-level consultation and leadership for several high-profile operational programs for the U.S. Air Force and the United States Transportation Command. He was personally responsible for institutionalizing several transformational concepts including the transformation of military air transport operations to a flight dispatch oriented approach. During his distinguished military career, Mr. Card was a U.S. Air Force flying squadron commander as well as a Formal Flying Training Unit deputy operations group commander where he oversaw daily flight operations for more than 600 assigned aviators and 400 annual students.
Mr. Card also served in various major command staff positions for the Air Mobility Command where he was responsible for Air Force basing actions, command and control operational requirements, strategic planning, and for developing the Air Mobility Command's future years defense plan of over $19 billion. Mr. Card retired from the Air Force with more than 22 years of service with over 5,000 military and civilian flying hours, including aerial combat operations.
Mr. Card holds a master's in computer resources and information management from Webster University, a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Lehigh University, and is a commercial airline pilot with an Airline Transport Pilot type rating in the 757, 767 and L-300.
Kiran Rathod - Chief Technology Officer
Mr. Rathod brings more than 22 years of extensive professional experience in information technology, in which he has delivered mission-critical federal and commercial solutions managing large-scale corporate IT environments. Prior to joining Paragon, Mr. Rathod spent 10 years at Lockheed Martin holding several senior leadership positions focused on driving innovative IT solutions to federal customers. His domain knowledge is in the areas of big data analytics, mobility, cloud computing, ITIL v3, and IT strategy development. Mr. Rathod began his career in wireless telecommunications, holding several senior technical and leadership positions with companies and agencies such as NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Motorola and AT&T Wireless.
Mr. Rathod holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland.
Dave Gordon - Vice President / General Manager, Healthcare Business
As the vice president of healthcare, Mr. Gordon is responsible for Paragon's healthcare business unit strategy and management. Mr. Gordon has more than 25 years of experience in management and technology consulting providing strategy, business development, large-scale program management, and IT operations support to C-suite level government clients. Mr. Gordon spent 22 years at Booz Allen Hamilton, most recently as a senior executive within their Health Team. For this business unit, he led their IT support to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), directing the capture and proposal activities for $200M of new business in systems
development and integration, IT operations, and software acquisition support for federal government Chief Information Officers. Mr. Gordon's work includes developing strategic partnership, stakeholder management, talent management, and IT governance.
Mr. Gordon also has an extensive background in leading and delivering large, complex IT solutions and operations. This includes programs as large as 100 staff and $20M in revenue per year leveraging Agile software development, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3 processes, and Earned Value Management.
Mr. Gordon holds a Master of Science in Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute.
Tim Holmes - Vice President, Contracts & Legal
Tim Holmes brings more than 19 years of contract management, negotiation,
contract compliance, and risk mitigation experience for a diverse client base
including federal, state and local governments, commercial entities and
international government and commercial organizations. Mr. Holmes was most recently responsible for the development and implementation of international contract policy and processes associated with international contracts and subcontracts at SRA International. Mr. Holmes previously held dual positions as Director of Contracts, Civil Sector and Global Health Sector for two separate, diverse sectors within
SRA International. He was responsible for staffing and oversight of 39 employees covering all proposal and contract administrative activity for contracts, subcontracts and procurement. In this role, he led the development of contract templates and corporate processes and procedures for contract risk mitigation, contract compliance and other sector/corporate contracts functions. He previously served as a Director of Contracts for SAIC and Maximus.
Mr. Holmes holds a law degree from the University of Kansas and received his Bachelor in Business from Washburn University.
Danielle Clay - Director, Human Resources
As the Director of Human Resources, Danielle Clay is responsible for developing and implementing Paragon's integrated Human Capital Strategy program. Ms. Clay brings more than 13 years of Human Resources experience in managing all strategic Human Capital efforts, including recruiting, wellness programs, benefits administration, talent development and retention. The majority of Ms. Clay's career has been focused on Human Resource Management and Talent Acquisition for government contractors nationally with the primary focus being in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Ms. Clay takes special interest in fostering a corporate culture around employee wellness and professional growth.
Prior to joining Paragon in 2007, Ms. Clay held recruiting roles for Lockheed Martin, the American Red Cross, and a few small and mid-sized government contractors. During her three years at Lockheed Martin, Ms. Clay was responsible for managing the company's Washington Metro Area college recruiting.
Ms. Clay has a Bachelor of Science in Family Child Development; Human Services from Virginia Tech.
Brian Talbot - Vice President, Marketing
Brian Talbot is the vice president of marketing for Paragon. Mr. Talbot has more than 13 years of marketing experience, working for leading brands in the information technology and consumer electronics industries. In his current role, Mr. Talbot is responsible for Paragon's go-to-market, marketing and communications strategy.
Prior to joining Paragon, Mr. Talbot served as the director of marketing for GTSI. Mr. Talbot was responsible for designing and implementing GTSI's integrated marketing communications and public relations strategies, which included direct oversight of marketing campaigns, lead generation, solutions launches, collateral development, events, web and public relations programs.
Prior to his work at GTSI, Mr. Talbot managed the marketing efforts for Terabeam Wireless, a worldwide leader in outdoor wireless solutions. During his time at Terabeam, he increased exposure for Terabeam's product portfolio and led the launch of Terabeam's WiMax product line at the 2005 SUPERCOMM conference. Mr. Talbot previously worked for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the producer of the world's largest annual technology conference, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). At CEA, Mr. Talbot developed and implemented the association's annual marketing plan, covering branding, membership, event marketing, industry awards and training programs.
Mr. Talbot began his career at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, where he was one of the original members of the Ogilvy IMpact practice, a leading technology practice focused on the emerging field of digital brand management. Mr. Talbot holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Richmond with a concentration in marketing.
Gazelle Hashemian - Founder and Board Member
Gazelle Hashemian, Paragon's co-founder and board member, has been instrumental in establishing a direction and vision for the company and its success in penetrating the government contracting world. Ms. Hashemian has more than 18 years of professional experience with 12 years in various senior management positions running IT organizations. During her career, Ms. Hashemian has planned, built, integrated and supported a variety of complex IT solutions with nationwide footprint. Ms. Hashemian's background in building IT organizations from ground up has given her the ability to develop and implement an organizational vision, which integrates key business goals and priorities while balancing time and budget constraints.
Prior to Paragon, Ms. Hashemian was a director of IT at Broadband Office where she oversaw the entire IT department for in support of a nationwide fiber optic network. Prior to Broadband, she was the CIO of Picus, director of IT at Teligent and held other management and engineering positions at MCImetro and Hughes Network Systems.
Ms. Hashemian holds a master's in telecommunications from The George Washington University and a bachelor's in electrical engineering from George Mason University.
Dr. Sassan Kimiavi - Founder and Strategic Advisor
Dr. Sassan Kimiavi, founder of Paragon, now serves as a strategic advisor to the company. With more than 18 years of experience in the IT industry, Dr. Kimiavi has held multiple senior management and leadership positions with high profile IT professional services and consulting firms. An experienced strategic and tactical planner, Dr. Kimiavi has worked directly with many of Paragon's clients on their most critical and demanding corporate IT initiatives.
Dr. Kimiavi specializes in IT governance processes such as enterprise architecture, IT project portfolio management for both commercial and government sectors, enterprise performance management using the Balanced Scorecard Methodology, and program and project management.
During his career, Dr. Kimiavi has implemented many complex IT systems for clients in such diverse industries as pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, publishing, and investment banking. He has managed numerous complex IT projects over their entire lifecycle from inception to maintenance, utilizing standard methodologies such as the Rational Unified Process within a SEI-CMM scale.
Dr. Kimiavi earned his doctorate and master's degrees in computer science and his bachelor's in mechanical engineering from The George Washington University. Dr. Kimiavi is a certified PMP.