Our Leadership

CEO

Michael Phillips

CEO

Michael Phillips is an entrepreneur, IT industry leader, father, husband and Christian. His business success and personal faith journey have helped him build a distinguished career focused on impacting people and organizations in positive ways.

Upon graduation from LSU in 2000, Michael started an IT consulting firm and within twelve months merged with another local firm to form Sparkhound, a Louisiana-based IT services company. As an owner/partner and COO, Michael helped Sparkhound achieve 250 percent growth between 2008 and 2012 and position the company among the most respected and fasting growing IT consulting firms in the country with more than 230 team members and nearly 30 million in annual revenues. ≫

Board of Directors

Dr. S. Bryan Hickox

Chairman of the Board

Bryan Hickox is the executive director of Bryan Hickox Pictures, Inc. He is the Producer of feature films, long form television and series television programming. He has produced: 71 two-hour, four-hour and six-hour network television movies of the week and mini-series; 7 highly decorated network television dramatic series; 250 hours of syndicated television shows; and 12 theatrical feature films. His most recent theatrical feature film entitled “The Perfect Wave,” was shot in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Mauritius and Bali and stars Scott Eastwood, Cheryl Ladd and Rachel Hendrix. ≫

Bob Williamson

Chairman Emeritus

Bob Williamson is a renowned businessman and serial entrepreneur who has achieved national acclaim for his business acumen and philanthropic efforts. All told, Williamson has founded over 20 successful businesses. His largest business accomplishment to date was the establishment of one of the most successful food service technology companies in the United States, Horizon Software International; a company that he sold in 2008 for $75 million that revolutionized the institutionalized food service market with its innovative software. His last business venture was the development of $40 million Honey Lake Resort and Spa that was built on his 4800 acre quail hunting plantation near Tallahassee, Florida in 2010. ≫

Manuel Calderon

Born and married in Puerto Rico, Manuel Calderon moved with his wife Yvina and his daughter Sofia to Wilson, NC to work as a Technology Lead for BB&T Bank in 2001. Since then Manuel has held leadership positions in the financial services and technology sectors as a Senior Consultant for Equifax, Delivery Manager for CMSI , Business Development Director for Sparkhound and Vice President of Professional Services for Cypress Software Systems. Manuel is currently the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for FlexManage.≫

Jonathan Fife

Treasurer

Jonathan Fife has served in executive and founding roles in several technology companies over the past 19 years. He is an entrepreneur at heart and founded a very successful company, Energov, which specializes in the public sector space. Energov was acquired by a publicly traded company, Tyler Technologies, in 2012 where Jonathan serves as the Vice President of Development and leads a large development team in Duluth, GA. He has a knack for taking big ideas and turning them into real-world solutions that help customers use modern technology in new ways.≫

Annette Girman

VP of Community Relations

Annette has been married to her husband Jeff for 29 years and has a son and one daughter.

Annette has a BA from Valparaiso University is certified in Disaster Response from Harvard Humanities, and has extensive training in FEMAs National Incident Management System.

Prior to joining Michael and Ryan to co-found NEEDSERV, Annette served as Executive Director of The Provisions Project, a nonprofit partner to government, non-government and faith-based organizations with a focus on training and coordinating efforts to rebuild communities after a disaster strikes.≫

Erica Hanway

Secretary
Managing Editor

Erica is an entrepreneur, marketer, mother, wife, and Christian. Most of her career has been focused in the area of real estate and land marketing, then expanding her marketing consulting company to also include a Christian counseling organization, leadership coach, author, private school, among others. She took on an early interest in the mission of The Jesus Alliance, supporting the ministry on a volunteer basis before becoming part of the core team. ≫

Stephen E. Reiter

Stephen E. Reiter, has a four-decade career as a corporate executive, entrepreneur, investor, and practice leader for a top-tier global consultancy. Four years ago after reading and spending time with the author of Halftime – Bob Buford, Steve decided to spend his second half in serving the Kingdom. Before forming DXM, Steve served at Precept Ministries as Executive Director, responsible for all functions across the ministry in 184 nations. His business career began after exiting the U.S. Army in 1973 joining EDS (later HP), to which he eventually was named Vice President & General Manager leading a business unit with a staff of 4,300, annual revenues of $1.2 Billion. ≫

Jeremy Starns

VP Operations & Technology

Business & technology innovator with a track record of building successful organizations that create value for shareholders, employees and investors. A decade of entrepreneurial effort created a dozen businesses, raised millions in seed capital, and created double digit returns for investors. 20 years of experience from the bottom to the top and back, built a tenacious but humble character with a passion for success. Dynamic leadership style characterized by a personable common sense approach that galvanizes individuals to achieve a common vision. Reverent and compassionate giver with a focus to balance the scale for those truly in need.

Ryan Williams

Ryan is a husband, father, Christian, speaker and entrepreneur with a passion for serving others and enabling others to do the same.

Ryan’s service mentality has allowed him to be successful in both the business world and in ministry. Ryan achieved success as a top 10 producing sales manager for a fortune 200 company prior to founding and serving as President of Workforce Benefit Solutions, a Louisiana based benefit broker and payroll service provider built to focus more on helping others than making a number. ≫

Michael Williamson

Michael Williamson has served in senior executive and founding roles at leading education technology companies. He has had executive roles with three successful software businesses serving the K-12 public education, higher education, and healthcare markets. He is an experienced business executive in the high technology field with more than twenty years in premiere software development and delivery.

Michael is most recently CEO of IO Education (www.ioeducation.com). IO Education is a leading K-12 education technology company focused on improving student educational outcomes in school districts across the US. ≫

IO’s solutions help schools collect and aggregate all of the key student, staff and operational performance data, generate relevant and important insights, and facilitate educators taking action on those insights to improve outcomes including dropout prevention and student academic and social/emotional interventions. IO has made significant strides to achieve traction in all 50 states, over 8,500 schools implemented with over 6,000,000 students impacted on the platform. IO Education was formed from the merger of Longleaf Solutions, which Michael founded in 2011, and Casenex through a transaction facilitated by LLR Partners, a Philadelphia based private equity firm. The transaction was awarded the 2015 ACG Atlanta emerging growth “Deal of the Year”.

In June of 2018, IO Education was strategically acquired through Insight Venture Partners (www.insightpartners.com) by their portfolio company, Illuminate Education (www.illuminateed.com), as part of a 5-way merger transaction. Michael has been asked to stay on with the company to lead and manage the integration of the 5 companies into a single consolidated platform and to continue to do additional M&A.

Prior to IO Education and Longleaf Solutions, he served as President/CEO of Horizon Software International. Founded in 1992 by his father, Horizon grew rapidly into a premiere technology company and soon became one of the largest institutionalized food service technology companies in the world. Its comprehensive enterprise software was installed in some 18,000 facilities worldwide. The company has delivered technology to some of the largest food service operations operating across 19 countries. Its offerings are installed in numerous key vertical markets including the Department of Defense, healthcare, higher education, K-12 public school systems, and senior retirement communities.

Horizon remained a privately owned firm from its inception until 2008, when it was acquired by Roper Technologies (NYSE: ROP). After Roper acquired the company, Michael continued to serve as President/CEO of the business for an additional two years and operated it as a Division within Roper.

Michael resides in Johns Creek, Georgia with his wife Michelle and twin daughters. Hailey and Lauren (age 12) are in 6th grade and attend Wesleyan School where they are involved in Cheerleading, Softball, Lacrosse, and Tennis. Michelle and Michael grew up in Atlanta and went to middle and high school together at South Gwinnett High School. She received two bachelor’s degrees, cum laude, from The College of Charleston in Accounting and Business Management.

Michelle has two Tennessee Walker horses where she enjoys weekly trail rides. When not travelling and working, Michael spends time playing golf and fly fishing. They enjoy being in the mountains and have had a residence in Cashiers, NC for the past 8 years.

The Williamsons regularly attend and are involved at Passion City Church, pastored by Louie Giglio, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Education & Recognition

University of Georgia, Athens: BBA Management Information Systems, Terry College of Business, 1997
University of Pennsylvania: Executive Program, Finance & Valuation, Wharton School of Business, 2009
2018 ACG Fast 40 Company recognizing the fastest 40 growing middle market companies in Georgia
ACG 2015 Atlanta Emerging Growth “Deal of the Year”: LLR Partners investment in IO Education
Inc 5000 list multiple years (Horizon Software)
Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Georgia Award, TAG 2008

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Counsel and Advisors

Nancy Schulze

Advisor

Nancy Schulze’s national speaking career focuses on the worldview of the Founders, the unraveling of their vision, and the reclaiming and rebuilding of the “real” America on her founding principles and Constitutional roots. Speaking has taken Nancy to conferences, conventions, campaigns and events throughout the country and abroad.

In 2008, Nancy founded the Republican Congressional Wives Speakers, with seminars for the wives featuring top experts in the field of speaking, media training and content. In 2016 she organized and produced the “Women for Trump” bus tour which made 30 stops in the critical swing state of North Carolina & generated significant national press coverage. Eleven Congressional wives took part in the tour which, according to the Trump Campaign Co-Chairman, “put Trump over” in North Carolina. ≫