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Enspire's Leadership Team
Enspire is led by a dynamic team of creative professionals with backgrounds in education, technology, production, and business. Our leaders are committed to maintaining a company culture that empowers our team to provide innovation and value to our customers and to use effective content and technology to change the way people learn.
Bjorn Billhardt
Chief Executive Officer
Bjorn is a recognized authority in the field of online learning and has been a featured speaker at many industry conferences such as ASTD TechKnowledge, Training, and ISPI. Bjorn has also authored articles and case studies on effective e-learning design for organizations such as CLO Magazine and Harvard Business School Publishing, among others. He has an extensive background in corporate training and has previously managed an independent consulting firm focused on ERP software training in Europe and the US. Prior to his work in the field of e-learning, Bjorn worked at McKinsey & Company. He holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts Honors from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Bjorn is also a graduate of both Plan II and the Business Honors Program at the University of Texas.
Deaton Bednar
Executive Producer
Deaton brings over 30 years of experience developing educational programs to Enspire. Deaton previously served as a director in Sapient's Learning Services group and directed the EnterTech project, a three-year multi-million dollar workforce development project funded by the Office of the Governor of the State of Texas and administered by the Texas Workforce Commission. At the Texas Workforce Commission, Deaton also served as Deputy Director for Special Services where she directed five state and seven federal programs involving education and workforce development. Deaton holds a B.A. in Business Administration from East Carolina University.
Shon Bayer
Executive Vice President of Products
Shon brings over a decade of experience in developing, managing, and marketing exceptional instructor-led and online learning programs. He has spoken on e-learning and simulations at conferences such as ASTD Austin and the Serious Games Summit. In addition to his marketing and leadership responsibilities at Enspire, he plays a large role in crafting learning strategy for large Enspire projects. Prior to joining Enspire, Shon served in various senior roles at The Princeton Review in marketing and general management. In addition to his roles at The Princeton Review, Shon wrote a travel guide for Fodor's and developed interactive online courseware in the K-12 space. Shon holds a B.S. in Materials Science from the University of California at Berkeley.
Nathan Kracklauer
Director of Product Development
Nathan is Enspire's chief writer and instructional designer. With his storytelling approach to learning, Nathan has developed and documented Enspire's unique and award-winning approach to instructional design. He is responsible for training and guiding Enspire's product development team and has led instructional design workshops at leading industry conferences, including the E-Learning Producer Conference, and at distinguished companies such as National Instruments. Nathan holds bachelor's degrees in mathematics, philosophy, and liberal arts honors from the University of Texas at Austin.
Blake Bush
Director of Multimedia
Blake Bush has over 20 years of team management and media development experience. After graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in Radio-TV-Film, Blake worked at Human Code where he served first as the Director of Visual Media and then as the VP of Production. After Human Code was acquired, Blake co-founded Amaze Entertainment's Fizz Factor Games where he served as the Production/Animation Director as well as a Project Art Lead. At Enspire, Blake is committed to nurturing a collaborative environment where talented designers work together to create highly engaging learning experiences for all types of learners.
Melinda Jackson
Director of Instructional Design
Mindy has more than 15 years experience in project management and 12 years experience in instructional systems design. She received her master's degree in instructional technology from the University of Texas at Austin. Mindy is former project director of the Digital Media Collaboratory, a transdisciplinary research lab at the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas at Austin whose mission is to research, develop, implement and study the impact and influence of new interactive technologies and digital content that enhance human performance and improve the social good. She has led numerous instructional design projects for interactive, classroom, and blended curricula and instruction. Mindy's graduate studies focused on electronic performance support systems and the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to support independent functioning for individuals with cognitive disabilities.
Pam Kelly
Vice President of Business Development
Pam has over 10 years experience in sales and marketing. Prior to joining Enspire, Pam was responsible for launching Sprint's $2 billion broadband service, which brought fast Internet to both residential and business customers nationwide. During her career at Sprint, Pam built an impressive track record of exceeding sales goals by focusing on the needs of both internal and external clients. Pam holds a B.A. in Speech Communications from Texas A&M University with a minor in Business Administration.
Brandon Hudgeons
Director of Technology Development
Brandon leads Enspire's technology development and information technology efforts. His background combines a unique blend of business, technology, and legal experience. In 2001, Brandon founded Internal Machine Industries, Inc. where he also served as President and CEO. He has also worked for Motive, Inc. as a product manager. As an attorney, Brandon represented high-tech and emerging-growth companies. Brandon has an A.B. in Computer Science and English Literature from Dartmouth College. He also has a Masters in Electronics Engineering, a Masters of Business Administration, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas at Austin.
Armin Gutzmer
Director of Production Management
Armin provides program management support to Enspire Learning's production teams. Armin has more than 20 years of experience in educational publishing at Holt, Rinehart and Winston where he was the Product Strategy Director in Holt's instructional technology group. Holt produced numerous award-winning online and CD-ROM products during that time. Armin previously worked as a software engineer for Texas Instruments. Armin has a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University.
Beth Cowan
Director of Leadership Programs
Beth manages Enspire's leadership development programs. She leads implementation and delivery of our Executive Challenge programs for executives at Fortune 500 Companies and top-tier business schools. Prior to coming to Enspire, Beth worked in energy finance for Enron Corp. and Constellation Energy. She holds an M.B.A. from Duke University and graduated from the Liberal Arts Honors program at the University of Texas at Austin. She speaks Spanish fluently and is an avid international traveler.
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