BJ Schaknowski is a seasoned software industry executive, with over 20 years of experience in leadership roles across a wide variety of operating functions. Before joining symplr, BJ served as the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Vertafore, the world's leading provider of insurance technology. Prior to that, BJ spent four years at LexisNexis Software Solutions in progressively ascending roles, culminating as its SVP Marketing, Sales & Services. He held numerous senior and global leadership roles earlier in his career at CA Technologies, Intuit, and Sage Software.

BJ brings his dedication to creating balanced value and outcomes for employees, customers, and shareholders to the symplr community. Deeply committed to philanthropic efforts, BJ was recently appointed to the Susan G. Komen Board of Directors, joining an elite group of nearly two dozen executives from various industries who help govern and advise Komen, which is the world’s leading non-profit breast cancer organization. BJ earned a BA in Communications from the State University of New York at Geneseo and his MBA at the University of Georgia – Terry College of Business. Schaknowski also served in the United States Marine Corps infantry as an enlisted reservist for 8 years. He lives in Denver with his wife, Heather, and two children.

As Chief Product Officer, Brian Fugere leads all product management and user experience (UX) design efforts in the company. During the past two years, he also served as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and led the engineering organization. Bringing almost 30 years of go-to-market experience in software companies of all sizes, Fugere was most recently the CMO of Virence Health, a carve out from GE Healthcare. Prior roles include President of The Estimating Edge, Chief Operating Officer and CMO of RemitDATA, and leadership positions at Belo Interactive, Stryker, and America Online.

Fugere has deep experience in executive leadership, marketing, product, sales, and operations across public, private equity, and venture-backed companies. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, an MBA from George Mason University, and has completed a leadership and business program at Harvard Business School.

As President, Nicole Rogas is responsible for driving symplr’s revenue growth strategy and overall customer experience providing oversight and vision for the Sales, Client Success, Support and Services teams.

A recognized healthcare IT and revenue cycle management leader, Nicole is focused on fostering a high-energy, high-performing culture putting the employee and the client at the center. Prior to symplr, Nicole spent 19 years at Experian Health, formerly Passport Health, where she successfully held numerous leadership positions, most recently as its Chief Commercial Officer. In this role, she oversaw the National Sales Team, among other cross-functional teams that focused on customer health and driving growth throughout all healthcare channels.

Nicole also is a recipient of the 2019 Women in Sales Awards - North America and has been an advocate for women and working parents through her career. Nicole earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Marketing from Marquette University and her Master’s in Business Administration from Benedictine University. She lives in Elmhurst, Illinois with her two children. For more on Nicole, please visit her LinkedIn profile.

Mike Vipond leads symplr’s Workforce Solutions, including strategy, product development, and go-to-market. A versatile and collaborative healthcare technology leader, Mike enables symplr’s teams to build and deliver innovations that solve our customers’ biggest workforce management challenges.

Before joining symplr, Mike served as the Director of Analytics and Performance Improvement at Cerner, leading teams that delivered advisory services to customers, including multiple top 10 health systems in the U.S. He brings over 15 years of experience from Cerner and GE having served in leadership roles spanning consulting, business development, strategy, M&A and finance. Mike holds a BA in Economics from Georgetown University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management. Mike lives in the Detroit area with his wife and two kids.

With over 20 years' experience working with providers and payers to improve outcomes and make healthcare safer and more efficient, Todd shares his passion for healthcare innovation by leading cross-functional teams in the creation and delivery of technology enabled services, analytics, and applications.

Prior to symplr, Todd held market strategy and product leadership roles at Cotiviti, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, and Change Healthcare and began his career as a Field Artillery officer in the US Army. Todd earned a BS in Engineering Management from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a MBA from Georgia Southern University.  Todd lives in Nashville with his wife, Kori, and their four children.

Austin Dirks is a Managing Director, Senior Vice President within symplr’s Contract and Supplier Management Pillar. Austin is the former CEO and Founder of GreenLight Medical leading the company from inception to acquisition by symplr in March 2022. Before founding GreenLight Medical, Austin worked as a cardiac medical device sales representative for St. Jude Medical (acquired by Abbott), as well as for Thoratec Corporation, working on merger and acquisition opportunities within the Business Development team.

Austin holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, Austin was a member of the Track and Field team as a pole vaulter. Austin resides in Nashville, TN but is originally from Lincoln, NE. He patiently awaits the next Nebraska football national championship.