Leadership
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. He 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. BJ 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.
BJ Schaknowski
CEO
As Chief Financial Officer, Jordan Copland brings three decades of finance and operations experience to symplr. Most recently he served as EVP Finance and Operations - CFO at Quorum Software, provider of an industry-leading portfolio of finance, operations and accounting software for the energy industry. At Quorum he helped lead the company through several mergers and acquisitions as well as the successful sale of the business in 2018.
Copland brings to symplr CFO and business development experience in software, technology, and consumer products across a host of private equity-owned, venture-backed and public companies. He has run multinational business operations in Europe and has successfully completed a number of international M&A transactions. Copland holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from the Wharton School.
Jordan Copland
Chief Financial Officer
As Chief Operating Officer, Tres Thompson brings nearly 30 years of financial, sales and business development experience to symplr. Most recently he served in senior executive positions at Cardtronics, a leading provider of fully integrated ATM and financial kiosk products and services, where he helped lead the company through several mergers and acquisitions and an IPO.
Thompson’s experience spans multiple industries including financial services, enterprise software and technology, energy, and private equity and venture capital. He also has international business development and leadership experience and is a licensed CPA. Thompson earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Trinity University.
Tres Thompson
Chief Operating Officer
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.
Brian Fugere
Chief Product Officer
Julie Walker serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for symplr. She works with key industry and business leaders to define strategies and identify growth opportunities for symplr in the evolving healthcare GRC landscape. Her team also helps lead the symplr M&A strategy by coordinating the execution and integration of acquisitions and partnerships.
Previously, Walker successfully led symplr’s Workforce Management and Access Management business segments. Prior to joining symplr, Walker served in a senior role at ProviderTrust, and was Vice President of Sales at the National Healthcareer Association, a division of Ascend Learning – both SaaS healthcare technology companies. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Valparaiso University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Lipscomb University.
Julie Walker
Chief Strategy Officer
Jeffrey Peterson is responsible for developing and executing the company’s technology strategy as well as for managing software development and cloud system operations. He brings 27 years of innovation and engineering operations experience to symplr.
Prior to joining symplr, Jeffrey was a Sr Director of Engineering at GE Healthcare and, before that, led all engineering efforts for API Healthcare. He holds a BBA in Information Systems from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee - Lubar School of Business.
Jeffrey Peterson
Chief Technology Officer
As Chief Marketing Officer, Kristin Russel drives the development and execution of symplr’s comprehensive marketing strategy, overseeing all branding, digital and product marketing, sales enablement, public relations, community outreach programs, channel partnerships, and business development.
Recently named one of Becker’s top 100 women in healthcare, Russel is a tenured leader and a visionary in the healthcare technology industry. Before joining symplr, she led marketing at Quest Analytics and Carrot Inc. and drove revenue and new growth initiatives through strategic partnerships and marketing at Humana, Cerner, and Omnicell. She is also a successful entrepreneur, having founded fin-tech company Anachron, which was ultimately sold to ING Bank. Russel has a bachelor’s degree from McMaster University in Canada, an MBA from École Supérieure de Commerce in France, and a Master of Public Administration degree from Carleton University in Canada.
Kristin Russel
Chief Marketing Officer
Heath Foist brings 25 years of experience to symplr. Most recently, Mr. Foist served as Chief People Officer at Field Service Holdings and, prior to that, was Chief People Officer at Omnitracs.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Foist served in HR leadership roles at Bank of America, SAP and Sabre, as well as a HR Strategy and Management consulting leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Foist earned a BBA from The McCombs Business School at the University of Texas Austin.
Heath Foist
Chief People & Culture Officer
David Arnold brings 23 years of legal experience to the symplr team. As the head of symplr’s legal department, Mr. Arnold works with symplr’s executive team and its team of contracts professionals to provide strategic legal advice and to help symplr scale its contracting practices. Prior to joining symplr, Mr. Arnold was the Chief Legal Officer at Omnitracs, LLC, where he managed the Omnitracs legal and contracts teams after the sale of the business by Qualcomm Incorporated to Vista Equity Partners.
Before Omnitracs, Mr. Arnold held leadership roles within the legal department of Qualcomm Enterprise Services, a division of Qualcomm Incorporated. Mr. Arnold holds a B.S.B.A in General Business from the University of Denver and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law. He is a member of the California Bar Association, the San Diego County Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, and the Transportation Lawyers Association.
David Arnold
Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel