News
Kate O'Connor Joins the Team with Valuable Experience in Assessment & Education
Submitted by michelle.sus on Fri, 01/27/2012 - 11:27
Kate O’Connor has worked in the testing industry for over 15 years in varying capacities at Innovative Exams, Pearson VUE, Promissor and Computer Adaptive Technologies. Her experience includes working with clients in the IT, medical, corporate and educational fields. She managed computer-based testing programs from inception through completion, developing scope of work, business rules, written documentation, test production details and timelines. As the liaison between her clients and the technology team, Kate played a star role in creating software requirements based on client needs. She also organized and ran large volume testing events at clients’ annual conferences.
Kate has joined Breakthrough Technologies as a Business Development Manager. She will use her testing and education industry expertise to work with new clients to assess their technology needs, negotiate contracts and assure that client implementations run smoothly.
"Kate's expertise in the assessment industry is extremely rare. She has participated in all sides of the testing ecosystems and her understanding of our clients and their needs is truly exceptional. Kate will be a tremendous asset to our customers and a great facilitator of innovation and strategic development."
Doug Wilson, Managing Partner
Kevin Leonard Brings Innovative Technology to Associations & Nonprofits as Part of the Breakthrough Team
Submitted by michelle.sus on Mon, 01/16/2012 - 00:50
Kevin Leonard's involvement in the web development business began in 1999 and since then he has experienced all aspects of the web process from design to programming to sales. Kevin's dedication to helping association clients find the right technology solution springs from his passion for discovering the perfect answer to his client's business problems.
With his avid interest in technology news, trends and gadgets you could call him a tech junkie. As Kevin puts it, "I feel that the Internet has profoundly changed the way the world works and feel lucky to work in web development." Keeping up with the latest advancements in the tech world from blogs like The Verge helps him advise his clients on the appropriate solution for their organization. His extensive web development knowledge includes content management systems, association management systems, web technologies and SEO.
When not feeding his passion for technology, Kevin can be found pursuing his artistic interests. He is a published and nationally shown artist.
"Kevin is an amazing addition to our team. He brings unique expertise in developing and delivering solutions in the association sector and we are very lucky to have him working for our clients. I look forward to the innovative ideas and projects Kevin will be building with our customers."
Doug Wilson, Managing Partner
Breakthrough Welcomes a New PM
Submitted by michelle.sus on Mon, 01/16/2012 - 00:31
Jolie Roy got her start in IT by being in the right place at the right time. She started out in the insurance industry, changing positions from claims adjuster to QA analyst when the company moved into an automated claim payment system, then as a business systems analyst and documentation analyst.
She built her varied background by going into the training field in IT, working for a renowned university to teach faculty, staff and students the MS Office Suite, WordPerfect, email and web page creation, all on both Mac and PC platforms as well as assisting faculty in creating their curriculum and designing online courses. Adding supply chain solutions to her repertoire, Jolie moved into a Project Management role over 11 years ago, leading software implementation projects. Her most recent experience was in risk management, managing a portfolio of projects that included implementations, migrations and software upgrades.
She does not shy away from learning new applications or processes, which often results in her raising her hand to volunteer to be an early adopter. Jolie has a B.A. in Psychology and is a certified Project Manager (PMP). She also participates in the Muchin College Prep mentoring program in Chicago.
“Jolie's enthusiasm for building successful client partnerships really made her a standout. We’re pleased to have her join our PMO team at a time of continuous improvement. Her PMP-certification and strong background will help Breakthrough and our clients leap ahead in the coming years.”
Darren Callahan, Project Director
Chicago Innovation 2011 - Some familiar Faces!
Submitted by doug.wilson on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 14:29
The nominees for the Chicago Innovation Awards are now available for voting. Please check them out here and cast your votes. In true Chicago tradition, you can vote for up to five nominees.
The winners will receive some great prizes and recognition! You can read about the prizes here.
We love the list! What we found was that of all of the nominees, Breakthrough has the following relationships:
Several firms are current clients/relationships:
Innovative Exams
CNT Energy
Power2Switch
One past winner from 2009 is a client of ours:
GoGo Inflight Internet
Several firms we have worked with at Excelerate Labs:
Noblivity
TapMe!
Power2Switch
Two of the organizations are ones that we actively work with:
Excelerate Labs
Chicago Tech Academy
Congratulations to all of our customers and partners who made the list!
Tech Week 2011
Submitted by megan.palkert on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 11:03
Breakthrough Technologies was very excited to host a booth and enjoy the progressive ideas of technology entrepreneurs and startups in Chicago. The products and ideas presented at MidVentures were innovative,
clever, social, and represented some of the great energy and industry at work in the city today. We also enjoyed the conversations, both formal and informal that filled the hall. It was awesome to see Chicago recognized as a leader in the development of new technology products!
