Previously, Mr. Block served as the Chief Service Officer at DS Waters of America, a newly formed company that created the world’s largest distributor of beverages to the home and office. In this position, he was responsible for the overall strategic direction of the company as well as all of the call center and financial operations. Throughout his tenure there he had an impressive track record of creating shareholder value which culminated in the successful sale of the company to a top-tier private equity firm.

Prior to DS Waters, Mr. Block spent five years at Bain and Company where he was responsible for directing teams of consultants in the assessment of acquisitions and the development of business unit and corporate strategies.

Mr. Block holds a Bachelor of Science from Miami University in Oxford, OH, an MBA from the Harvard Business School and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the State Accountancy Board in Ohio.

Connie Adcock

Connie Adcock is Vice President, Virtual Services Corporation (VSC) Relations, Operations and Results at Arise. In this role, she focuses on streamlining the operations and process in place for Virtual Service Corporations to produce continually improved results for Arise's clients.

 

Prior to joining Arise in November 2007, Ms. Adcock worked for 30 years in the call center industry. During her tenure with 1-800-Flowers.com as Senior Vice President of Customer Service, the company's Service Center was selected as ICMI's 2006 "Global Call Center of the Year" as well as Training Magazine's Top 125 for three years in a row. While there, she was instrumental in implementing results-focused and skills-based routing programs for the company's home-based agents.

 

Over the course of Ms. Adcock's career, she was also responsible for the reservations centers of Alamo and National Car Rental, which were named by J.D. Power as number one in customer satisfaction in the car rental industry two years in a row. Ms. Adcock began her career as a reservation agent for Holiday Inn, and eventually led the reservation centers for Hampton Inns, Homewood Suites, Embassy Suites and Harrah's.

 

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John Riordan

John Riordan joined Arise in 2007 as General Manager, High Tech and Travel/Hospitality. In this role, Mr. Riordan focuses on building Arise's client portfolio of premium brands in these customer service-intensive sectors. Immediately prior to joining Arise, Riordan served as a virtual customer care implementation consultant to a major consumer electronics brand.

 

Throughout his career, Mr. Riordan has spent 14 years in the travel industry at two prominent airlines. He most recently served as Vice President, Customer Service at Virgin Atlantic Airways, where he was responsible for the customer-facing side of the award winning airline's business, including airport services, call center and customer relations. Mr. Riordan spent seven years with the company in various roles, including Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Prior to that, Riordan was Manager, Marketing Programs at US Airways, where he ultimately led the Dividend Miles Program, managing all program and communication aspects of the frequent flyer program for over 30 million members.

 

A native of Cork, Ireland, Mr. Riordan received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Cork (UCC) and a Master of Business degree from University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland.

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James H. Walker
James Walker is Chief Technology Officer. He joined Arise in August 2000 as the Director of Network Operations.

 

Mr. Walker is responsible for driving results and efficiency through strategic implementation of next generation technology. Over the course of his tenure with Arise, Mr. Walker has provided innovative and entrepreneurial solutions that have positioned Arise and its clientele as leaders and pioneers in their corresponding business spaces.

 

Prior to Arise, Mr. Walker was instrumental in building, consolidating, and automating contact service centers for companies such as Tele-communications Inc, MediaOne, and AT&T BroadBand.

 

Mr. Walker has been featured in podcasts for RSA security as well as industry publications on remote security solutions and virtual contact center services.

 

Mr. Walker holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Management Information Systems from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. He lives with his wife Arlene and their son Hunter.

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Mary Bartlett
Mary Bartlett joined Arise in November, 2005 and currently serves as Vice President, Virtual Services Corporation (VSC) Relations and Communication. She drives implementation of communication efforts and oversees Arise's 7,500 home-based VSCs.

Prior to joining Arise, Ms. Bartlett spent 16 years in the Consumer & Industrial Group at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. There she developed innovative training programs for all 110,000 global employees, added dozens of new clients to the portfolio, increased the new business win-rate by 10 percent and significantly improved recruitment and retention processes.

Ms. Bartlett received a Bachelor of Arts in business administration from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. She lives with her husband, Dan, and two sons, Jack and Nick.

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Matt Coughlin

Matt Coughlin, who joined Arise in January, 2006, currently serves as General Manager, Retail, Energy and Financial Services. Mr. Coughlin is responsible for building the company's portfolio of clients in these sectors through outstanding Virtual Services Corporation performance. Since joining Arise, Mr. Coughlin has architected several successful relationships with leading brands in his previous role as Vice President of Sales.

Prior to joining Arise, he spent more than 13 years in the Retail and Consumer Goods industries helping clients solve complex business challenges and realize significant share holder value. Over the course of his career Mr. Coughlin has held Sales and Management roles with Kewill, Manugistics, and Manhattan Associates.

Mr. Coughlin earned a Bachelor of Sciences Degree from Illinois State University. He lives with his wife Kerri, and their 3 children Emma, Charlie, & Henry.

 

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Jenny Mechali

Jenny Mechali currrently serves as Director, Command Center, Quality and Results at Arise. She manages the overall process of producing superior results for Arise clients and ensures that Arise Certified Professionals are successful in servicing their individual portfolio of client applications.

 

Ms. Mechali began a relationship with Arise in 1998 as an independent home-based agent, and subsequently became a lead mentor for Arise Certified Professionals. She was then promoted to Results Lead, responsible for boosting agent performance, and then Client Value Manager, where she managed day-to-day client relationships and worked to exceed client expectations.

 

Ms. Mechali graduated from Broward Community College with an A.A. in Business Management and is currently completing a B.A. in Business Management at Florida Atlantic University.

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Jared Fletcher

Jared Fletcher joined Arise in 2007 as Vice President, ACP Admissions and Certifications. He directs the company's admissions and certification processes for potential Arise Certified Professionals.

 

Before joining Arise, Mr. Fletcher was Vice President of a large security and valet company, overseeing both operations and human resources. Prior to this, he held management-level positions with Ernst & Young, Cap Gemini, and Accenture, where he focused on strategy and transformation as well as mergers and acquisitions.

 

Mr. Fletcher holds an MBA from Emory University's Goizueta Business School, is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Florida and is Six Sigma Green Belt certified. He received his undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Miami. Mr. Fletcher is also actively involved with the Society of Human Resource Management, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, and the Florida Breast Cancer Coalition.

 

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Luis Gerena

 

Luis Gerena has been an integral member of the Arise team since September 2000, first serving as Director of Client Care and most recently as Vice President of Business Development.  Having been in the latter role since 2000, Mr. Gerena has added 35 new clients to the Arise portfolio.  These premium brand customers include a range of FORTUNE 1000 companies such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Home Depot, Time Customer Service, Verizon, and Virgin Atlantic, as well as the largest vacation resort in the world and the largest book retailer, among others.

 

Prior to joining Arise, Mr. Gerena spent over 20 years in the Contact Center Operation and Outsourcing industry, which included 16 years with AT&T.  In helping to drive Arise's overall growth, Mr. Gerena leverages a solid background of more than 25 total years in Management, Sales/Marketing and Telecommunications, as well as contributing his broad and diverse expertise in Operations Management, Sales & Marketing, Customer Service, Quality, Administration, Finance, and managing Multi-lingual/International projects.

 

Mr. Gerena received a bachelor of Sciences Degree at Nova Southeastern University.  He lives in Coral Springs, Florida with his wife Brenda, and their three children Louis, Kevin, and Chelsey.