Leadership

John Hass
Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board of Directors

John Hass was named interim CEO of Rosetta Stone in 2015 and became CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2016. A former investment banker and CEO, he was a managing partner at Goldman Sachs prior to his retirement from the firm in 2006. Previously, he had an 18-year career as an advisor holding numerous senior roles primarily in New York and Chicago. He went on to serve as the CEO of OptionsHouse, an online brokerage firm, from the company's launch through its initial growth phase. More recently he has served on a number of public and private company boards, including Rosetta Stone. In addition, John serves on the board of directors of WITNESS, Inc., a global human rights nonprofit, and serves as a trustee of The Museum of Contemporary Photography.

Matthew Hulett
President, Language

Matt Hulett is a seasoned entrepreneurial technology executive with more than 20 years of experience leading product, sales, marketing, operations, and engineering teams for global companies. As President of Language for Rosetta Stone, Matt is responsible for driving innovation and growth for all aspects of the company's Consumer and Enterprise & Education language businesses, including the strategic direction and execution of product, sales and marketing and infrastructure functions.

Prior to joining Rosetta Stone, Matt served as Entrepreneur in Residence at Pioneer Square Labs, a Seattle-based startup studio focused on consumer applications using artificial intelligence. Previously, Matt served in several executive roles, including Chief Product Officer at TINYpulse, a SaaS-based human resources technology provider; CEO at ClickBank, a top 100 internet retailer; SVP of RealNetworks' games division, where he led the right-sizing effort of the traditional gaming business to its first run-rate profitability in several years and led the business' turnaround strategy into social and mobile gaming; CEO of AdXpose; and President of the corporate travel division of Expedia, where he took the corporate travel business from an idea to a billion dollar worldwide leader in just a couple of years.

Matt graduated with a degree in Marketing and Information Systems from the University of Washington and lives in Seattle.

Nick Gaehde
President of Lexia Learning

Nick Gaehde is the President of Lexia Learning. He has been with Lexia since 2005, and became a member of the Rosetta Stone leadership team in 2013.

Nick brings to Rosetta Stone deep industry experience in literacy, software development and K–12 educational publishing. Having guided Lexia through several transformations, he has maintained a keen focus on the company's mission to help improve student literacy in schools and districts throughout the United States.

Prior to joining Lexia, Nick served as President of Educators Publishing Service, Inc. (EPS), a publisher of literacy solutions for the K–8 market. Before that, he held product management and marketing positions at Vertigo Development Group, Lotus Development Corporation, and New England Business Service. Nick has served on the boards of Massachusetts Branch of the International Dyslexia Society and ELLevation Education, a company focused on the needs of English language learners. In 2011, industry peers voted Nick as one of the five "EdNET Leaders to Watch," recognizing him for his significant contributions to the education industry. Nick attended Pitzer College, where he earned a B.A. in psychology with a focus on early childhood development, and earned his Master's at Boston University's School of Management. He speaks English and German.

Liz Brooke, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Chief Learning Officer, Rosetta Stone

As Chief Learning Officer for Rosetta Stone, Dr. Liz Brooke is responsible for setting the educational vision for the company's Language and Literacy products, including the Adaptive Blended Learning (ABL) strategy that serves as the foundation for Rosetta Stone’s products and services. Since assuming this role in August 2015, she has played an instrumental part in the company's pivot from a language business to a learning company. Liz developed the educational pillars for Rosetta Stone: the PEER framework (Personalized, Effective, Engaging, and Relevant) and drives the pedagogy of products in development. She also leads the Language and Literacy Research teams as well as an interdisciplinary Internal Education Advisory Group.

Liz has been working in the education sector for more than 25 years and is based in the company’s Concord, Mass. offices. She joined Lexia in 2010 as the Director of Assessment and held various positions on the team including VP of Education & Research before moving into the Chief Learning Officer position. Prior to that, she worked as the Director of Interventions at the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) and she has also served as a speech-language pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and in the public school setting. Liz began her career in the classroom as a first grade teacher.

Liz earned her bachelor's degree in Child Study from Tufts University and a master's degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders as well as a reading certification program at Massachusetts General Hospital-Institute of Health Professions. Focusing her studies on the connection between oral and written language, she then earned her doctorate degree in Communication Disorders at Florida State University. Liz has been published in several scholarly journals and books.

Liz shares Rosetta Stone’s mission of changing lives through the power of language and literacy education and it continues to be the driving force behind all of her work.

Thomas Pierno
Chief Financial Officer

Tom Pierno is responsible for all financial functions at Rosetta Stone, including accounting, finance, tax, investor relations, and treasury. He also oversees the company's global distribution and fulfillment functions.

Prior to joining Rosetta Stone in 2012, Tom served as CFO and directed supply-chain and IT operations at the marketing-communications firm Vertis Communications. Previously, he was vice president of Financial Planning and Treasury at Comverse Technology, a global provider of software and systems; in that role, he was responsible for worldwide budgets, forecasts, and treasury operations. Tom also served as senior vice president and controller at AOL for 11 years, during which he held various financial-leadership positions in the areas of subscription services, compliance, and strategic acquisition. Before that, Tom was CFO at World Color Press, a publicly traded printer of magazines, catalogs, direct mail, and books. He began his career at Ernst & Young as a certified public accountant.

Tom graduated summa cum laude with an MBA and BBA in accounting from Pace University. He speaks English and is learning Mandarin.

Melissa Yates May
Rosetta Stone Chief People Officer

As Chief People Officer, Melissa Yates May leads Rosetta Stone’s People Experience team, which strives to attract and retain the world’s most passionate talent and empowers the global workforce to achieve the company’s mission. She oversees human resources, people operations, talent acquisition and development, total rewards, employee experience and diversity and inclusion. Melissa joined Rosetta Stone in 2004 and has more than 20 years of progressive HR leadership experience in organizational design and development, succession planning, change management, total rewards, mergers and acquisitions, and HR operations. She also has extensive experience in various life cycle stages of a company, including private equity, public company, rapid growth and optimizing for scale. Prior to Rosetta Stone, she started her career in HR working for RR Donnelley. Melissa graduated with a B.S. in management and organizational development from Eastern Mennonite University and speaks English and Spanish.

Sean Klein
Rosetta Stone General Counsel and Secretary

Sean Klein oversees legal, corporate governance and compliance matters for Rosetta Stone worldwide. Sean has over 20 years of legal experience gained through positions with in-house legal departments, law firms and the Federal Government. Prior to joining Rosetta Stone in 2018, Sean served as Chief Compliance Officer and Assistant General Counsel for U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc., where he was responsible for securities, corporate governance, compliance and labor and employment. Previously, he served as Senior Counsel and Assistant Secretary for Constellation Energy Group, Inc. and as an attorney at international law firms. Sean began his career as an attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He earned his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law and his B.S. in Accounting from Georgetown University.

Laurence Franklin

Laurence Franklin has served on the Rosetta Stone Board of Directors since May 2006 and as the Chair of the Company's Audit Committee since February 2012. He previously served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors from February 2011 to February 2012.

Since April 2014, he has served as managing partner of LF Enterprises, LLC, a private investment and business advisory firm. Mr. Franklin previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Frette Srl, a leading manufacturer and retailer of luxury linens and home furnishings, from July 2011 until January 2014. Mr. Franklin served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tumi Inc. ("Tumi"), a manufacturer and retailer of luxury travel, business and lifestyle accessories, from 2002 until 2009, and was a board member of Tumi until 2011. Prior to joining Tumi, he served as president of Coach Leatherware Company Inc. and General Manager of Elizabeth Arden Inc. Mr. Franklin began his career in the audit division at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., and later worked in the Management Consulting Services group at Price Waterhouse & Co.

Mr. Franklin earned a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.S. from the New York University Graduate School of Business. He serves on the boards of two private companies in addition to his role at Rosetta Stone, and is a qualified (non-practicing) Certified Public Accountant.

Patrick W. Gross

Patrick W. Gross has served as a director since February 2006, including serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors from May 2013 to March 2016. He previously served as Lead Independent Director of the Board from February 2012 to May 2013 and from April 2016 to August 2019.

Since 2002, Mr. Gross has served as Chairman of The Lovell Group, a private business and technology advisory and investment firm that he founded. Prior to founding The Lovell Group, Mr. Gross was a founder, and served as a principal executive officer from 1970 to 2002, of American Management Systems, Inc., then a publicly traded information technology, consulting, software development and systems integration firm. Mr. Gross is a director of Capital One Financial Corporation, Career Education Corporation, Liquidity Services, Inc. and Waste Management, Inc. Mr. Gross also currently serves on the boards of several private technology-based companies.

Mr. Gross previously served on the boards of Computer Network Technology Corporation from 1997 to 2006, Mobius Management System, Inc. from 2002 to 2007 and Taleo Corporation from 2006 to 2012. He holds a B.S.E. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an M.S.E. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Aedhmar Hynes

Aedhmar Hynes joined the Rosetta Stone Board of Directors in August 2019.

Ms. Hynes is ranked among the top 50 most powerful communications professionals in the world. Previously she was the Chief Executive Officer of Text100, a digital communications agency, with 22 offices and over 600 consultants across Europe, North America and Asia. Through her consulting work she has advised and supported many of the world’s most important brands through digital transformation and technology disruption. She has worked closely with client executives, coaching them on company brand reputation, purpose and cultural change driving stakeholder value, customer engagement and brand loyalty.

Today, Ms Hynes is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Page Society, the preeminent industry body for Chief Communications Officers of Fortune 500 companies. She serves on the boards of IP Group plc (LSE:IPO) and Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP), as well as serving on the advisory board of MIT Media Lab. Ms. Hynes was selected to become a Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute in 2008 and is currently a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She was named Global Professional of the Year in 2018 by PR Week. A native of Ireland, Ms. Hynes holds degrees from The National University of Ireland - Galway and The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

George A. Logue

George A. Logue joined the Rosetta Stone Board of Directors in March, 2018. A seasoned executive with over 40 years of experience in the education industry, he brings a wealth of knowledge that will contribute to the company's language and literacy businesses.

Mr. Logue began his career as a middle school teacher in the early 1970s, moving to an educational sales position in 1975 with Reader's Digest. He went on to join the Houghton Mifflin team where he had a stellar eighteen year career culminating in the position of President of the School Division. In 2003 he co-founded Cambium Learning Group, Inc., where he served in numerous leadership roles including President of the Voyager Sopris Learning business segment and President of the Sopris Learning business unit. Today Mr. Logue is an independent management consultant advising education technology companies around the country.

He currently sits on the Board of Barbara's Books, a charitable organization which he also co-founded that raises funds to purchase and donate children's books to a deserving population of children at several sites in Rhode Island. Additionally, Mr. Logue is actively involved in the Pan Mass Challenge, the nation's largest athletic fundraising annual event, in support of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Mr. Logue is based in Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Boston University and a Master's in Education from Bridgewater State University.

David Nierenberg

David Nierenberg was appointed to the Rosetta Stone Board of Directors in April, 2015. A professional investor in public and private equity since 1985, he has served on public, private, profit, and not-for-profit boards for over 30 years.

Mr. Nierenberg is Founder and President of Nierenberg Investment Management Company (NIMCO), which manages The D3 Family Funds, a family of investment partnerships which seek long term capital gain through investment in a concentrated portfolio of large block holdings in undervalued micro-cap public equities. The funds have $130 million under management.

Before founding NIMCO in 1996, Mr. Nierenberg was a General Partner of Trinity Ventures' first four venture capital partnerships where he invested in financial services, healthcare and other sectors. Mr. Nierenberg began his career at Bain & Company Inc., where he was a Partner, managing strategy, acquisition, and cost reduction projects.

Mr. Nierenberg serves as Chair of the Advisory Board of the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School. He chairs the Research Advisory Council of Glass, Lewis & Co., and is a member of the board of the Washington State Investment Board, Houston Wire & Cable Company (Nasdaq: HWCC), Riverview Bancorp (NYSE: RVSB) and Flotek Industries (NYSE: FTK) and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of The National WWII Museum.

Mr. Nierenberg received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School and his B.A. in History, summa cum laude, from Yale College.

Kate Eberle Walker

Ms. Walker has more than 20 years of experience leading, advising, acquiring and investing in education companies. She serves as the CEO of PresenceLearning, a leading provider of live online special education therapy and assessment services for K-12 districts supporting children with special needs. She was previously CEO of The Princeton Review and its subsidiary Tutor.com, where she built a scaled organization that leveraged technology to deliver high-quality educational outcomes for students. Prior to that, Ms. Walker managed M&A and venture investments for Kaplan, Inc., a large and diversified global education company. She supports and advises several early stage education ventures and serves on the boards of Brooklyn Prospect Charter School and the International School of Brooklyn. Ms. Walker began her career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and received her MBA from Harvard Business School.

Jessie Woolley-Wilson

Throughout her life and career, Jessie Woolley-Wilson has been driven by a singular belief that all children need and deserve high-quality learning opportunities, regardless of who they are or where they live. She believes that by supporting great teaching and learning, everyone wins: kids, families, communities and the world. Jessie has worked in the education technology space for nearly 20 years to support school and district leaders to improve learning and life outcomes for K-12 students.

Jessie joined DreamBox Learning® in 2010 as Chair, President, and CEO. The startup software company had pioneered Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ in 2006 and began partnering with schools soon after Jessie joined. Today, DreamBox serves more than 3 million K-8 students and over 120,000 teachers. The company provided more than 350 million math lessons across the U.S. and Canada in 2018.

Jessie recently secured a $130 million investment in DreamBox from The Rise Fund, a global impact investing fund managed by TPG Growth. Prior to joining DreamBox, Jessie served as president of Blackboard’s K-12 Group and LeapFrog SchoolHouse, the K-12 division of LeapFrog Enterprises. Jessie also served in leadership positions at collegeboard.com, the interactive division of The College Board, and at Kaplan, the leading test preparation company in the U.S.

Jessie supports the broader K12 industry by serving on the boards of several educational organizations including Rosetta Stone, the Western Governors University Board of Trustees, and Ursuline Academy. She is also a board member for Boeing Employees Credit Union, Pacific Science Center, and The Bullitt Foundation. She has been a featured speaker at international events including TEDx Rainier, SXSWedu, DENT and GeekWire Summit 2018.

Jessie is a two-time recipient of EdTech Digest’s EdTech Leadership Award for her work in transformative innovation in education, and she has been honored as one of 2018’s Top 100 Influencers in EdTech. Forbes placed her on its “Impact 15” list for being a disruptor in education and The New York Times featured Jessie in their Corner Office column. Regionally, Jessie has received multiple accolades for her leadership, including, Seattle Business Magazine’s 2015 Executive Excellence Award in the CEO of the Year category, GeekWire’s 2019 Big Tech CEO of the Year award, and the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “Women of Influence” award.

Jessie holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Virginia. She is also a 2007 Henry Crown Fellow and moderator for the Aspen Institute.

Steven P. Yankovich

Steven P. Yankovich was elected to serve as a Director on the Rosetta Stone Board in October 2014. Mr. Yankovich currently serves as Rosetta Stone’s lead independent director, is an active startup investor, advises a number of startups and venture capital firms and serves on a philanthropic board. Previously, Mr. Yankovich spent 10 years in various executive product and technology roles at eBay Inc. including creating eBay’s mobile strategy and footprint in 2009 and assisting with the spin out of Magento Commerce. He became CTO of Magento after its sale to private equity, and then returned to eBay to lead buyer growth and a transformational buyer experience on its global marketplace. Mr. Yankovich has extensive experience working in the technology, e-commerce, consumer and enterprise software and mobile sectors resulting in a patent portfolio of 100+ patents, of which 62 are granted.