meet our team

The Open-Issue team is a collaborative and broadly experienced cadre of smart and accomplished professionals. We work as a team, and we solve problems together. Our clients benefit from our many years of business systems problem solving and our ability to convene team members as needed to address client requirements, without forcing one person to have to “know it all”.

Thomas Groden
Founder and Principal Analyst

Thomas began his career in data systems in 1990 after leaving his home of Chicago for a life in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a Senior Technical Consultant and Business Analyst with more than 30 years of experience in systems design, data conversions and technical team management. He has worked with large and small organizations, corporate and nonprofit.

Thomas is a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago in Economics and Finance. His interests include languages, gardening, running and spending time with family.

Jason Gardy
Senior Data Systems Architect

Jason brings more than 25 years of data system design, implementation, integration and analytics to our delivery team and combines both business process expertise with deep technical skills to operationalize systems. In addition to architecture and consolidation/integration projects, Jason is lead designer on our “Integration Frame” service and leads our development team on that product’s journey to market.

Joe Speciale
Senior Business Systems Analyst

Joe is a Senior Business Systems Analyst with a wide range of technical skills and 25+ years of experience. He possesses an in-depth understanding of how to conduct business processes and data analysis as well as an ability to design and deliver technology solutions from prototyping to production level systems. His primary focus is on system architecture design, implementation and automation using tools like Airflow, Boomi, Workato and Python based middleware solutions. Other key systems Joe works with include Salesforce, Snowflake, and anything SQL. Joe is an avid pickleball enthusiast when not at the keyboard.

Thong Bui
Senior Data, Data Science & AI Engineer

Thong brings more than 30 years of data system design and automation expertise to our team. His formal training in Data Science and years of operationalizing systems moves our clients forward faster! Technologies used include: AI Technologies, AWS, mySQL, mongoDB, Oracle, NoSQL DBs, Python, Airflow, Snowflake, Github, Salesforce. Thong enjoys gardening, travel, theatre and spending time with family.

Meera Ravindran
Senior Data Engineer and Data Analyst

Meera is a Lead Data Engineer with over 15 years of experience building and scaling enterprise data platforms on both on-premises and cloud environments. Expertise includes data warehouse migration, ETL/ELT optimization, data analytics and data governance frameworks. I love solving complex data challenges, mentoring teams, and driving insights through modern architecture and automation. When I’m not deep in data, you’ll find me traveling, hiking, or discovering new healthy recipes to try..

Josephine Penaga
Senior Data Engineer

Josephine has over 20 years experience in managing high-volume, high-availability OLTP databases and data warehouse systems. She specializes in database architecture, data analysis and ETL. She is highly proficient with database performance and availability and she is highly experienced in database and data migration under strict SLA condition.

Chris Winthrop
Senior Data Engineer

Chris is an engineering leader with 20 years of experience managing large cross-functional organizations in delivering secure, scalable, and high-performance networking and data platforms. His expertise bridges technical design, implementation, and strategic decision-making to help global enterprises leverage data for growth and innovation. He specializes in AWS service architecture, scalable data pipelines, data warehousing, data governance, query optimization, data modeling, and predictive analytics that drive business outcomes. In his spare time he likes to spend time exploring the Pacific NorthWest with his partner and two dogs.

Nick Rutherford
Software Developer

Nicholas Rutherford is a versatile software developer with a background in computer science and a lifelong passion for coding that began with game development in high school. He has built full-stack web applications, developed an advertising platform, and champions agile and scrum methodologies for efficient, collaborative software creation. Beyond tech, Nicholas brings entrepreneurial experience from owning a bar and creative vision from his indie game projects. When he’s not building or coding, he’s on the court or field — an avid pickleball and ultimate frisbee player who thrives on challenge and innovation alike.”

Vicente Louvet
Prototype Engineer

Vicente Louvet III is a hands-on technical manager who thrives on turning complex business challenges into simple, automated solutions. With a strong background in building and refining integrations across systems like NetSuite and Salesforce, he’s passionate about connecting data and improving the way teams work. Based in Denver, CO, Vicente is a fluent bilingual English–Spanish speaker and an avid fisherman who brings the same patience, precision, and curiosity from the water to every project he tackles.

Tim Bourgeois
Senior Digital Marketing Specialist

Tim’s focus is on delivering digital-first strategies that generate demand and build brands, most often in the B2B category. Work with sales and marketing executives to optimize ROI on digital advertising, technology and agency investments. International experience in: B2B, technology, enterprise software, SaaS, life sciences, healthcare, medical devices, higher education, business services, financial services and publishing. 

Mark Westwind
Senior Salesforce Developer

Mark has over 30 years professional and technical experience working with businesses, community agencies and non-profit organizations. Mark’s technical background includes designing, developing, deploying and supporting data management systems, creating websites and wikis, and implementing customized SaaS CRM and ERP systems. Mark is an avid kayaking enthusiast and instructor and an active volunteer.

Danielle Sly
Senior Business Analyst

Danielle has more than 20 years of experience in business analysis and reengineering systems and processes, from large corporations to small nonprofits. She dove head first into the Salesforce ecosystem in 2017 and hasn’t looked back. Her focus and expertise encompass end-user training, business analysis, technical debt remediation, third-party implementations and general administrative support. She holds seven Salesforce certifications. Her interests include running, hiking and traveling with her family.

Amy Reed-Bocek
Senior Business Analyst

Amy is a Senior Technical Consultant and Business Systems Analyst with a wide range of technical skills and over 15 years of experience working with small businesses, community agencies and non-profit organizations. Amy brings a deep understanding of the change management challenges clients face during system transformation projects and guides clients through decision making. Amy also leads our training efforts typically in concert with client system owners and their staff.

Lisa Martin
Senior Business Analyst

Lisa brings more than 20 years of work in technology and management inside large higher educational institutions. Her experience working with internal stakeholder groups and shared services makes her a key part of larger scale project implementations. Lisa also enjoys “the weeds” and has deep technical skills in data and data tools. Lisa’s combination of technical experience and her personal style afford clients an intelligence, clarity, heart, humor and enthusiasm much welcomed in our technical day to day.

Minh Ma
Senior Data Engineer

Minh has been working with data and software for more than 30 years. His expertise ranges from SQL and data analysis to custom software development and integrations. He started to work with Salesforce since 2010 and has been part of hundreds of system migration projects and brings deep database skills to the team.

Giorgio Porro
Senior Business Analyst

Giorgio has been involved in business systems analysis and design for more than 20 years. His work involves technical requirements gathering and design creation as well as implementation. He has experience in commercial and non-profit client work and is comfortable in highly complex environments.

Jared Fine
Systems Specialist

Jared brings more than 15 years of technical design and systems engineering to our team. With focus and clarity, he maintains our key systems for both internal operations and external client services. Jared helps our small team stay in flight!