—Madrona Venture Group named Kerry Van Voris its new Director of Talent. She joins Madrona from Amazon, where she led executive recruiting for Amazon Web Services. In her new role, Van Voris will be charged with helping Madrona’s portfolio companies recruit new talent and manage their resources to ensure growth. She has also held recruiting and human resources roles at Microsoft and Bridgewater Associates.
Van Voris succeeds Robin Andrulevich, who left Madrona to take a new position as the Vice President of People at Juno Therapeutics, a Seattle area biotech company that recently went public.
“Finding and retaining the best talent is crucial for young companies,” Madrona Managing Director Scott Jacobson said in a press release. “Our team sent more than 600 candidates to portfolio companies last year, from engineers and data scientists to product managers, marketers and senior executives. Kerry has a strong track record building and leading elite recruiting teams to attract and place a broad spectrum of candidates. She is a perfect fit to help us take our game to the next level in 2015 and beyond.”
—EnergySavvy has brought several new executives on board to keep up with its growth. Michael Rigney joined the company as its Senior Vice President of Client Solutions, Marketing and Regulatory Affairs. He joins the company from Gridco Systems, where he served as the Vice President of Business Development. Michael Albrecht is the company’s new Vice President of Client Engagement, and he joins the company after spending six and a half years at Microsoft in a number of national services roles.
Tim Guiterman has been named the company’s Director of Evaluation, Measurement and Verification Solutions. He joins the company with 8 years of energy engineering and EM&V experience in a variety of roles, most recently at Navigant Consulting. John Backus Mayes joined the company as a Senior Data Scientist working on its Optix Quantify product. Backus Mayes holds a PhD in particle physics, contributed to the discovery of the Higgs Boson at CERN.
Fred Butler joined the company as a regulatory advisor to help develop the company’s outreach to the regulatory community. Butler is a former commissioner for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, and a past president and member of the board of directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
“We are thrilled to have Mr. Butler’s guidance and experience as we grow and expand,” Aaron Goldfeder, founder and CEO of EnergySavvy, said in a press release. “He has a genuine passion for the advancement of energy efficiency and deep respect among commissioners and utility leaders in the U.S. and around the world.”
—Vincent Laforet has joined Nimia’s advisory board. Laforet, a Pulitzer Prize winner known for his work in film and photography, will be joining a board full of former executives from Adobe, Corbis and Microsoft and advising Nimia on its Video Asset Manager product. In addition to his Pulitzer win in 2002, Laforet has also been awarded the platinum, silver and bronze Cannes Lions for his work as a director.
“Every creative is looking for a home for their content, and a means to distribute it without giving up control. Nimia allows me do this without compromise,” he said in a press release.
—Socrata added two members to its advisory board. David Eaves will be joining the board to offer his expertise as an advocate for open government. He’s a co-founder of ReCollect Systems, a company that specializes in technology solutions for the waste management sector.
Stephen Goldsmith, the former Mayor of Indianapolis and Deputy Mayor of New York City, was also named to the board. He currently directs Data-Smart City Solutions, a Harvard project that highlights local government efforts to connect with community input through the use of big-data analytics.
The two men join an advisory board that also includes Draper Fisher Jurvetson Partner Bill Bryant and François Steiger.
“All four members of our Advisory Board offer us an extraordinary wealth of diverse experience and expertise, and we will draw upon their deep and rich global knowledge to accelerate the revolution in data-driven government as well as our growth as a company,” says Kevin Merritt, Founder and CEO of Socrata. “François, Bill, David, and Steve have each been responsible for major breakthroughs in their respective careers, and now they’re going to help us bring change to governments around the world.”
— Koru, the young Seattle startup that helps college graduates find jobs, has hired Christina Mautz as its Vice President of Marketing. Mautz was previously at Amazon, where she worked on the Amazon Local team as Head of Merchant Marketing. At Koru, she will be responsible for all areas of marketing and applicant acquisition. Koru announced an $8 million Series A round on Thursday.
