Resilia Hires New Finance, People Operations, and Customer Success Executives to Accelerate Growth
New Orleans, La. – SaaS company Resilia, a leader in the "tech for good" space, has announced the addition of three new executives to its leadership team: Erik Horacek, Head of Finance, Valentine Ollawa, VP of Customer Success, and Melissa Theiss, VP of People Operations. The three department leaders will be instrumental in continuing the company’s expansion as it scales its services and client base within the philanthropy sector.
"As Resilia continues to help build the operational capacity for more and more nonprofits, it was critical for us to build our own capacity to serve both our expanding client list and employee base,”. said Sevetri Wilson, Resilia founder and CEO. “I’m thrilled to welcome three new executives to our leadership team, who individually and collectively offer incredible expertise and vision to help us provide even greater value and support to our growing Resilia community.”
Erik Horacek will lead Resilia's financial unit, building the company's financial systems and operations to ensure rapid yet sustainable growth following the company's historic $35M Series B funding round. With a bachelor’s degree from Duke and an MBA from UCLA, Horacek has over 20 years of experience partnering with the management teams at companies ranging from pre-revenue to Fortune 500 to drive growth and efficiently deploy resources. Previously, he served as CFO for several technology/SaaS startups, including Atom Tickets, where he built the finance and accounting team and raised $60M in Series C funding.
“Joining Resilia provides a great opportunity to be part of a team making a meaningful impact,” Horacek said. "I look forward to leading the company’s financial unit and driving sustainable growth."
Val Ollawa will oversee the Resilia customer success team, which is responsible for all aspects of customer service and satisfaction for nonprofits and funders. In addition, Ollawa will scale Resilia's nonprofit coaching team, ensuring nonprofit partners continue to receive 1:1 coaching and expert advice on demand. Previously serving as a strategy consultant, Ollawa has been a customer success and revenue leader since 2017, and he served as Head of Customer Success and Support for volunteer recruitment platform Mobilize through its acquisition by EveryAction in 2020 and subsequent merger with CyberGrants and Social Solutions in 2021.
"I’m very excited and honored to join Resilia in such a critical role," said Ollawa. "Ensuring success and value-delivery is important in any company, and here at Resilia, it’s incredibly gratifying to have the opportunity to help changemakers of all kinds – from the largest philanthropic foundations to the smallest grassroots nonprofits – make a difference in the world."
Melissa Theiss will oversee the strategic and day-to-day leadership of global human resources systems and people operations for Resilia's 100-person team. She will lead all processes related to employee lifecycle, human resources systems, compliance, and related needs while championing Resilia's equity initiatives. A Harvard alum and experienced advisor for high-growth companies, Theiss previously served as Head of People Operations for Column, a public information systems company, and VP of Operations for B2B SaaS company Quorum. She serves on the board of trustees for the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum Foundation.
"People are the heart of every great company, and I’m thrilled to join Resilia, whose mission to power the people changing the world deeply resonates with me," said Theiss. "I look forward to crafting an employee experience that makes Resilia team members excited to come to work."
About Resilia
With offices in New Orleans and New York City, Resilia is a mission-driven SaaS startup powering a digital transformation in the philanthropy sector. Resilia’s platform helps new nonprofits form and achieve tax-exempt status, builds growth capacity for established nonprofits, and enables funders (foundations, corporations, and governments) to scale nonprofit impact by providing access to on-demand coaching, online training, fundraising tools, and other technology resources. For more information, visit resilia.com
Contact:
Bren Spector
press@resilia.com
