bio - damien bean

As Co-Founder of Orgwide, Damien Bean leads the effort to empower people globally by helping them find, discover and experience relevant career training online.  In this role, Damien oversees our financial and IT strategies and development of Orgwide Services.  Before taking his current position, Damien was Vice President of Corporate Systems at Hilton Hotels in the US.  In that position he lead the integration of the 400+ hotels and 75,000 team members associated with the purchase of the Hampton Inns, Doubletree Hotels, Embassy Suites and Homewood Suites brands. 

During his tenure, Hilton became one of the earliest adopters of this next generation web-based architecture amongst the Fortune 500.  In conjunction with re-engineering of Hiltons internal business processes, Damien championed the transition of Hiltons systems to an industry standard architecture.

bio - jim hartigan

Jim Hartigan, Chief Business Development Officer and Partner joined the firm in April 2010 after nearly 30 years experience in the hospitality industry, including the last 18 as a senior executive with Hilton Worldwide. Jim is talented in driving change and business processes through the development of comprehensive strategies that streamline operations, drive brand awareness and preference, and increase customer satisfaction.

Jim’s last position was that of Senior Vice President – Global Brand Services where he provided strategic leadership and business development and support to the $22B enterprise of 10 brands and more than 3,400 hotels in 80 countries around the world. His team was responsible for ensuring excellence in system product quality, customer satisfaction, market research, brand management, media planning, and sustainability.

bio - joe thomas phd

Dr. Joe Thomas is an innovator and entrepreneur, who joined the company during the start-up phase in 2004 to provide strategic direction and develop the guiding principles for the adoption of an integrated, cross-disciplinary methodology for developing creative and effective eLearning solutions.  For more than 20 years, Joe has created and evaluated technology-based learning solutions for education and workplace training.

Collaborating with professionals and experts across many different disciplines, he has developed industry-leading strategies for transferring learning and knowledge, and then assessing the impact of learning on the individual and the organization.  Joe is a former member of senior management at NIKE, Inc. where he worked domestically and internationally (Japan, Korea, Belgium) to implement Change Management and training solutions for new distribution centers being built in Asia and Europe.  He managed a multi-cultural team in the areas of organizational development, applications training, and executive leadership development.

bio - karen bean

Karen Bean, Vice President of Customer Service and Sales, has spent the last 25 years seeking out, assembling, documenting, and reinventing every sort of business puzzle one could imagine. Since 2006, she has ensured that Orgwide clients receive world-class service by working closely with their teams and our own internal production specialists and solutions consultants.

Currently, Karen focuses on providing operations standardization consulting to clients with geographically diverse workforces, migrating their policies and procedures into online formats, and communicating the changes to enhance success.  This work has directly supported the simplification of client's workflow steps driving significant efficiencies.

Karen’s love of data, documentation and databases was developed during 20+ years as a Certified Public Accountant, specializing in taxation and business reorganizations. During her tenure working in client service positions in both the foodservice industry (U.S. Foodservice, Albert Fisher) and public accounting firms (Arthur Andersen & Co., Deloitte & Touche), Karen was also responsible for the development of staff and client training and cross-functional marketing strategies.

bio - liz giovannini

Liz Giovannini wears two hats with OrgWide. She is Senior Communications Consultant and a member of the Business Development Team.

Liz joined OrgWide in 2006, with extensive experience in the strategic planning of internal and external communication projects for a variety of companies ranging from Fortune 500 companies and government organizations to small businesses and individuals.  Her specialty is the development and implementation of communication plans for the launch and reinforcement of new service initiatives for the hospitality and food production/food service industries.  Of particular note was her partnership with Hampton Inns as they planned and launched their 2004 rebranding exercise, Make It Hampton, to its more than 1,400 hotels. (Make It Hampton delivered over four million changes and sparked a revolution in the hospitality industry.) Liz led communication teams as they developed and implemented a communication strategy for pilot testing and the ultimate release of Hampton’s On the House^® Hot Breakfast and Cloud Nine Bedding. She continues to consult on regular updates to the project’s core products and services and in the launch of new initiatives.

bio - david kinard

David Kinard enjoys putting ideas and people together. He has a passion for customer service and satisfaction in sales, marketing, and business development of OrgWide’s online training, surveys and communication services.

David has a unique and practical combination of experiences and skills. Before joining Orgwide in 2006, he organized homeland security/threat management seminars and developed bioterrorism and hazard mitigation plans for Texas governmental agencies.

A Native Texan, David is a Masters graduate of Texas A&M University and is a US Army and Vietnam Veteran. Most of his career has been spent directing programs addressing multidisciplinary research, education, and promotion initiatives to develop product markets, improve raw material quality, and obtain regulatory approvals for a national agricultural trade association representing food/feed product manufacturers and their customers.

bio - lisa david

Lisa M. David is an accomplished Sales and Marketing Executive with a flair for developing products and programs that result in customer satisfaction and increased profitability. Her strong leadership style combined with excellent communication skills inspires others to meet and exceed goals. She brings over  21 years experience to the OrgWide team, especially in the areas of delivering effective presentations, developing promotional and training materials, and winning customer confidence and loyalty by building and maintaining strong business relationships.  As a Solutions Consultant, Lisa inspires change and leads through personal enthusiasm, persuading and motivating any audience to action. 

Lisa’s diverse background, with activities in sales, marketing, management and training, includes running her own home décor product business and strategically developing marketing plans and promotional programs for companies like Jostens, Medtronic, and Smith & Nephew.  She thrives on exceeding the expectations of both her internal and external clients.

bio - liz castellaw

Liz Castellaw, Manager, Survey and Testing Services and charter member of the OrgWide team, has been an integral part of the business since it first opened its doors in 2004. Since then, Liz has contributed to the success of virtually every aspect of the business with her versatility and diverse set of skills. In addition to her current role, Liz has officially held the titles of Manager of Customer Support and Manager of Talent Management. However, ask anyone else on the team and they’ll agree: Liz’s contributions far exceed her duties as a manager. Her experience and knowledge of the intricacies of this business make her the one to call when the going gets tough.