Our Team

A group of people talking happily together

Not just technology — a team.

When you partner with Silverchair, you are buying more than our technology – you are looking to partner with great people who solve problems together, and our unique company culture serves as the foundation for the community we are building with our clients. After all, the team plays the key role of working directly with publisher staff to understand your requirements and vision and translate them into an optimal product on the Silverchair Platform. Silverchair and our publishers work in tandem in shaping implementations, engaging in creative dialogue around the strategies that will best help each publisher to achieve their unique goals.

``I am consistently surprised about how much I like everyone at Silverchair and how you can all be so friendly and competent at the same time!`` —Rob O'Donnell, Rockefeller University Press

``Working with Silverchair teams is a real joy. They are always willing to collaborate with us on solutions and are proactive on problem solving.`` —Eric Witherow, Oxford University Press

``Everyone I've worked with at Silverchair has been fantastic.`` —Amy Goldenberg, ARP Press

``Everyone at Silverchair is brilliant and very helpful. We're extremely satisfied with the team.`` —Client Satisfaction Survey

``Clients simply like the people at Silverchair; they like the communications, they like the culture. It’s clear that Silverchair is not viewed as 'a mere vendor,' but as a strategic partner.`` —Independent consultant

Leadership

Thane Kerner
Founder & Chair of the Board

Thane Kerner
Founder & Chair of the Board
LinkedIn
Thane is the Founder of Silverchair Holdings, a pioneer in distributed digital knowledge technologies for education, reference, and professional workflow. The firm’s primary operating unit, Silverchair Information Systems, is a global leader in technology products and services that drive digital growth for scholarly and professional publishers. In 2012, SHI achieved the successful exit of Silverchair Learning Systems to Vista Equity Partners/Relias, now a subsidiary of Bertelsmann SE & Co. Mr. Kerner has served on the Executive Council of the Professional and Scholarly Publishers Division (PSP) of the Association of American Publishers; the Board of Directors of CHOR, Inc., and the Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Will Schweitzer
Chief Executive Officer

Will Schweitzer
Chief Executive Officer
LinkedIn
As Silverchair’s CEO, Will works with the management team to lead Silverchair. He oversees our business development, customer success, delivery, finance, product, people operations, and technology teams, making sure our products, services, and growth strategies meet the needs of our growing community. He has a deep knowledge of scholarly publishing, having worked in the industry for over 18 years in product and publisher roles for leading commercial and society houses including, most recently, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Science Magazine), SAGE Publications, the American Psychological Association, and Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Lily Garcia Walton
Chief People Officer + General Counsel

Lily Garcia Walton
Chief People Officer + General Counsel
LinkedIn
Lily drives the company’s people strategy, enabling the success of Silverchair’s exceptional professionals. She has more than two decades of experience leading technology, education, media, and professional services organizations through transformative change while preserving a strong culture and a sense of mission. Lily is licensed to practice law in Colorado, DC, and Virginia, and she is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. She is a resident of Nelson County, Virginia, where she shares a cottage in the woods with her husband, two boys, three rescue cats, and a Morkie-Poo.
Brian Fitzgerald
Chief Financial Officer

Brian Fitzgerald
Chief Financial Officer
LinkedIn
Brian leads the financial, accounting, and administrative functions for the organization. He is a licensed CPA in the commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to joining Silverchair, Brian held leadership roles in public accounting, private equity, venture capital, and operations. In addition to financial reporting and forecasting, Brian is committed to process improvement, scalability, and sustainable growth.
Stuart Leitch
Chief Technology Officer

Stuart Leitch
Chief Technology Officer
LinkedIn
Stuart leads the strategic evolution and expansion of The Silverchair Platform, designing and leading technology initiatives for greater platform scalability and capability while enhancing Silverchair’s unparalleled flexibility for new product development. Stuart joined Silverchair in 2012 and has twenty years of enterprise architecture, system design, and software development experience in the education, engineering, nonprofit, and investment industries.
Paul Sanders
Chief Delivery Officer

Paul Sanders
Chief Delivery Officer
LinkedIn
Paul leads the Delivery arm of Silverchair, responsible for the product development projects that fuel the growth of our platform and our clients. Passionate about building high-impact SaaS products and high-performing Agile teams, Paul’s background spans product management, marketing and user experience, with a maniacal focus on the customer that provides a uniquely holistic approach to delivering products. Culture champion on the side, he is passionate about creating lovable places to work.
Betsy Donohue
SVP, Business Development

Betsy Donohue
SVP, Business Development
LinkedIn
Betsy is a business development professional with more than 25 years of creative sales, product development and marketing experience. She has successfully built strong partner relationships to leverage commercial success, and instinctively discovers and develops new opportunities for expanding profitability of commercial partnerships.
Emilie Delquié
SVP, Product & Customer Success

Emilie Delquié
SVP, Product & Customer Success
LinkedIn
Emilie Delquié serves on the Executive Team at Silverchair as Senior Vice President, Product and Customer Success. Prior to that, she was the Director, Rightsholder Relations and Global Alliances for Copyright Clearance Center, where she was involved with hundreds of publishers and societies worldwide. In total, Emilie has 20+ years of experience in the publishing industry, serving in a variety of account management, business development and marketing positions in scholarly communication including PCG/Ingenta and the UMass Boston Library. She is pursuing an Executive MBA and serving her 3rd term on the SSP Board, where she is currently Treasurer.
Jon Meadows
SVP, Technology

Jon Meadows
SVP, Technology
LinkedIn
Jon Meadows is the SVP of Technology, managing technology leaders over the following areas: Software Development (Developers and Technical Leaders), Software Quality Assurance (SQA), Technical Operations (TechOps), Developer Operations (DevOps), and User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX). He provides prioritization, direction, and serves as a point of escalation. Jon has 13+ years of technology experience with 10+ of those years managing and leading individuals and teams. Prior employers include KPMG and S&P Global. Jon holds a BBA in Computer Information Systems (CIS) and Finance from James Madison University. He is married to his childhood friend and they are actively being trained to become better people and parents by their two daughters, who are wonderful (most of the time…).
Hannah Heckner Swain
VP, Strategic Partnerships

Hannah Heckner Swain
VP, Strategic Partnerships
LinkedIn
As Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Hannah Heckner Swain is responsible for working with Silverchair’s clients, prospects, and the industry at large to shape Silverchair’s product vision and roadmap; overseeing the development of Sensus Impact; and managing the Silverchair Universe trusted partner program in addition to other key external partnerships. She has worked within academic publishing for nearly 15 years and has experience with both commercial and non-profit publishing and is a proud Member-at-Large of the Society for Scholarly Publishing Board of Directors and participates on the GetFTR Advisory Board.
Ossie Nadeem
VP, Finance

Ossie Nadeem
VP, Finance
LinkedIn
Craig Griffin
VP, Solutions Engineering

Craig Griffin
VP, Solutions Engineering
LinkedIn
As the Vice President of Solutions Engineering at Silverchair, Craig works with clients, end users, architects and user experience designers to develop Platform solutions for our client’s success. This role includes market evaluation, feature analysis, business case development, technical review, and prioritization. Prior to Silverchair, Craig worked with government clients at SRA International.
Stephanie Lovegrove Hansen
VP, Marketing

Stephanie Lovegrove Hansen
VP, Marketing
LinkedIn
Stephanie is responsible for Silverchair’s brand and product marketing strategy, collaborating with internal teams, clients, and partners to facilitate clear communications with Silverchair’s growing community. She has worked in the publishing industry for 18 years, including at the University of Virginia Press and Clarivate Analytics.
Derek Naughton
VP, Architecture

Derek Naughton
VP, Architecture
LinkedIn
Derek Naughton is a Solutions Architect who works with all of our clients to align our platform with their needs. Derek has worked with Silverchair since 2013 and has helped maintain our platform and work with the teams in growing its capabilities for our clients with a technical perspective and some creative solutioning. Derek came to Silverchair with 9 years of IT consulting experience and a Computer Science degree from Dublin Institute of Technology (D.I.T), Dublin, Ireland.
Sven Molter
VP, Product

Sven Molter
VP, Product
LinkedIn
Sven serves on the Silverchair team as the Vice President, Product. With more than 15 years of experience in the scholarly publishing industry he acted as a lead Product Manager for ScholarOne Abstracts, ScholarOne Manuscripts, and the Public Library of Science (PLOS). Sven is currently the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE) President.
Nicole Brown
VP, Delivery

Nicole Brown
VP, Delivery
LinkedIn
Nicole Brown is the VP of Delivery at Silverchair, bringing with her over 8 years of invaluable experience in various roles within the organization. Her passion lies in identifying solutions for complex operational opportunities, while also excelling in mentoring and leading others. Known for her exceptional ability to build strong partnerships with clients, Nicole is a coalition-builder who prioritizes relationships built on trust and integrity both internally and externally. She firmly believes that the impact of work extends beyond the professional realm, and shapes how people show up and support their families, communities, and the world. Nicole is committed to empowering, challenging, and valuing every member of the team at Silverchair, ensuring they can show up as the best versions of themselves each day.
Robb Burgess
VP, Technical & Security Operations

Robb Burgess
VP, Technical & Security Operations
LinkedIn
Robb Burgess is the Director of Technical Operations & DevOps. As an Information Technology professional with 15 years of experience in multiple disciplines, he has worked in the governmental, legal, medical, and enterprise web hosting industries with a focus on security in each role. Robb swiftly rose through the ranks in the Silverchair Technical Operations department giving him a firm grasp on all aspects of the Silverchair technology footprint. Robb is also the Silverchair Security Team Lead, driving the enhancement of security processes and procedures across the Silverchair Platform.
Lisa Cunningham
VP, Implementation Services

Lisa Cunningham
VP, Implementation Services
LinkedIn
Samantha Green
Director, Product Marketing

Samantha Green
Director, Product Marketing
LinkedIn
Samantha is responsible for product marketing at Silverchair. She collaborates closely with the product, business development, and customer success teams to ensure that Silverchair’s products have the greatest possible impact and offer powerful solutions to clients and partners. She has worked in the publishing industry for more than a decade and is passionate about ensuring scholarship has the reach it needs to help solve the world’s problems.
Deja Forte
Customer Success Manager

Deja Forte
Customer Success Manager
LinkedIn
Deja is a Customer Success Manager at Silverchair, a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in account management and customer relationship management, with expertise in SaaS solutions. Deja is dedicated to driving client excellence and fostering growth within organizations. She is also a Certified Scrum Master, adept at implementing Agile methodologies to streamline processes and maximize efficiency. With her diverse skill set and passion for delivering exceptional service, Deja is committed to helping clients achieve their goals and exceed expectations.
Peter Torres
Manager, Talent Recruitment & Development

Peter Torres
Manager, Talent Recruitment & Development
LinkedIn
Emily Hazzard
Product Manager

Emily Hazzard
Product Manager