Senior Management

Alex is one of the founders of the Company and served as Executive Vice President of Manhattan Creative Partners, LLC (MCP) from 1998 until 2003. From 2001 to 2003 he lead the development of Diligent Boardbooks and was responsible for building and maintaining the pivotal relationship with the board of directors of SunAmerica Funds – Diligent’s foundation client. In 2003, MCP was renamed Diligent Board Member Services LLC at which time he was appointed President. This enabled Alex to focus entirely on developing and marketing the Diligent Boardbooks product.

As the CFO for that start up financial services company, Steve was responsible for securing seed capital from the parent company, establishing relationships with US based regulatory authorities and the implementation of financial reporting systems and controls. He also managed the accounting, auditing and human resource functions. In addition, he has experience in mergers and acquisitions, SOX compliance, marketing and operations.

Steve is both a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner. He graduated with a MBA degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and holds several FINRA licenses.

Robert was the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Master Card International for 15 years and was responsible for all legal and corporate secretarial matters affecting MasterCard. He commenced the practice of law with the Wall Street law firm of Shearman and Sterling.

Sonya has worked in the financial markets for the last seven years in London and New Zealand. Prior to joining Diligent, Sonya was Investor Relations Manager and Project Executive for Air New Zealand. Previously she worked for Goldman Sachs New Zealand as Corporate Access Manager in the Equities division, and in Corporate Marketing at Citigroup London.

Sonya graduated from Waikato University in 2003, receiving a Bachelor in Management degree with a double major in International Marketing and Management Information Systems. Whilst at Goldman Sachs, Sonya completed the New Zealand Stock Exchange Post Graduate Diploma, the qualification required to become an accredited NZX Advisor.

Prior to joining Diligent Board Member Services, Michael held executive management positions in companies such as Survey Sampling International, CYA Technologies and Concentrex (formerly MECA Software). Michael also held senior engineering positions at Apple Computer and Data General.

Jeff has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, having led teams in account management, sales, product management and engineering during his career. He has held various positions in large multi-national companies such as NCR, AT&T, and McDonnell-Douglas Aerospace, as well as smaller technology firms such as Boundless Corporation and BlueShark Technologies.

Jeff graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University in 1986. He is an active Bucknell alumnus and also a very active member of the New York Athletic Club.

Prior to joining Diligent Board Member Services, Susanna was at Accenture, Booz & Company (formerly Booz Allen Hamilton), Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers, marketing for business with annual revenues of up to US$4.5 billion. She has also promoted New York City as a destination for foreign direct investment while at the Partnership for New York City, and has marketed a number of start-ups and growth companies in the software, technology services and new media sectors.

Susanna holds a BA from Yale University and MBA from the Stern School of Business at NYU.

In addition to more than 15 years of sales experience, Jeffry also worked for 12 years as a founder, board member and officer of a commercial translation agency. This deep familiarity with both the sales and executive management of growing organizations has enabled him to become expert in critical governance issues. Jeff frequently contributes thought leadership and appears at both governance-related and vertical market events to discuss board portal adoption and implementation best practices. He is also a member of both the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals and the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries.

During this period he headed business development and served as General Manager of the first foreign media joint venture in China as well as Deputy General Manager of the Star Network. He has managed €1 billion corporate divisions, successfully formed joint ventures, raised venture capital and facilitated the sale of multiple companies during a career which has spanned the globe.

Charlie began his career as an accountant with Arthur Andersen and has a degree in Economics.

In 2011 he moved back to New Zealand to set up the Australian Subsidiary for Diligent and is now Managing Director of Diligent Board Services Australia, which manages clients for Australia and New Zealand. Al has a 25 year career within the IT industry and has previously run his own consultancy as well as senior roles in ICL in the UK. Al has a passion for delivering the best possible product and service to Diligent’s clients.

Over the last decade, Eslinda has been responsible for managing CNN’s broadcast affiliate relations and the syndication and business development of the network’s broadcast news services, as well as managing CNN’s and Turner International’s marketing strategy including brand management, sponsorship, corporate events and creative services across the Asia Pacific Region.