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Management Team

Shadee Barkan, Managing Director, CUnet Inquiry Generation & Peterson's Interactive

Shadee Barkan joined CUnet's parent company, Nelnet, in 2010 as Managing Director of Peterson's Interactive. In that role, she oversees sales, product management and operations for the highly-trafficked Petersons.com site, servicing more than 1000+ higher education non-profit institutions with their digital marketing and online recruitment needs. In 2012 she expanded her responsibilities to manage CUnet's Inquiry Generation line of business, where she works with affiliate network partners to drive online enrollment for schools.

Shadee has over 15 years of experience in higher education including business development and online marketing functions at Pearson's and Kaplan, Inc. Throughout her ten years at Kaplan, she participated in the steady and continuous growth of online products and services oriented towards higher education admissions, website redesign initiatives as well as conceiving and executing large-scale digital media campaigns in the areas of search, email, SEO and social media.

Shadee holds a B.A. in English and French Literature from Rutgers College. She resides in Upper Saddle River NJ with her husband and two children.

Jay Donaldson, Senior IT Director, Application Development

Jay Donaldson joined CUnet in 2009 as Senior IT Director, Application Development, where he oversees multiple teams in geographically disparate locations. Jay brings over 15 years experience of leading website development, application development, and online marketing solutions for enterprise-level clients like Hooters Restaurants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, SuperKmart, Borders, Sunstar, The Doneger Group, Melitta North America, Dollar Rent A Car, and Thrifty Car Rental.

Prior to joining CUnet, Jay co-founded the company, Site Dynamics, Interactive Communications. For over 10 years Site Dynamics' client base continued to grow and eventually serviced clients across the United States, Australia, Europe, and China. In 2007, via a merger/acquisition Site Dynamics became the interactive arm of FKQ Advertising + Marketing, a full service agency. At FKQ, Jay led this group as Vice President, Interactive Marketing.

Jay graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising. He currently resides in Highlands Ranch, Colorado with his wife and two children.

Jeff Herz, Director, Internal Operations

Jeff Herz joined CUnet in 2010, and is tasked with implementing internal systems to improve communications throughout the organization thereby increasing organizational efficiency.

Jeff is an expert program manager who brings over 20 years of multifaceted experience in the operations, digital and interactive space. Throughout his career, Jeff has taken high-level strategic marketing ideas and applied them to tactical solutions and applications that drive revenue, increase productivity, and reduce organizational cost. He has worked with Fortune 500 organizations to develop and implement creative, best-in-class strategies, processes, technologies, and large-scale marketing applications including eCRM, DAM and CMS. He has also consulted with smaller companies to implement systems and portals to effectively improve collaboration.

Jeff holds an MBA from Binghamton University and a BS in Marketing from Ithaca College. He resides in Stamford CT with his wife Nancy and three children.

Al Huizenga, Director, Sparkroom

Al Huizenga is responsible for Sparkroom, CUnet's industry-leading enrollment marketing automation platform for Education. Al joined CUnet in 2010 as the Senior Product Manager for Sparkroom, and now leads Sparkroom sales, marketing, product management, and R&D. Al is a 15-year veteran of software product management at established companies and startups, including Cognos, Platform Computing, Panorama Software, and Mykonos Software.

Al lives in Hamilton, Ontario with his wife Leanne, his daughter Emily, and his son Jack. He received a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Carleton University in 1997.

Kim Kelly, Managing Director, Agency Services

Kim Kelly joined CUnet in 2010 and as Managing Director, Agency Services leads the client services, affiliate management and audience marketing teams responsible for the company’s higher education school relationships.

Kim has ten years experience in online marketing and account management working with clients across a number of vertical markets. Her most recent role was Director for Zeta Interactive (formerly known as DigitalGrit) where she was responsible for performance and growth of Zeta’s top clients. Kim has worked with Fortune 500 companies providing integrated marketing solutions across paid search, natural search, social media, email marketing, and website design and development, as well as managed an account team responsible for customer service and performance marketing.

Kim received a MBA in Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and lives in Northern New Jersey with her husband and two children.

Bea Soffers, Managing Director, Client Services

Bea Soffers joined CUnet in 2011, and as Managing Director for Client Services, leads the customer support and implementation teams.

Bea spent the past 15 years in project management and managing professional services and support for CRM, mobile application and order management software implementation across verticals. Most recently Bea managed the Professional Services team at ConceptWave Inc., tasked with software implementation for telecommunications customers in Asia and Europe. Bea has an extensive background in enterprise software and delivering software implementations, and supporting customers.

Bea received her MSc in Business and Administration at the Rotterdam School of Management, in the Netherlands, where she was born and raised. She moved to Canada in 1997 with her husband, and they now reside in Toronto.