Centra Expands Board of Directors with Three Software Industry Veterans
This expands the board to five members and provides new depth of experience that will guide the company’s next stage of growth. Joining the Centra board will be Ronald Benanto, formerly CFO of NewsEdge Corporation, Douglas Ferguson, a partner with The Monitor Group, and Leonard Kawell, Jr., CEO of Pepper Computer. Each of these individuals was appointed by a committee of the board of directors consisting of three independent directors. The new directors will join Robert Hult, CFO and treasurer of NMS Communications and Leon Navickas, chairman and CEO of Centra, to serve as directors.
Industry Veterans Bring Financial, Technology and International Management Experience
Ronald Benanto joins Centra’s board of directors bringing a wealth of experience in business operations, finance, corporate governance, and relevant industry knowledge from his years in senior management at companies including NewsEdge, Viewlogic Systems, and Data Architects. Benanto will assume the board seat currently held by Dave Barrett, general partner at Polaris Venture Partners, who has chosen to step off the Centra board to focus on his portfolio companies.
Douglas Ferguson joins Centra’s board of directors bringing many years of relevant experience in the areas of business development, international operations, and strategy. Having worked for companies including McKinsey, Nextera Enterprises, Cambridge Technology Partners, and Lotus, Ferguson is currently a partner at Innovation Management, Inc., a Monitor Group company. He is also a trustee of the Yale-China Association. Ferguson assumes the new seat on the Centra board.
Leonard Kawell, Jr. joins the Centra board of directors bringing the experience and insight of a recognized technology industry visionary. One of the original founders of Iris Associates, the inventors of Lotus Notes, Kawell has extensive experience bringing innovative technologies to market for companies including Adobe, Glassbook, and Lotus/IBM. Kawell is currently founder and CEO of Pepper Computer, a developer of software for mobile wi-fi devices. Kawell will replace Richard D’Amore, a founding venture capital investor in Centra, who has served on the Centra board for eight years. Reaching the end of his previously elected term, D’Amore will be stepping off the Centra board to focus on his North Bridge Venture Partners investments.
As Class I directors, each of Messrs. Ferguson and Kawell will be on the ballot for election to a three-year term at Centra’s annual meeting of stockholders, scheduled to be held on June 12, 2003.
“Although we will miss the valuable counsel of our long-standing board members, Rich D’Amore and Dave Barrett, and greatly appreciate their years of service to Centra, we are also pleased to welcome our new members,” said Leon Navickas, Centra Chairman and CEO. “Their combined experience will be of great service to our management team as we grow rapidly toward our goal of becoming a large and sustainably profitable enterprise application software company.”
About Centra
Centra offers enterprise applications software that enables organizations to shift their group-oriented business activities to the Internet or their internal network. Leading with an undisputed track record of helping more than 1,100 global corporations, government agencies, and universities increase revenue and improve overall business performance, Centra offers a family of integrated real-time enterprise collaboration (RTEC) application software solutions and services to over 3.2 million licensed users. Customers drive greater productivity and lower their costs using Centra’s solutions for collaborative eLearning, online sales and marketing, Web-based service and support, and other interactive, people-centric internal and customer-facing work. The applications can be deployed as on-premise software or through our ASP service, are available in 13 languages, and are supported by an active ecosystem of value-added partners, including Microsoft, Oracle, Siebel, Deloitte Consulting, EDS, and Cisco. Today, organizations across every function, industry, and market sector choose Centra, including Cadbury Schweppes, McKesson, Sysco, Viacom, and Stanford University. Headquartered in Boston, Centra serves a worldwide customer base throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit http://www.centra.com/.
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