Leadership

Russ McCann, President/CEO and Co-Founder

A respected high-technology entrepreneur with more than 25 years of marketing and executive management experience, Russ McCann co-founded Actio in 1996 and has served as CEO since the company’s inception. He has been sourced as an industry expert in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and currently serves on a USA Today panel of select senior executives who advise on market trends.

Prior to Actio, Russ was CEO and co-founder of Ares Software Corporation, which became very well known for inventing a patented parametric font technology. Ares also produced and marketed a wide range of award-winning Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh shrink-wrap software products before being acquired by Adobe Systems in early 1996.

Russ's association with Adobe Systems began in 1990 when he joined its Application Products Division as Director of Accessory Products after Adobe’s acquisition of Emerald City Software. As Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Emerald City Software, Russ was responsible for growing revenue more than 300 percent in less than one year, rapidly seizing market share with its innovative Postscript Development tools and graphic design-oriented consumer shrink-wrap software on both the Apple Macintosh and NeXT operating systems.

As Marketing Manager, International Marketing Manager and Manager of Product Marketing for Esselte Letraset Graphic Design Software U.S., Russ expanded the company's traditional graphic arts product line, having joined the Letraset organization upon the acquisition of Boston Software Publishers, which he co-founded. Under McCann’s leadership as company President, Boston Software Publishers produced the first commercially shipped product for the Apple Macintosh, which helped define the desktop publishing revolution.

He has a BS and MBA from Northeastern University and has completed specialized marketing studies from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. A respected thought leader, Russ is frequently quoted in industry trade publications and presents keynotes at industry forums addressing a wide range of technology topics.

Kal Kawar, CIH, PE, Executive Vice President and Co-Founder

A nationally renowned expert on industrial hygiene and having provided critical solutions for global leaders including IBM, Kal Kawar co-founded Actio in 1996. As Executive Vice President, he taps more than 20 years of chemical engineering, industrial hygiene, and environmental engineering experience in developing solutions for Actio’s diverse customer base.

Since founding industrial hygiene consulting firm Tammer Sciences in 1993, Kal has initiated and supervised hundreds of industrial hygiene projects throughout the United States and Canada. Tammer Sciences contracts with Fortune 1000 industry and federal agencies including the EPA, DEA, GSA, National Archives and Records, the National Guard and the Social Security Administration.

With a broad band of industrial consulting expertise and stellar track record, Kal's specialization includes SEMI S2 compliance, radiation investigation, investigations in indoor air quality, compliance air sampling, ergonomics, asbestos, lead based paint, ventilation, noise and related audits for industrial managed health and safety.

A former Industrial Hygiene Program Manager for IBM Corporation, Kal established the infrastructure for developing IBM's industrial hygiene programs consistent with corporate safety and health policy. Kal's experience with IBM includes serving as Staff Industrial Hygienist for IBM's New York semiconductor manufacturing facility and also as Industrial Hygienist for its U.S. headquarters, where he managed the U.S. Field Asbestos program and participated in the management and implementation of field real estate safety and health programs.

Kal has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University and a MS in Industrial Hygiene from the University of Pittsburgh. He has published and presented before the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and is co-chair of the education committee of the American Industrial Hygiene Association.

Rob Friedman, Director

With more than 25 years of senior operating management experience, Rob Friedman has launched several successful venture-backed companies. He was co-founder and CEO of Bitstream (BITS); president of Electronics for Imaging (EFII); and Chairman of both Ares Software (which was sold to Adobe Systems (ADBE) and Softwatch Ltd. He currently serves as Chairman and co-founder of Chestnut Hill Sound Inc. (Chillsound) and of Open Security Solutions, LLC, (OSS). Chillsound has developed and brought to market GEORGE, the only audio product honored at MacWorld as Best of Show since 2007. GEORGE is currently in approximately 1000 storefronts in the USA and can be found at www.chillsound.com. OSS is a patent holding and licensing company that has entered into agreements with leading patent assertion and licensing companies. Adept at negotiating strategic relationships and license agreements in the technology industry, Rob is also a CPA having practiced with Arthur Andersen and Price Waterhouse. He holds a BS degree from the University of Illinois.

Chris Nowak, Director of Business Development and Client Services

As Director of Business Development and Client Services, Chris is responsible for Actio’s global sales initiatives and the leadership of Actio’s strategic client implementations. Chris brings more than 16 years of business development, consultative sales and enterprise technology project management expertise to Actio. Prior to Actio Corporation, Chris led the business development efforts for Loudeye Corporation’s digital media distribution business unit in the Northeast. Prior to Loudeye Chris was a Major Account Executive for Akamai Technologies, a provider of Internet content delivery services. He has managed the implementation of service-based technologies at companies such as Xerox Corporation, EMC Corporation, Honeywell, IDEXX, StanleyWorks, R.R. Donnelley, Owens Corning, Jabil and Teradyne. Chris is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.