Meet our leadership team

As CLO, Christian leads the company’s global legal, risk and compliance teams that enable and protect the company’s key assets and operations.

Christian has 25+ years of legal experience in government, law firm and enterprise organizations. Most recently he served as CLO at Magnitude Software, a PE-backed SaaS platform, where he helped lead the company’s transformation through its acquisition in November 2021. Before that, he led the legal function at several growth-stage, mid-market and large cap public companies. In addition to his legal roles, Christian served as a board member of an AI venture in Singapore and was an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs.

Christian holds dual B.A. degrees in Psychology and Sociology from Boston University and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

What’s your why?

To solve. As a young kid I really enjoyed figuring out multiple geometric proofs for a given math problem. But I didn’t particularly like math – it was more about the challenge (and satisfaction) of solving for a problem or an issue and finding better ways of doing it. This threads a lot of the interests I pursue.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

The Amalfi Coast. I still reminisce scooting around on a Vespa from town to town, soaking up the scenery and eating up the local foods. And limoncello! The place makes you feel like you’re inside a living watercolor canvas and makes you wonder if all the locals gathered to color coordinate their houses and buildings, or if it all just happened naturally. And it’s my favorite place for photography – even the most unassuming shot of laundry hung on a clothesline outside of a random house comes out beautiful.

What’s your favorite movie of all time?

Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s lesser known, but so good. It starts off with her character running to catch the subway as the doors are sliding shut. The movie then splits into the one reality where she makes it and the other where she just misses it. From there it shows how differently the character’s life evolves based on that one difference. And it always reminds me how so many events in our lives that are seemingly trivial can be a sliding door.

Who is your greatest inspiration?

My kids.

As the chief people officer for Emburse, Danielle guides the strategic direction for the company’s employee development, performance management, talent acquisition, and employee experience initiatives.

Danielle has over 15 years of experience in human resources, working in various industries. She began her career with Emburse working for Certify and continued to build her team and her role through several mergers and acquisitions.

Danielle holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Education from Clark University. She also holds the Senior Certified Professional designation from the Society of Human Resources Management and is a graduate of the K1 Advanced Management Program.

What’s your why?

Watching people (whether it be employees, family, or friends) grow and improve their lives is something that brings me great joy. I have naturally taken on the role of confidante, mentor, and mediator in my life and with this role I’m also able to translate that into my work. Being able to use creativity and care in providing employees with the tools they need to further develop their own talents and find fulfillment in their careers is incredibly rewarding.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Right after my husband and I bought our first house and paid for our wedding, we had limited funds for a honeymoon. We planned a budget trip to Ireland where we rented a small stick shift car and drove around the southern half of the island staying at inexpensive B&Bs. While I know there are more exotic and luxurious places to travel, this was my favorite as we had a true adventure without an itinerary.

What did you want to be as a kid?

When I was a child, I wanted to be a news anchor. I loved to get in front of audiences and talk. Being one of the first people to know something and to have the responsibility of crafting that message to the masses was incredibly intriguing to me. Getting people excited about good news and showing empathy for news that may be perceived negatively are two things I have translated into my current career.

What do you do to relax?

I love to go to the outdoors to clear my mind. In the warm weather months, I enjoy running, paddle boarding, wake surfing, and hiking. In the less friendly New England winters, I try to get out on the mountain for downhill skiing or hit the trails with a pair of snow shoes.

As CEO of Emburse, Eric drives the overall strategic direction of the organization, from new market growth through to product direction.

Eric has 30 years of experience driving growth for software companies. Prior to Emburse, he was Global Head of Commercial, SMB and Growth Markets for Marketo, a division of Adobe. Before joining Marketo, he was SVP and General Manager for SAP’s North American mid-market and ecosystems division. Earlier in his career, Eric had sales, technical, and general management leadership positions at SAP Concur, Business Objects, and Information Builders.

Eric has a BBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Iowa.

What’s your why?

As a company, our charter is to “humanize work.” We have a team of more than 750 who collectively work together to achieve our goal of making people’s business lives much easier and giving them back their precious time so they can focus on the important things at work, at home, and in their communities. As individuals, each person can contribute significantly, but as a group, we can achieve exponentially more. As a father of three, I try to teach my three children exactly the same approach: by collaborating with each other, they can achieve far more than they ever could on their own. It’s a very useful life lesson.

What’s your favorite movie?

It has to be The Usual Suspects. With its unexpected ending, it’s one of the few movies that I actually wanted to watch over and over again. Every time I see more clues about Keyser Soze’s real identity that I completely missed first time around.

What do you do to relax?

I love both road and mountain biking, and Colorado is a great place to live for that. It gives me two extremes: riding up a long hill on my road bike gives me a great opportunity to think with no distractions. On the other hand, going down a rough mountain trail requires 100% concentration or you end up with a broken bone – or far worse! Both types of biking are therapeutic… in their own way. I also thoroughly enjoy watching and coaching our three kiddos in just about every sport you can imagine from soccer to flag football to Taekwondo to skiing.

Where’s the best place you visited?

My wife and I took a bike tour around Andalucia with some friends. Going from village to village at such a slow place gave us a real opportunity to actually get to know the region and meet local residents. In a car you simply can’t get that level of intimacy with an area.

As COO, Eric is responsible for our customer experience, and has financial responsibility for our business units.

Eric has a broad range of technology leadership experience. In his 20+ years at Trimble, Eric led multiple business units, as well as a joint venture with Caterpillar. At Emburse, he previously led the Nexonia and Tallie brands. After a stint at Axcient, he returned to Emburse in 2019 to lead Chrome River.

Eric holds a BA in Geography from the University of Kansas, an MA in Geography from Kansas State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University

What’s your why?

My wife and two daughters. My Father grew up in poverty and worked his way to become a University Dean. He taught me to love meaningful work, and demonstrated how it leads to a better life - for me, and for others. Modeling his lessons for my daughters is important to me. Also - we’re solving real problems here, and that’s fun!

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat is a pretty amazing place to visit, but for me, home always wins the day.

What’s your favorite book?

For me, it’s Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. But I also love anything by Roald Dahl that I can share with my children.

What did you want to be as a kid?

I loved to play basketball, so my dream was to be a shooting guard for the Kansas State Wildcats and then the Golden State Warriors. I had it all planned out - my Hall of Fame induction was going to be really fun!

As chief marketing officer, Grant leads global marketing for Emburse, overseeing marketing strategies, programs and tactics designed to increase market leadership, generate demand and enhance customer advocacy.

Grant has a storied history working in senior marketing roles for some of the best-known brands in technology, including FileNet/IBM, Symantec and Toshiba. Before joining Emburse, Grant was CMO of cybersecurity company Cylance (acquired by BlackBerry). Prior to that, he was the CMO of Kofax and CMO of Pegasystems.

Grant holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University.

What’s your why?

I’ve had the same “why” since I became a marketer in my twenties: “Move others to action.” It’s well suited to a marketing leadership role, since good communication and inspiring others are both essential for engaging effectively with customers and prospects as well as leading teams.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Living in Salamanca, Spain, was the best place because I spent a month immersed in a very different culture than my native LA. I got to fully experience mid-afternoon siestas precipitated by late lunches and lack of sleep, as well as a vibrant Plaza Mayor that truly comes alive at night.

What did you want to be as a kid?

Like many kids growing up in LA, I wanted to be a movie director. There is something magical about getting transported via sight, sound and motion into a temporal world that is the moviegoing experience. In my chosen profession, I make very few, short movies, but the storytelling craft is as important for success in business as in Hollywood.

What do you do to relax?

I like watching almost any sport, but mostly I enjoy playing competitive tennis. I regularly compete in USTA tournaments on weekends. For me, tennis is the ideal combination of exercise and fun, and winning consistently requires figuring out how to best exploit your opponent’s weaknesses while maximizing your own strengths.

Jeroen van Velzen joined Emburse in 2021 when it acquired Roadmap, a leading mobile-based travel technology company he co-founded. As SVP, Solutions Strategy, Jeroen is responsible for delivering a superior end-to-end travel experience for customers, overseeing the company’s Travel & Mobility Solutions group. 

A winner of BTN 2015 Innovator Award, Tech.eu “hottest startups” in 2017 and a Skift’s Corporate Travel innovator in 2019, Roadmap was Jeroen's third consecutive venture and combined his passion for travel and building human-centric organizations. 

Before starting Roadmap, Jeroen was CEO of Sound of Data, which created customer happiness solutions for the customer care, travel and broadcasting industries until a successful exit in 2015. He previously served as CCO and co-founder of mobile payment and sales platform, Mobile2Pay.

Jeroen holds a Master’s degree in Economics, Marketing Management and Information Management from the University of Amsterdam.

What’s your why?

Making work not feel like work. Strange things go on in workplaces that do not make sense. Why would I be someone different at work than I am among friends? So I enjoy creating work environments that feel safe to be in and welcoming of our full selves. 

 What is the best place you’ve traveled to?

Los Roques, Venezuela. I’m not sure it was the best but it for sure was one of the most beautiful - It’s where they shoot all the tropical island commercials. I love to travel to South America. If you have never been there, start in Ecuador. It has the entire continent in one country: jungle, mountains, desert and beaches.

What’s your favorite book? 

The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama. I always had some resistance to esoteric matters until I came across this book. It led to a profound change in my lifestyle and got me to meditate daily.

What did you want to be as a kid?

 An ambassador. Shaking hands and visiting a lot of parties felt like my dream job.

As president of Emburse, Nord oversees the organization’s operations and business units, ensuring overall customer success and satisfaction, high levels of product innovation, and operational excellence.

Nord has over 30 years of technology and operations experience. He joined Emburse after serving as the chief digital officer of Cotiviti, and prior to that ran AlixPartners’ Americas digital practice.

Nord holds a BA in Mathematics and Economics from Bowdoin College.

What’s your why?

At this stage of my life and career, it is about providing others opportunity – my colleagues, my children, and other in my community. Emburse is focused on enabling our customers to be able to spend more time and resources on pursuing their opportunities. In looking across our customer base, we see future cures for previously incurable diseases, new ways to combat climate change, a more just society, and exciting technology breakthroughs. Our work will allow our clients to pursue these critical efforts.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

The absolute best trip was to Rome, Italy, to visit my girlfriend – who is now my wife of almost 30 years. Rome is magical in itself, and this trip was especially magical as it was my first time traveling outside North America, and my future wife, a classics scholar, was my tour guide.

What’s your favorite book?

I love A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Every holiday season my children patiently endure my reading it aloud. It is an amazing reminder to celebrate our good fortunes and support those who are less fortunate.

What did you want to be as a kid?

I really wanted to be a professional whitewater kayaker. Little did I realize, at the age of 12, that this is an oxymoron, as it is with most Olympic sports.

As head of corporate strategy and business development at Emburse, Omar is responsible for global strategic partnerships and M&A across all brands.

Omar has more than 10 years' experience in B2B software. He joined Emburse in 2018 via the acquisition of Abacus, where he served as co-founder & CEO. Before his current role, he spent a year as GM of the Abacus business. Prior to Abacus, Omar spent five years in private equity, investing in financial technologies companies.

Omar pursued his MBA at The Wharton School and studied Computer Science at Wake Forest University.

What’s your why?

To risk more, so that I may fail and learn faster. Too often, we conflate the outcome of failure with our own identity, when it’s in fact a critical series of steps en route to success. One of the most powerful ways we can help others achieve more than they believe they’re capable of is removing the possibility of blame.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to?

In 2011, my wife and I both had that rare opportunity in life between work and grad school where together, we set off for a few months backpacking around Southeast Asia. In Thailand, I discovered my passion for sailing, diving and eating obscene quantities of Penang curry chicken.

What’s your favorite book?

I hold a special place for Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. It’s the perfect antidote to when you just get too lost in the weeds and lose sight of the big picture. It’s also a great optimistic reminder that the forces of the universe will conspire to help you if you just let them.

Who is your greatest inspiration?

My parents immigrated to the United States almost 40 years ago, just over a year before I was born. They had very little money and no friends or family within 6,000 miles. The courage to persevere in those conditions reminds me that any risk I can take in life just pales in comparison, so I better get on with it.