Koreen Olbrish
CEO
Koreen founded Tandem Learning to address an unmet need in the learning space. Applying her background in experiential learning and technology for education, Koreen built the foundation for a new way of looking at enterprise learning, encompassing strategies from custom learning solutions to immersive learning environments, to help companies accelerate their organizations' learning initiatives from knowledge acquisition to behavior change.
Koreen has strong ties to education, having received her MS in Curriculum and Instruction from Penn State University and showing a glimpse of her entrepreneurial spirit in helping start Freire Charter School in Philadelphia in 1999. The majority of Koreen's experience has been in the development of enterprise learning solutions, starting as a Training Manager for a technology company, then serving as an Instructional Designer for several years developing online simulations and custom learning solutions. Having successfully taken on responsibilities in project management, sales, and leading her own team, Koreen set out on her own and founded Tandem Learning to embrace her vision for the future of enterprise learning.
Originally from Michigan, Koreen now resides outside Philadelphia with her very supportive husband and three amazing kids.
Jedd Gold
President
Jedd joined Tandem Learning to apply his significant background in interactive media and virtual worlds in the interest of developing never before seen learning experiences. Jedd's previous experience in the entertainment space with focus on optimizing user engagement brings a unique perspective to Tandem's products, ensuring that learners are motivated and actively engaged in the learning process.
Most recently, Jedd served as Executive Vice President, Business Development for VPI.Net, a full-service interactive agency specializing in web development, virtual worlds, games, and other interactive applications. Previously, Jedd was head of Marketing for Variety Magazine and VP of Marketing and Promotions at DIC Entertainment. In these roles, Jedd was responsible for such activities as overseeing the barters and sponsorships, events, in-house creative, developing the brand strategies and launch plans, and overseeing online initiatives including the creation of virtual worlds. Jedd began his career in sales as an account representative for the Pepsi Bottling Group.
Jedd received a B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Business. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.
Marcus Hswe
Director of Client Services
Marcus Hswe has over 8 years of experience in the design, development, and management of training initiatives. With specific expertise in the area of simulation design, Marcus aided in the development of "Managing Change: Online Solution," which received the Brandon Hall, Bronze Award for Innovative Technology. During his career, Marcus has worked with a variety of clients across industries, such as GSK, Verizon, and Unisys. While at Unisys, Marcus managed a global training initiative involving over 6,000 participants and designed an awareness course to spearhead this program.
A former college instructor at the Community College of Philadelphia where he taught courses in English, Creative Writing, and Communications, Marcus earned his BA in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.F.A. in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California.
Kristen Cromer
Director of Product and Custom Design
Kristen has dedicated over 12 years of her career to the training and development efforts of companies within varied industries, including pharmaceutical, higher education, marketing, manufacturing, service, and finance industries. During that time, Kristen has held roles in technical/programming positions, user experience design, information architecture, instructional design, and project management. Kristen has also worked closely with many organizations in a consultative capacity, determining instructional needs and defining effective training solutions.
Kristen has a BS in Computer Information Systems from the University of Dayton and an MS in Educational Technology from Lehigh University
Michael J. Malizola
Director of Business Development
Michael Malizola has over 12 years experience in business development and marketing for custom software development services based on advanced, innovative technology, encompassing serious-games based learning, web-based training, simulations, search engine applications, digital distribution, social networking and computer games. Mike’s extensive technical, organizational development, financial and project management skills make him an ideal partner in taking the client’s learning initiatives from early concept to full deployment.
Prior to joining Tandem Learning, Mr. Malizola worked with Canadian serious-games developer Distil Interactive, as well as served as Vice-President, Marketing and Sales for Tampa, Florida’s leading e-Learning studio, Sparrow Interactive, which provided mission-critical training programs for IBM, AT&T, AOL, and Verizon. In addition to his broad experience in the videogame and online entertainment verticals, including senior strategic roles at several Silicon Valley and Boston/Cambridge tech start-ups, Mike led specialized corporate product/sales training units at Yamaha International, Kurzweil Music and Bose Corporation.
Mike holds a Bachelors’ of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from the US Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, CO) and an MBA from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA. A veteran (Captain, USAF) and father of three, Mike resides with his wife and children a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico in the Clearwater, Florida area.
