Power Moves: ForMotiv welcomes a new CTO and PACT says goodbye to a senior director

Power Moves is a column where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, new gig or promotion? Email us: philly@technical.ly.

Center City digital behavior intelligence company ForMotiv has brought on Bill Hazard as its new CTO.

The five-year-old B2B startup’s artificial intelligence and machine learning platform promises to help companies in financial services and insurance spaces identify risky behavior. This new hire follows January’s $1 million raise that the company said would be used primarily to hire more employees to keep up with 2020’s quick growth.

Hazard joins the org with more than 30 years of experience growing product and tech teams at companies like Honest Buildings, WorkWave, Infragistics, Wireless Generation and Register.com. His role with ForMotiv will involve building on the team’s technical innovation and help in adding marquee customers to the company’s client list.

“We’re at a pivotal point in our business where it’s critical we add leaders with experience in scaling and growing world-class technology solutions,” ForMotiv President Bill Conners said in a statement this week. “We could not be more excited to add Bill to the fold to help take the company to the next level.”

Andrew Schwabe, ForMotive founder and chief science officer said that it became clear it was time to bring in “world-class talent” when the company hit 10 million applications processed per month. Hazard fit the bill for experience and “temperament” to propel the company forward, Schwabe said.

Hazard said he’s excited to be working with the Formotiv team on its enterprise product that’s solving “real and significant business problems.”

“I have worked in software product companies most of my career and ForMotiv brings all of the elements needed for success together in one company — a great team, an amazing idea, and the right timing,” Hazard said.

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After six years with the membership trade nonprofit, PACT’s senior director of member success, Danielle Pinto, is leaving the org. At the end of the month, she’ll be joining Accenture as its marketing and communications lead on a consumer health industry account team.

Danielle Pinto. (Courtesy photo)

“While I’m so excited for this deep-dive into consumer-driven healthcare, and for the incredible professional development opportunity ahead of me, it’s hard for me to imagine life beyond this PACT community,” Pinto wrote in an email to colleagues and friends. “You have all been wonderful colleagues and collaborators. A nerd like me, driven by curiosity and a love of learning, could not have asked for a better gig or a better community to work alongside.”

Pinto’s last day with PACT is May 19. And yep, that means her role is opening up.

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Community media center PhillyCAM welcomed five new elected members to its board of directors — Sharp Hall, Charlene Horne, Diana Lu, Michelle Kim and Kristine Villanueva. It also reelected Elizabeth Estrada, Susan Hauck and Anthony Mazza.

Also joining the board are two newly appointed members: Shelley Wolfe, appointed by the Philadelphia School District, and Lynn Williamson, appointed by the Free Library of Philadelphia. The board now stands at 19 members, the org said.

Hall, a software engineer, helped build the studio for the org’s radio station, WPPM, in 2016. He currently leads the operations team at Connectify, Inc., a local tech company that provides VPN service. He’s worked as a software developer and system administrator, and is also involved with Prometheus Radio Project, a local nonprofit advocating on behalf of community radio stations.

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Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business recently announced its 2021 Analytics 50 awards, honoring 50 organizations using analytics to solve business challenges. Local orgs honored with the award include Bentley Systems, an Exton-based software company, and Freya Systems, a Media-based data analytics and software development company.

“There are multiple components to winning this award,” said Diana Jones, director of the Center for Business Analytics, in a statement. “We’re delighted to recognize this year’s honorees for harnessing the power of their data. With a goal of amplifying analytics expertise throughout the nation, we join these companies, nonprofits and government agencies in celebrating the impact they’ve made within their industries.”

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Brian West. (Courtesy photo)

And AT&T appointed Brian West as its VP and GM of the Ohio-Pennsylvania market. In his role, he will be responsible for all retail sales and service operations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Southern New Jersey, and parts of Kentucky and West Virginia. He will oversee more than 450 AT&T-owned and authorized retailer locations.

Prior to this role, West was responsible for the Northern Plains Market as market VP and general manager. Before joining Northern Plains, he was responsible for the connected communities property acquisition team for the Central and West Regions, negotiating fiber deployments in the MDU space. He’s relocating with his wife and son to West Chester for the role.