Startups
Power Moves

Power Moves: 3 new CEOs, Lynsie Campbell joins Graceful, and a new Allegheny Conference exec

Expedient, DipJar and Pittsburgh Business Group on Health have new heads, plus more recent leadership changes in local tech and biz.

Lynsie Campbell. (Courtesy photo)

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


DipJar picked a new CEO

New year, new CEO is the story for DipJar after appointing Brian Arnone to lead the technology platform, which offers an online donation jar for fundraising and giving.

Arnone comes to the company with roughly 25 years of experience of occupying executive positions for digital ticket sellers, social networks and most recently Protecht, a fintech company for which he remains an advisor. Arnone said in a release that he was drawn to DipJar’s commitment to generosity.

“Generosity and connectedness are at the heart of DipJar, and those are things we need today more than ever,” Arnone said. “Joining now, with the future this company has, is exciting.”

Board Chairman Brian Shanahan said the company has confidence that Arnone will be well equipped to guide DipJar meet the rising demands the nonprofits DipJar serves: “Our customers are passionate about their missions, and he brings to our company an equal amount of passion for serving them,” he said.

DipJar moved its corporate HQ to Pittsburgh’s Mount Lebanon in April 2022 “while maintaining a strong engineering presence in the company’s Boston office,” as announced at the time.

Lynsie Campbell joins Graceful as a chief marketing officer

You might recognize Lynsie Campbell as one of Pittsburgh’s more prominent connectors in the startup space.

She’s been a general partner of seed stage investment firm The Fund Midwest; the founder and managing director of startup studio Better Work Ventures; the so-called startup czar of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance; the founder of LaneSpotter and ShowClix; and the author of a book on entrepreneurship, “This Better Work.” She’s also an active voice on social media detailing her own entrepreneurial journeys as well as pointing out challenges that exist for founders looking to grow their companies here.

As of fall 2022, she’s also the chief marketing officer for Graceful — a digital vault for parents and children — and a member of its founding team.

In a blog post, Campbell wrote that founder Greg Rogers, who she met via The Fund’s network, helped her see a place for herself at the startup. She said she envisions getting a head start on a future where augmented reality, on which Graceful’s product is based, has transformed the way people interact with the world while simultaneously creating new experiences.

“Graceful is the one place to store and share the most important things — photos, videos, documents, future messages, and financial gifts,” Campbell said. “We’re launching with a focus on creating the ultimate connection between parents and their children.”

Pittsburgh Business Group on Health has a new CEO

Mike Stancil. (Courtesy photo)

Pittsburgh Business Group on Health (PBGH), a nonprofit biz coalition focused on access to employee healthcare, has a new leader: Mike Stancil was named president and CEO in December after Jessica Brooks ended a nine-year tenure. Although Brooks announced she’d be stepping down this past August, she stayed on until Dec. 31 to ensure the person taking over had a smooth a transition, per a company announcement.

Stancil comes to the role with years of experience in business and healthcare, including immediate past roles as COO and chief of staff for the PBGH. He said particularly since the age of COVID-19, he believes it’s necessary to remain committed to ensuring people have access to healthcare.

“The future of healthcare in Western Pennsylvania is in the collaboration of employers, health systems, our established and prominent community organizations, and our local government leadership,” Stancil said in a release. “We saw our collective impact as we joined forces to fight the pandemic. As the dust is just beginning to settle around us, we have a singular opportunity to stay at the table and ensure quality, affordable and equitable healthcare for our region.”

Allegheny Conference appoints a chief growth officer

Allegheny Conference on Community Development announced its new chief growth officer at the end of December: Matt Smith.

For the past seven years, Smith has worked as the president of Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, which is an advocacy arm of the Allegheny Conference, the Pittsburgh-based public-private partnership organization.

In 2023, the Allegheny Conference plans to combine its economic development efforts with its policy and advocacy work. Smith will oversee efforts designed to give the region additional advantage for attracting new, strategic business investment; growing existing businesses; and attracting and retaining talent, per a statement from the org.

“This new one stop shop approach will allow us to seamlessly integrate business investment efforts with our policy efforts to support increased economic development,” Allegheny Conference CEO Stefani Pashman said. “At the strategic level, it will strengthen our collaboration with the new Governor so that our region and state can compete more effectively for business investment and talent. At the project level, it will make our efforts to leverage incentives, programs, and state relationships to compete for deals more streamlined and effective.”

Matt Smith. (Photo courtesy of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development)

Expedient appoints a new CEO

Effective Jan. 1, full-stack cloud service provider Expedient has former chief strategy officer Bryan Smith as its CEO. The move comes as Shawn McGorry, the company’s CEO and president of 40 years, takes the role of chairman. The North Shore-headquartered company maintains data centers in multiple US cities including Pittsburgh, Phoenix and Denver.

“It’s an exciting time for Expedient with the accelerating demand for our type of managed cloud solutions,” Smith said in a statement, “and I’m confident in our team’s ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients as we write the next chapter together.”

Also as of the near year, Expedient’s Jonathan Rosenson has been promoted to president, and Dennis Musolino has been promoted to chief revenue officer.

A rep for Expedient did not immediately reply to Technical.ly’s requests for comment.

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.
Update: Details about Matt Smith's appointment have been added. (1/6/23, 1:30 p.m.)
Companies: Allegheny Conference on Community Development

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