Power Moves: Hiring and promotion news at emocha, Koverse and the NSA

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 baltimore@technical.ly.

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emocha Mobile Health made a series of new hiring and promotion moves, including naming a chief technology officer.

Ramon Castro is joining the Mt. Vernon-based company as CTO. Castro started working in the tech industry in 1992 and gained 14 years of programming experience before moving into upper-level management roles. He previously served as VP of technology at Columbia-based a2z Inc., an event tech platform which was acquired by Personify in November.

emocha’s technology includes mobile apps with video technology in which patients are observed taking medication, and a platform which analyzes pharmacy, claims and clinical data. It’s all aimed at improving medication adherence, or ensuring patients stick to medication as prescribed.

Joining emocha as VP of growth and market development is Carl Kirts, who will be responsible for expansions to new markets, developing partnerships and marketing efforts. Kirts came to emocha from virtual health company Carena, which is owned by American Well through acquisition. He previously was an early team member at Visicu, a Baltimore health IT company that was acquired by Philips in 2008.

A third new team member is Senior Director of Data and Analytics Aaron Sorenson. Sorenson brings a speciality in working with public-cloud offerings, and holds a number of cloud certifications. Sorenson has previous experience in medical informatics and research-data analytics, both at firms like Digital Science, GE Healthcare and IBM, and medical schools such as Johns Hopkins University and Temple University.

After three years as a lead software engineer, Michael Cohen has a new role: chief architect. The full stack developer joined emocha with 15 years of experience, and is now responsible for development and delivery of the company’s tech solution.

“We are ecstatic to add Ramon, Carl, and Aaron to our team, as well as recognize Michael in his well-deserved new role,” said CEO Sebastian Seiguer. “emocha’s incredibly talented team has developed a solution to one of healthcare’s deadliest and costliest challenges: medication nonadherence.”

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Seattle-based data intelligence company Koverse has a growing presence in Baltimore, and the company recently added an executive presence by way of hiring Stephen Gallagher as VP of sales.

“We are excited to have Stephen lead customer acquisition at Koverse, which is seeing accelerating demand for our products and services,” CEO Jon Matsuo said in a statement. “Stephen brings invaluable experience as both a sales professional and as a leader building high-performing teams at market-leading companies.”

Gallagher has more than 25 years experience at companies including Crowdstrike Intel, Dell and HP.

Along with Gallagher, Koverse has three team members in Maryland. According to a spokesperson, the company’s team members work remotely 80% of the time, while meeting with team members or customers the other 20% of the time. With Gallagher onboard, they plan to start meeting regularly.

And there’s a further Maryland tie via the company’s cofounders: Paul Brown received his master’s degree from Johns Hopkins, and Aaron Cordova earned a bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Maryland College Park. They are both alums of the National Security Agency, where they gained expertise building data infrastructure.

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News from inside Fort Meade: The NSA is planning to launch a new cybersecurity directorate to bring together foreign intelligence and cyber defense on Oct. 1.

It will be led by Anne Neuberger, who is director of cybersecurity. According to the Times of Israel, Neuberger is a Baltimore resident who has worked at NSA for the last 10 years. She’s been a leader on key initiatives including establishing U.S. Cyber Command and election security following the 2018 elections.

The Wall Street Journal said that she will be one of the highest-ranking women at the NSA since Ann Caracristi was named deputy director in 1980.

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TEDCO said a group of 13 local tech leaders will make up its Task Force for Women Entrepreneurs.

Both nationally and locally, data shows that women-led startups receive far less venture capital funding than their male counterparts. The Maryland agency, which provides funding and resources for early-stage tech companies in Maryland, said the task force is “dedicated to the recruitment, funding, and operational support of women-owned and-led startups in Maryland.

With the task force, TEDCO is looking to apply lessons from its model developed under the Builder Fund, which was launched to provide support for entrepreneurs from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as look at internal operations at TEDCO.

Here are the members of the task force:

• Tina Williams-Koroma, TCecure
• Lisa Smith, Bowie Business Innovation Center
• Kyp Sirinakis. Epidarex Capital
• Ben Sigel, Mintz Levin
• Ava Pipitone, HostHome.community
• Myra Norton, Arena
• Laura Neuman, Maryland Department of Commerce
• Amy Millman, Springboard Enterprises
• Julie Lenzer, University of Maryland, College Park
• Johnetta Hardy, Bowie State University – Entrepreneurship Academy
• Jennifer Hammaker, TEDCO
• Margot Connor, RoosterBio, Inc.
• Jeff Cherry, Conscious Venture Lab

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The Howard County Economic Development Authority (HCEDA) named a new board chair and vice chair.

Steven Snelgrove, president of Howard County General Hospital, will become chair of the board which oversees the agency supporting business growth in the Maryland county. Snelgrove has been a member of the board since 2014.

Cyndi Gula, cofounder of Gula Tech Adventures and Columbia cybersecurity firm Tenable, will serve as vice chair. Gula has been on the board since 2016, and rises to the role just after construction was completed on an initial phase of HCEDA’s Howard County Innovation Center, which is designed to centralize tech and entrepreneurship resources.

“Both individuals have dedicated themselves to the service of our organization and we look forward to working with them in their new capacity,” said HCEDA CEO Lawrence Twele in a statement.