Leadership | Clearion Software | Simply Transformational

photo of Christopher Kelly, Owner — Christopher Kelly

**Owner**

Why we started Clearion:

It sounds a little highbrow to say that we started Clearion to solve work environment challenges with technology—and that’s exactly right—but in its basest, initial form, it was to prevent me from going crazy doing manual data entry in an old-school environment. Necessity truly is the mother of invention.

What drives me:

Every Clearion customer, and application, is unique. This constantly drives me, and the rest of our team, to shape solutions that are flexible yet robust. We are passionate about solving challenges and transforming work environments to make your lives easier and more productive. And that’s the truth.

More about me:

From a professional standpoint, I co-founded Clearion with Mano and Lianne in 2007; however, I’ve been working in utility field operations, geospatial technology, and solutions development since 1995. (I’m sure there’s a lame joke here about working in GIS while still in diapers.) My roles have spanned from crew leader to business leader and include account management, sales, marketing, strategic partnerships, implementation and product strategy. And, as a Georgia native who loves to travel, I have a BS and an MS in International Affairs from Georgia Institute of Technology.

From a personal standpoint, I have a deep love for my wife and kids and a great fondness for the beaches (and golf courses and redfish) of coastal Georgia where my mother resides. And like a lot of the folks here at Clearion, I’m always in search of the next great meal!

photo of Lianne Stewart, Owner — Lianne Stewart

**Owner**

What drives me:

My personal “thing” is problem solving. I like to figure out solutions—which is what our customers really appreciate about Clearion. We put the pieces together for them. If all solutions were immediate, I would think, “I’ve got this, it’s time to move on.”

Before Clearion, I would get bored every few years. Now it’s different being involved in the technical and business sides of the house. As Clearion has grown, we’re focused on business strategy, customer engagement, management strategy, employee satisfaction and more. It’s ever changing but we always want to ensure that everyone is happy and we’re doing a great job.

About me, eh:

I grew up eight hours north of Seattle in Clearwater, British Columbia, Canada. My childhood was spent boating, fishing and doing a lot of outdoor stuff. I have a BSc in Geology and an advanced diploma in GIS from the University of British Columbia. I moved to the States in 2002 for a geographic profiling position and I’ve been working in Atlanta, and in GIS, ever since.

In Atlanta, I miss the winter activities like skiing and snowshoeing but I still like doing new things: trying new restaurants or spending the weekend in the mountains and traveling.

What I do outside of work:

When I’m not working, I love researching new places and building my travel bucket list. I prefer undiscovered, non-touristy places. Antarctica is the only continent that I haven’t visited but hopefully soon! Maybe I’ll add the subcontinent of India someday. There’s always more to explore!

I like to exert myself and relax my mind. So if I go to the beach, there also has to be snorkeling, diving, kayaking, yoga, etc. Whether I’m immersed in nature on an African safari or hiking outside of little villages in Cambodia and Thailand, there are so many cool places in the world. Everyplace is different yet people are people everywhere you go. That’s why I really liked Israel—especially hanging out with Mano and Anat from Clearion. Since they live there, the experience was much different than if I had been just a tourist.

If you need any travel recommendations, call me!

photo of Mano Sadeh, Owner — Mano Sadeh

**Owner**

What I bring to Clearion:

For Clearion, I work on the technical side of the house as the principal software architect and product leader. Knowing how dynamic the market is and how quickly the Clearion customers’ environments were changing, I realized early on that the Clearion platform needed to be flexible and configurable. That direction remains with Clearion today and is what plays into the tagline: Simply Transformational. Clearion makes it easy to tailor powerful software products to the unique needs of each customer.

More about me:

I grew up in Israel and came to the U.S. while my wife pursued her Ph.D. Prior to moving to the states, I served in the Israeli Army and extended my service in a leadership position for a couple of additional years. After college, I worked for Intel as a software developer. When I arrived in Atlanta, I began working with Chris and Lianne. The rest is history!

Today, I live in Haifa with my wife and three sons and am very much a family man. I love cooking, the outdoors, and going to professional football games. Or, as you would say, I’m a big “soccer fan.”

photo of Karen Smith, Senior Account Executive — Karen Smith

**Senior Account Executive**

What inspires me to work at Clearion:

Throughout my life, I’ve been inspired by people with personal stories of transformation and growth. At Clearion, it’s no different. We have the best customers—all of whom are using Clearion to overcome challenges. Whether they are in the early stages of their adoption and have incredible vision or have been using Clearion for a while and are proactively finding new ways to apply our software to meet their business needs, I always learn so much. And it’s gratifying to apply the lessons that I’ve learned from our customers to help other customers achieve more.

What I recently gave up:

Overthinking. When I stop and think too much, I lose my gut instinct and begin to say what I believe is expected of me. I decided recently to actively engage in being true to myself and others. I’ve always been a happy, positive person but taking this step to stay true to the heart of the matter has been a disruptive way of thinking for me. It’s a welcome change.

More about me:

I’ve been in sales and marketing since the early 1980s while gaining my Bachelor degree at Mercer University in Atlanta. And I’ve been working in software and GIS for the majority of those years with a strong emphasis on telecom solutions. Clearion was a natural progression.

I’m in a wonderful stage in my life: I love my job and have a really close family—great husband, kids and dog. My husband Jeff and I are now empty nesters and having a blast going for bike rides and to Falcon’s games and making dinner with each other every night. I’m the luckiest girl in the world.

photo of Susan Rasavongseuk, Director of Premium Services — Susan Rasavongseuk

**Director of Premium Services**

How I came to Clearion:

I started my career at a small software company providing GIS solutions to electric cooperatives. I had the pleasure of working with the cofounders of Clearion – Lianne Stewart, Chris Kelly, and Mano Sadeh. We developed a lasting relationship that later led me to Clearion in 2011.

Unique travel experience:

I’ve been fortunate to travel for my career and recently was humbled and amazed with my trip to visit family in Laos. What a different world and unique way of life. My goal is to travel the world and Clearion has allowed me the opportunity to work with customers in North America, Australia, and Israel.

Why I make the long commute:

Clearion is a great place to work. I love the people and everyone here is an integral part of shaping our unique company culture. Our customers are faced with the challenges of overhauling the way they do business with new technology. We help them overcome these challenges with tailored software that actually works. Everybody works closely together (our clients and our team) toward the same goals and I look forward to going to work. It’s my second home. I’m willing to make that commute!

More about me:

I have a BS in Information Systems from Kennesaw State University with a focus on GIS solutions. My career has been in project management and implementation. I am on a path of continuous improvement for myself and our clients. I believe that there’s always something more that can be achieved.

While I love spending time decorating our home, my husband and I are typically doing activities with our kids. Whether it’s going to our son’s basketball games or taking our daughter to Starbucks to study and hang with her friends, weekends are for family.

photo of Diana Salapata, Support Manager — Diana Salapata

**Support Manager**

What I do:

Provide tools to simplify day-to-day challenges and ensure organizational growth.

Why Clearion?

When I think of Clearion, I don’t think of it as just a company – it’s more than that. It’s the people, culture, and our clients (some I have been privileged enough to call friends). Clearion is a living and breathing entity that is constantly evolving and growing as we meet new challenges to shape our vision. I think of Clearion as being a part of a tribe. It works because everyone has an essential role. Most importantly, it works because we share a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for one another. Our relentless pursuit of teamwork, accountability, and adaptation gives me a great deal of pride to be a part of this Clearion tribe.

When I am not at Clearion:

I spend most of my time being mom to (fur baby) Misa. Fitness is also a big part of my life, but so is my love affair with food. When it’s not a power struggle between Misa, going to the gym or eating, I like to binge on books, deep-dives on Reddit, discovering new music, entertaining friends, outdoor adventures, and watching episodes of Forensic Files.

photo of Chris Earley, Director IT & Infrastructure — Chris Earley

**Director IT & Infrastructure**

How I came to Clearion:

There’s a common thread running through Clearion: many of us have worked together in the past. I previously worked with Lianne and really like working with her. Together, we saw how another GIS company ran; with Clearion, there are many, positive differences. I can say that, after working here since 2013, coming to Clearion was a great decision. Clearion feels like a family. Everyone gets along with no drama. We work hard and help each other out.

What I do at Clearion:

My job is customer-facing which I like. I get our customers set-up, usually on their client servers, to use Clearion and troubleshoot any issues to ensure they’re successful. I’ve been in IT for almost 20 years so my job comes naturally to me, at this point. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Devry in Atlanta and have worked with Esri technology for the bulk of my career.

Where I am when I’m not at Clearion:

When I’m out of the office, I volunteer with the youth group at church and take them on retreats. I enjoy working with teens even though my daughters are out of the house now! In addition, our entire family does mission trips including one big trip each summer to Ensenada, Mexico where we celebrate family bible week for 100 kids who live in an orphanage. I do all of the meal planning, ordering and cooking for a week for anywhere from 50–200 people. It’s a lot of work but very worthwhile.

I also play disc golf 2–3 times a month. I love that I can buy all of my discs for price of one golf club. And there are no greens fees with wide open courses. It’s a great way to enjoy the weekend.

photo of Rick Hamilton, Senior Account Executive — Rick Hamilton

**Senior Account Executive**

How I came to Clearion:

I worked with Chris, Lianne, Susan and Mano several years ago in a previous work life and we kept in touch afterwards. We had conversations over the years about working together again and it finally worked out after Clearion was formed.

I have always worked with electric utilities either on the field inventory or GIS side. I had never given any thought to how the Rights of Way for the electrical facilities were maintained. When I began talking to the group again I realized what a huge undertaking it is to maintain these.

Was the switch to vegetation management difficult?

Yes. I had no idea what all had to be done in order to stand up a Vegetation Management software solution. When I started working with electric utilities performing field inventories, we collected the electrical facilities on paper maps and the office personnel traced our field maps onto linen using ink pens and Leroy Scales. When computers became a viable solution for electric utilities, we began digitizing the data collected in the field into GIS systems.

The GIS systems we digitized into were straightforward. There are only one or two ways to drop a pole or consumer into a GIS system. There were no work flows, cycles, reporting or billing to figure out like there is with Vegetation Management. With vegetation management, there are a lot more moving parts.

Having witnessed the conversion of many electric utilities from pen and paper to computers has given me a very good insight as to what the Vegetation groups are now going through. Almost every company I have worked with while at Clearion is migrating from pen and paper to computers. I do feel that my previous experience with this helps me to better understand what our clients are going through when making this move.

Meet the Clearion leadership team

Why we started Clearion:

What drives me:

More about me:

What drives me:

About me, eh:

What I do outside of work:

What inspires me to work at Clearion:

What I recently gave up:

More about me:

How I came to Clearion:

Unique travel experience:

Why I make the long commute:

More about me:

What I do:

Why Clearion?

When I am not at Clearion:

How I came to Clearion:

What I do at Clearion:

Where I am when I’m not at Clearion:

How I came to Clearion:

Was the switch to vegetation management difficult?