ABOUT US

Jeff Cates

Chief Executive Officer

Jeff Cates serves as CEO and President of Achievers, an industry-leading employee voice and recognition solution that accelerates a culture of performance. After being named CEO in April 2019, Jeff quickly led Achievers to new product and global growth. Jeff’s passion for creating environments where employees can do the best work of their lives has helped Achievers receive multiple employer awards: Top 50 Best Workplaces™ in Canada, Best Workplaces™ for Women, and Best Workplaces™ for Inclusion. He was formerly the CEO and President of Intuit Canada, leading the growth of Intuit’s TurboTax, QuickBooks and Mint brands since 2011. During his tenure, the company was named a top “Great Place to Work” in Canada year after year, and was also recognized as a top employer for women and millennials leading in diversity initiatives. Jeff’s background includes innovative marketing, product leadership and entrepreneurship. Prior to Intuit, Jeff worked at Apple Canada leading their enterprise business, and Hewlett Packard as vice president of their consumer division. He earned an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University. Testament to his passion for the start-up industry and advocacy efforts for entrepreneurialism, he currently holds a role on the board of Start-Up Canada. Jeff also sits on the board of CUSO, a not-for-profit organization focused on midwifery and economic development in third world countries.

Michael Cohen

Chief Product Officer

Michael Cohen is an intrapreneur and product leader with over a decade of experience in innovation and product-based roles. With product roles that have spanned sports, retail and financial services, Michael has a track record for intrapreneurship and product development that has seen him bring multiple successful and scaled products to market. As the Chief Product Officer at Achievers, Michael is responsible for the strategic leadership and delivery of the Achievers suite of products. Michael is a proven builder of high-performing and innovative product teams and businesses through his agile and diverse team-first approach. Michael is a regular author and conference speaker on the topics of innovation, intrapreneurship, developing innovation culture and disruptive technology. Michael is also a mentor to multiple start-ups, a Board Member at Sketch Youth Arts and is a member of the Technology and Innovation Advisory with Sick Kids Hospital Foundation.

Victoria Coombs

Chief Legal Officer

As Chief Legal Officer at Achievers, Victoria is responsible for overseeing Achievers’ global legal strategy, commercial matters and acquisition activity. A business-minded lawyer with 20+ years of experience in both private practice and industry, Victoria has advised clients in many industries including SaaS, technology, manufacturing, broadcasting and communications. Previously, she served as Chief Legal Officer at Vision Critical during a transformational time where she joined the executive team in completing a number of transactions to enable the company to transition to a pure play SaaS offering. Prior to her work at Vision Critical, Victoria served as General Counsel at Q9 Networks, a provider of outsourced data center services, practiced in the Corporate Group of Baker & McKenzie and held legal counsel positions with several companies, including CanWest Global and General Motors of Canada. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Toronto, a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall and is a member of the Ontario Bar. At Achievers, she is a member of the senior leadership team and manages all of the company’s legal affairs, helping to devise strategy and operational excellence, and to support and facilitate Achievers’ continued growth as an industry-leading employee engagement platform striving to, Change the Way the World Works.

Chris Fudge

Chief Marketing Officer

As the chief marketing officer at Achievers, Chris is responsible for leveraging insights to build awareness, preference, and demand for the Achievers platform. Joining Achievers in early 2022, Chris brings over 25 years of experience leading global teams at companies such as Intuit and Hewlett Packard in sales, operations, customer support, customer success, and marketing. He has a passion for growing and developing people and businesses. This passion led him to Achievers, combining the opportunity to market and grow the Achievers’ Employee Experience Platform™ with its mission “to change the way the world works.” Chris is a certified coach with the International Coaching Federation and has developed his own coaching practice, Lightstation Coaching. As both a coach and business leader, he champions developing people, empowering diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging (DEIB), promoting physical and mental wellness, and fostering a culture of innovation. Chris holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing from Bishop’s University.

Kristian Gaetano

Cheif Operations Officer

As the Chief Operations Officer at Achievers, Kristian is focused on leading Global Operations including our Member Experience, Client Support Services, Marketplace Operations, Transformation, and Project Management teams to ensure a scalable and sustainable operating model to enable growth. Kristian joined Achievers in 2011 and has progressed through various leadership roles including Director of Customer Success Sr. Director of Revenue Operations and Chief Transformation Officer. Kristian started his career as an HR practitioner with industry leaders such as Grant Thornton, Vale Inco, and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto before joining Achievers to support its mission of Changing the Way the World Works. Kristian holds a degree in Psychology from Wilfried Laurier University and a post graduate certificate in Human Resources Management from Seneca College.

Beth Thornton

Chief Revenue Officer

As Chief Revenue Officer at Achievers, Beth is responsible for empowering the company’s global sales teams to elevate client engagement, cultivate business growth, and drive success through powerful solutions that change the way the world works. Throughout her 25 years of strategic leadership in sales, marketing, and client success, Beth discovered her passion for technology and people. She joined Achievers in 2023, realizing the company offered her the opportunity to tap into both passions by challenging her to solve complex business and human capital challenges with Achievers’ all-in-one Employee Experience Platform™. Before joining Achievers, Beth served as Chief Revenue Officer at Experlogix, a company that provides world class CPQ, Document Automation and Digital Commerce technology to the global market. Prior, Beth led sales and marketing at Inspire Software, a SaaS startup that empowers leaders to emerge at all levels of an organization. Earlier in her career, Beth spent six years leading the global sales organization at O.C. Tanner through a robust transformation that continues to generate strong growth for the company from those initiatives. Throughout her career, Beth has demonstrated creativity, vision, and collaboration in optimizing sales force effectiveness, maximizing revenue growth, creating happy clients, revitalizing sales teams, and forging strategic alliances. She has received praise for her work as an impactful, mission-focused sales leader throughout her career, ranking as one of Utah Business Magazine’s 30 Women to Watch in 2017.

Matt Tremmaglia

Chief Customer Officer

Matt Tremmaglia leads the customer success and professional services teams at Achievers. As the chief customer officer, Matt focuses on creating high value outcomes for all organizations who leverage the Achievers platform. With over 20 years of experience working with companies of all sizes and backgrounds, Matt leverages behavioral data, proven best practices, and real-life examples from hundreds of global organizations to build stronger workforces that see higher levels of belonging and connection. Matt is known for pushing the boundaries on what an organization can learn from their employee data; examples include how to identify top talent early, how to structure employee strategies that are both global and locally relevant at the same time, and how to recognize the whole employee such that they feel welcomed, known, and connected within their organization. Matt holds an honors degree from Queen’s University in Software Engineering and is an avid endurance athlete who enjoys swimming, cycling, and volleyball.

Larry Vertin

Chief Financial Officer

As the Chief Financial Officer, Larry is responsible for leading the Achievers finance organization and all financial functions, including financial planning and analysis, accounting, tax, and treasury.  His focus is on growth acceleration, operational efficiency, and creating high-functioning finance teams and systems. Larry has over 25 years of experience in a wide variety of finance leadership roles with global technology companies including Symantec and NetApp. He was most recently CFO at [24]7.ai, an enterprise customer experience SaaS company. He believes strongly in the critical link between culture and organizational success and is thrilled to contribute to the mission of fostering exceptional cultures through employee engagement, recognition, and rewards.

Hannah Yardley

Chief Human Resources Officer

Hannah is a senior HR leader with over 20 years of experience consulting global organizations on talent strategies, operational excellence, and cultural transformations. As CHRO at Achievers, Hannah infuses her deep expertise in organizational behavior to empower employee and organizational success. With her passion for the intersection of people and business, Hannah is keen to make the world a better place through irresistible employee experiences and leading-edge people and product development.