Emad Rizkalla
Founder & CEO
Danny Penton
Kelly Simms
VP, Operations
Charmaine Freake
VP, Account Management
Meg Sulpher
VP, Learning Solutions
Tom Loder
VP, Sales
Dave Weir
VP, Software Development
Donal Mac An Ri
Architechture Team Lead
Chris Sharpe
Product Manager
Mimi Sheriff
Director, Strategic Accounts
& Social Impact
Shawn Ryan
Director, Marketing &
Market Dev
Emad Rizkalla is a serial entrepreneur and recognized thought leader in the convergence of technology and learning… and how to leverage human capital in ways that develop people, organizations and economies. He is a global speaker about these topics and socio-economic issues that he is passionate about.
Emad co-founded the predecessor to Bluedrop in 1992 while still an engineering student. Before he was 30, Emad was recognized in the Globe & Mail’s Top 40 under 40 and profiled in a TIME magazine cover story showcasing eight “young dynamic entrepreneurs who will create the 21st Century.”
Emad has been an active member of many national committees and task forces. He has chaired several not-for-profit boards and sits on an advisory Board for the National Research Council. In 2013, he was honoured with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
He holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Memorial University. He has two energetic sons who wear him out, had no grey hair four years ago, loves to laugh (even at times he really shouldn’t) and has an unhealthy obsession with palm trees.
As an immigrant to Canada, Emad is keen to pay forward the kindness, opportunities and many blessings he has received.
Danny is a seasoned strategic and financial executive with more than 20 years of experience in the software, information technology and professional services industries. Danny is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA CA) who started his career with Deloitte and spent 9 years working in Bermuda but also enjoying the sun, sand and island life with his wife and young family. In addition to his time at Deloitte, Danny has also worked with large global organizations Imperva and Appleby, as well as smaller tech startups Plato Consulting and Camouflage Software Inc.
Over Danny’s career, he has held senior roles in multiple corporate transactions including mergers, acquisitions, IPO’s and was the CFO for two successful tech company exits, Plato Consulting to KPMG (2013) and Camouflage Software to Imperva (2016).
When Danny is not wearing his Bluedrop hat he can usually be found at a hockey rink or baseball field coaching his son and daughter.
Kelly is a passionate, certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with over 15 years of experience with a focus on operations. With a background in both Project Management and creative design, Kelly brings a unique, cross-functional perspective and experience spanning multiple industries. She is a proven leader and collaborator, who champions building strong relationships and open communication.
Born in Corner Brook and raised in St. John’s, Kelly began her career as a designer with PHB Group (now Stantec Inc.). She earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) designation in 2012 after graduating from the Gardiner Centre’s MCPM program at Memorial University, holding PM positions with PHB Group and Colliers Project Leaders. Currently, she is the Vice President, Operations with Bluedrop ISM in St. John’s, NL.
Athletics have always been a core part of Kelly’s life. A competitive rower and runner, she is now focused on becoming a wannabe competitive CrossFit athlete, most recently competing and placing in The Rock Games.
When not wearing her headset or throwing around barbells, Kelly is also a proud (and busy) mother of three wonderful children and can often be found adventuring in the great outdoors with her family and two dogs.
Charmaine joined the Bluedrop team after 15 years of working in the technology sector. She has extensive international business experience working with Customers and Fortune 500 companies across Canada, the United States, Central America and Asia. She has proven talent for managing full-service delivery relationships with multi-facet customers such as Comcast, AT&T, Verizon; providing world-class customer satisfaction.
Charmaine is deeply committed to customer success and focuses on supporting customer development, deployment, and ongoing success with Bluedrop’s SkillsPass platform to offer ongoing credential and compliance management.
Charmaine completed a Bachelor of Arts degree accompanied by a Criminology certificate at Memorial University as well as a Master’s program in Information Technology at Dalhousie University.
Meg is a learning and development professional who specializes in the creation of custom training solutions. Over the past 12 years, she’s worked with customers in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors to develop online training programs.
These educational courses cover a range of topics from heavy machinery operation to occupational health and safety, commercial driving, and ICT skills. In 2013, she led the design of an online entrepreneurship training program featured on the plenary stage of the annual Clinton Global Initiative, which has since been launched in over 100 countries.
When she’s not working with customers to dream up innovative training solutions, she’s probably on to her next DIY project or home reno in the aisles of Home Depot.
Tom Loder is Bluedrop ISM’s Vice President of Business Development. Extremely invested in workforce development and the upskilling/reskilling of Canada’s workforce, Tom secured one of the country’s first regional workforce programs at an ecosystem level.
This technology has since expanded to simultaneously serve workers, employers, training providers, industry associations, governments and inspectors in 6 Canadian provinces and several jurisdictions around the world. Over the past 15 years, Tom has formed strong relationships with governments and industry associations across Canada and globally – all with the focus of helping people find a job, keep a job and stay safe and compliant on the job.
Before joining Bluedrop, Tom managed events in the education, entertainment, and sporting fields at some of the most recognized and prestigious venues in the Country.
Dave has been working in the technology sector for more than 20 years. After graduating with an Electrical Engineering degree from Memorial, he started his career as a software developer with Nortel Networks in Ottawa. Three years later, he returned to St. John’s to join Progress Software.
Before Bluedrop, Dave held leadership positions with Progress Software, Triton Data, and Verafin. Besides leading software development teams, he has worked in Product Management, Professional Services, and Sales.
When not managing Bluedrop’s development roadmap, Dave can be found wandering through the parks and trails of St. John’s with his family.
After completing a Diploma in Business, Chris quickly transitioned into technology leadership roles and spent 5 years project managing custom LMS implementations for global customers.
Leading technical teams in other parts of the world to deploy 3rd party LMS products for over 15 years, Chris was excited to join the Bluedrop team in 2010.
Working with a group of very talented folks to grow a product here at home, Chris’ expertise has helped shape the roadmap for Bluedrop’s training systems. With Bluedrop, Chris leads the SkillsPass features roadmap and designs solutions in the Workforce sector and our Health and Safety Certificate Management customers. He’s helped Bluedrop’s customer’s design solutions to complex training ecosystems for millions of users in many jurisdictions all over the world.
Chris is born and raised in Newfoundland and is happy to be raising his family in the same community he grew up in. He and his wife have four children, which makes for a pretty busy household. That said, Chris embodies the Bluedrop Value of “Work hard, laugh harder!” He likes to unwind with a good competitive game of poker, crafting a new micro-brewed beer, and playing a horrible round of golf whenever possible.
Mimi lives between worlds, calling Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and now St. John’s, NL home. With a diverse professional background, she began her career as a lawyer and then worked with international non-profit organizations before joining Bluedrop. As the Director of Account Management, Mimi is her customers’ champion – she manages and grows our government and not-for-profit workforce training customers. Certified as a Sustainability Associate, she is an advocate of socially responsible business operations and leads these community projects at Bluedrop. You can also find Mimi on the Board of Directors of the tech innovation hub “Genesis,” as well as the St. John’s Farmers Market.
Mimi has a Bachelor’s degree in Gender Studies and a Bachelors’s of Law (LL.B) from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She has a Master’s in Gender Studies from Memorial University and a Graduate Diploma in Social Responsibility and Sustainability from the University of Toronto.
With a passion for diverse foods and tired of hearing herself complain that there was no Ethiopian restaurant in her adopted city…so, she created “Gursha NL” and became the first caterer of authentic Ethiopian food in the entire Province!
Over the course of his 20+ year career, Shawn has held senior leadership roles in a variety of diverse sectors including lottery and gaming, advertising, cybersecurity, and management consulting. A marketer by trade, Shawn joined Bluedrop in 2020 and is focused on executing strategies that enhance the corporate brand and help deliver effective and impactful solutions for Bluedrop customers around the globe.
Shawn holds an MBA from Memorial University of Newfoundland, a Masters Certificate in Project Management from the Schulich School of Business, and is a certified Experience Economy Expert.
When not doing his marketing thing, Shawn can be found coaching hockey, pretending to be an professional chef, or simply running the roads (literally).
Bluedrop ISM offers a hoistic solution for organizations that deploy and manage training for workers that stretch across many employers. Our SkillsPass platform is designed to provide true Integrated Skills Management (ISM) across industries and jurisdictions.
HQ: St John’s
Newfoundland, Canada
1.800.563.3638
Email: info@bluedropism.com
Simply complete the form below and a Bluedrop ISM team member will contact you to arrange your 30 minute power demo of the SkillsPass training platform and our related workforce training solutions.
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Simply complete the form below. A SkillsPass team member will contact you with the details for your 90-day free, no-obligation trial of SkillsPass- including setup, activation, feature walk-through, and the various terms and conditions that apply.
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REIMAGINE
A seamless online training ecosystem connection for all stakeholders or partners…
DELIVER
Providing end-to-end training delivery and credential management for all training formats…
SAFEGUARD
With security and support that safeguards our client investments in two key ways:
Bluedrop’s experience and proven eLearning content development capabilities are foundational in supporting our customers’ upskilling & reskilling requirements, and in maximizing the power of the SkillsPass™ Integrated Skills Management Platform.
Whether for broad State/Province upskilling programs, or single use, rapid response training requirements for a specific industry requirement- we can deliver an online solution with proven effectiveness and verifiable training results.
Bluedrop has developed and deployed eLearning training to support large and diverse upskilling and reskilling initiatives of governments and industries around the globe.
Bluedrop has amassed a a vast library of proven and impactful eLearning courses. Specialization includes commercial truck driver training, workplace productivity, entrepreneurship and a host of regulatory inspired courses,
The eLearning content solution combined with our SkillsPass ISM platform to help connect workers, employers, and related stakeholders. We also offer full execution support and program management including marketing, adoption, and customer support specialists that help drive successful uptake and results.
Offers online training, certification, and credential management capabilities to support the transformation of broad-based upskilling/reskilling.
Is industry-agnostic, and is now securely deployed with governments, industry associations and employers around the world, with close to 3 Million users.
Enables the deployment of wide ranging course content options to support skill development including industry mandated, OH&S, and upskilling in those critical in-demand functions required in the new digital economy.
Provides partners with a digital, single line-of-sight into training results, credentials, and certifications at the industry through to the individual level.