David Ackert, MA
President
David Ackert, M.A.,is the President of Ackert Inc. and its subsidiaries. He is a thought leader at the intersection of sales enablement software and business development coaching. Over the past two decades, David has pioneered revenue acceleration programs for hundreds of professional services firms around the globe.
He is the founder of several technology platforms including the PipelinePlus software suite. His programs are winners of “Your Honor Awards” in both the U.S. and Canada, are featured in NLJ’s “Technologies on the Rise,” and rank as the top-rated offerings in their G2Crowd category. David regularly keynotes at partner retreats and speaks at industry conferences. He serves as a guest lecturer at USC’s Marshall School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, and at the UCLA School of Law.
His work has been published and quoted in several business books and media, including the Los Angeles Times, the National Review, the Daily Journal, the Wall Street Journal, Above the Law, Attorney at Work, The Recorder, and the Los Angeles Business Journal. His Market Leaders Podcast has won several JD Supra’s Reader’s Choice Awards.
David volunteers as a Big Brother with the Big Brothers and Sisters program in Los Angeles. He is also the co-founder of Voices in Harmony, a mentoring organization that has worked with at-risk youth around the globe. He co-produced and appeared in the documentary film, After Kony: Staging Hope, chronicling mentoring programs he helped to design and facilitate for former child soldiers in Northern Uganda. The film was used as part of an awareness-raising campaign that raised millions of dollars for health and education in underserved Ugandan communities. David’s charitable work earned the “Difference Maker” award from one of his alma maters, Ithaca College.
Rebecca Nassi, JD, MA
Vice President
Rebecca Nassi, JD, MA is a Senior Coach on our coaching team and facilitates at both the associate and partner levels. Because her background includes the practice of law, the entrepreneurship of two companies, and a Masters in psychology, she brings a unique perspective to the nuances of legal business development.
Prior to her coaching work, Rebecca practiced law in the private sector, most recently as a Partner at Libertas Law Group. Rebecca speaks and blogs on the topic of business development through a variety of professional forums.
She graduated with honors from CSUN with a BA in English and obtained her J.D. from Loyola Law School. She is a certified Executive Coach and holds her Masters in Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.
Michele Clark, MBA, MS
Director of Operations
Our Director of Operations, Michele Clark oversees all operational aspects of our company strategy, helps set strategic goals and is responsible for the flow of operations information to our CEO. Her role as a liaison across departments promotes our collaborative environment and ensures alignment with our company goals. She has been a noteworthy leader in the technology space for over 15 years and uses this experience to support our product operations. She helps drive the vision of PipelinePlus and manages the full development process. In previous roles, Michele has worked as a Product Owner and facilitated the creation and maintenance of countless software/mobile applications.
Prior to her professional career, Michele earned a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Information Technology Management from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is a passionate advocate for continued learning and has earned numerous professional certifications including a Project Management Professional (PMP) and an Agile Scrum Master certification.
With her experience and continued learning, Michele plays a pivotal role at the heart of our business. Her efforts help ensure a quality product experience for our clients and consistent progress and success for our company.
Mollie Smith
Director of Customer Success
Mollie Smith is the Director of Client Success at Ackert Inc. Having spent over eight years in client-facing tech adoption roles both in the US and overseas, Mollie harnesses her lived experience by using it to transform customer engagement models while re-aligning responsibilities across all post-sales functions.
Tara Osborn
Director of Marketing
As the Director of Marketing at ACKERT Inc., Tara leads all Marketing and assures on-point delivery of company brand standards and advertising strategies that lead to new customer acquisition and elevated brand positioning. Before joining ACKERT, Tara was the Director of Marketing at CMIT Solutions – the nation’s leading IT Franchise. During her tenure with CMIT, Tara built repeatable marketing systems and processes for 250+ franchisees while managing a budget in excess of $1.8M. She also dramatically increased leads and won opportunities for franchise development. Based on her accomplishments, Tara was recognized by Franchise Update Media as one of the nation’s top female franchise marketers. She also received numerous recommendations and endorsements for her results-oriented, hands-on style of marketing that generated first-time revenue breakthroughs for CMIT.
Before CMIT, Tara was Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Endurance House International, an Endurance retail concept franchised across the United States and acquired in 2018. Tara envisioned Endurance House as more than just another place to buy shoes or a bike, and based on her marketing innovations, Endurance House became the preeminent destination for endurance enthusiasts of every level, and a warm and welcoming community of people seeking a healthy, active lifestyle. Being part of the winning team at ACKERT is the culmination of years of experience as a professional marketer and entrepreneur.
Brad Brizendine
CTO
Brad brings his background in business, advertising, marketing, and technology to film, tv, and digital entertainment. He has launched and run companies, created and branded products, and conceived and built creative ventures, all of which helped him develop the ability to find the most effective balance between art and commerce. He enjoys applying lessons learned there to entertainment projects.
Coaching Team
Kathleen Flynn
Senior Coach
Kathleen Flynn has specialized expertise in building and managing the business development and marketing programs of major professional service firms, and for thirty years she has helped professionals achieve success in their business development efforts. Prior to her position as Senior Advisor with Ackert, Kathleen served as Chief Marketing and Business Developer officer for Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner where she was responsible for planning, directing and coordinating the firm’s global marketing and business development program. She has significant experience in the areas of general management, business development, strategic planning, brand management, sales, and marketing.
Prior to joining Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Kathleen was the CMO of Sedgwick LLP for more than 10 years. In that role, she built and managed the firm-wide marketing and business development program for the international law firm’s 16 offices. Kathleen was the founder of Marketing Visions, a full-service marketing, business development, and public relations agency, and has held marketing leadership positions at Cooley Godward, Fenwick & West, Littler Mendelson, and Coopers & Lybrand.
Lindsay Hamilton, MBA
Senior Coach
Lindsay Hamilton, MBA, brings 20 years of experience in law firm and professional services strategy, business development, marketing and communications. Prior to her affiliation with Ackert, Lindsay spent several years as CMO at AmLaw Global 100 firms.
As a consultant, Lindsay has tailored strategies at firm, practice, industry, and partner levels for firms operating in regional, national, and global contexts. Her expertise spans strategy through operational implementation to tactical execution. Her leadership experience informs her perspective as advisor and coach, whether assisting a firm with their strategic plan or guiding a lawyer through a specific business development challenge.
Lindsay is known for her acumen across both market-based and internal business drivers, enabling her to become a trusted advisor across diverse mandates. She is attuned to industry disruption and has helped firms design and navigate business transformation and innovation. She has also advised professionals and C-suite corporate clients in executive branding and strategic communications, including acting as Chief of Staff to CEO’s and managing partners.
Melissa Hoff
Senior Coach
Melissa Hoff brings nearly 20 years of in-house and consulting experience to her role as Senior Advisor at Ackert. Prior to her work with us, Melissa was a partner at the Zeughauser Group, a consultancy that specializes in marketing and business management for AmLaw 100 firms. As an in-house marketer, she spearheaded the marketing strategy at Garvey Schubert Barer and served as a Director in the marketing department at Preston Gates & Ellis (the 430-lawyer firm that is now K&L Gates). She has significant experience in advising and implementing business development strategies for a firm, as well as at the practice group and individual levels.
Melissa is a frequent speaker on law firm coaching and business development. She is a leader in the legal marketing community. She was a founding member of the Seattle Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association, she served as the Chapter President in 2002 and again in 2015, and was the West Region President in 2019.
Carmelo Millimaci
Senior Coach
Carmelo is an associate certified coach with 20 years of business development and marketing experience. He has been on the Ackert team for several years and has worked with clients across North America.
He previously served as a senior business development and marketing leader at Norton Rose Fulbright, a global law firm. Carmelo regularly integrates the client perspective into his coaching work, which is focused on business development, client service and satisfaction, and proposal win strategy. He also coaches on leadership development, team engagement and career fulfillment.
Carmelo coaches leaders and teams to utilize values and strengths, embrace change, amplify self-worth, and remove roadblocks to achieve conscious business and career success. He is a member of the International Coach Federation.
