Management Team
- Thomas D. Dretler, President & CEO
- Peter J. Stokes, Ph.D., Executive Vice President & Chief Research Officer
- Alicia M. Martinelli, Managing Vice President, Finance & Operations
- Abigail L. Callahan, Managing Vice President, Knowledge Management and New Program Development
- Brent R. Keltner, Ph.D., Senior Vice President
- Steve Mongeau, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing
- Jesse Adelman, Vice President of Sales
Thomas D. Dretler, President & CEO
Tom joined Eduventures in 1998 and has been president & CEO of the company since 1999. He is responsible for creating value for clients and shareholders through the management and growth of the enterprise. Tom has led Eduventures' transformation from a boutique investment bank to a strategy research business with a worldwide reputation for improving the performance of organizations operating in the education market. Prior to joining the company, he served as director of a management consulting firm chaired by Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter with a focus on business reengineering and organizational change. Throughout Tom's career, he has taken a leadership role in supporting business involvement in public sector issues. In the mid 1990s, he managed a Harvard Business School program on business involvement in public education, welfare-to-work, and urban investment. In the early 1990s, he served as a consultant to former President Jimmy Carter and was responsible for developing public-private partnerships in association with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. Tom is a member of the Education Industry Leadership Board and a board member of the Galaxy Institute for Education at USC. Tom is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Johns Hopkins University and holds an M.B.A. degree from the Harvard Business School.
Peter J. Stokes, Ph.D., Executive Vice President & Chief Research Officer
Peter leads Eduventures' team of researchers and consultants, who work with hundreds of colleges and universities across the country as they seek to recruit students, develop faculty, manage costs, and produce high-quality graduates. In the 10 years that Peter has been with Eduventures, his work has focused on helping colleges and universities serve adult learners, grow online enrollments, educate future teachers, and demonstrate meaningful outcomes. In 2005, Peter was recognized as one of “higher education's new generation of thinkers” by the Chronicle of Higher Education. More recently, he provided testimony to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' Commission on the Future of Higher Education, and later served as an advisor to the commission in the development of its final report, A Test of Leadership. Peter was a member of the CHEA Tenth Anniversary Commission, which sought to support the strengthening of higher education accreditation. He also worked on Governor Deval Patrick's Commonwealth Readiness Commission to support the development of a 10-year strategy for education in Massachusetts. Prior to joining Eduventures, Peter was Manager of the industry research group at Daratech, Inc., an information technology market research firm. Peter has also held teaching positions at Tufts University and the Massachusetts College of Art. Peter has a graduate certificate in business administration from Cardean University, and a B.A. and a Ph.D. in literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Alicia Martinelli, Managing Vice President, Finance & Operations
Alicia joined Eduventures in 1999 and has managed the finance and operations function since 2000. She is responsible for all corporate finance activities and leads company initiatives with respect to coordination, control, and measurement. In addition, Alicia oversees company operations and infrastructure. Before joining Eduventures, Alicia managed operations at the David Lavin Agency, a lecture agency serving the higher education market. Alicia has more than ten years' experience in business operations and corporate finance. She holds a B.A. in economics and anthropology from Wellesley College.
Abigail L. Callahan, Managing Vice President, Knowledge Management and New Program Development
Abigail joined Eduventures in 2002 and is responsible for ensuring that core business processes meet the needs of Eduventures' members and clients. In that capacity, Abigail oversees knowledge management practices to protect client confidentiality, to ensure employees have the most up-to-date training and tools needed to satisfy client inquiries, and to optimize the sales process to facilitate a rapid response to prospect inquiries. Previously, Abigail directed Eduventures' consulting practice, where she managed a staff of consultants who provided strategic analysis for clients across the pre-K-12, postsecondary, and corporate learning markets. Before joining Eduventures, Abigail was a consultant for Bain & Company. At Bain, she worked with clients to identify and implement new initiatives and determine ongoing strategy. Abigail also has three years' experience working in the corporate training market, where she developed and facilitated performance management training programs and strategic planning meetings. Abigail holds a B.A. in political science from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Brent R. Keltner, Ph.D., Senior Vice President
Brent plays a leadership role in the development of new product and market strategies that help drive Eduventures’ growth. He joined the company in 2003 and led the launch of four of the company's initial Learning Collaboratives. Brent has worked with provosts and vice provosts of enrollment management, student affairs, and development at more than one hundred universities and colleges on topics related to messaging, delivering, and measuring educational value. His research has been featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, the Financial Times, the Sloan Management Review, The California Management Review, and the RAND Monograph Series. Prior to joining Eduventures, Brent served as a Vice President for marketing and development in the higher education division of Kaplan, Inc. He began his career as a Researcher at the RAND Corporation and an Assistant Professor at the RAND Graduate School. Brent serves on the boards of the Cambridge Montessori School and Chorus North Shore, and is a volunteer for the Acord Food Pantry. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University and a B.A., magna cum laude, from Pomona College.
Steve Mongeau, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Steve leads Eduventures' sales and marketing teams, focusing on introducing new members to Eduventures' Learning Collaboratives and Education Services consulting practice, as well as supporting membership renewal initiatives. Steve joined Eduventures in 2007, bringing a wealth of experience in sales and marketing leadership to the organization as Eduventures expands its offerings to meet the growing needs of higher education institutions. Prior to joining the company, Steve enjoyed many successful years of substantial growth with Staples Contract and Commercial business, most recently as Senior Vice President of Staples Business Advantage, which included a vertical marketing team for the higher education market. In the 1980s, Steve led growing sales and marketing teams with Standard Coffee Service, Inc., based in New Orleans, LA, and the Jewel Cos., based in Chicago, IL. Throughout Steve’s career, he has focused on customer needs in developing strategic initiatives to drive high levels of customer satisfaction and provide winning solutions to their challenges. Steve is committed to enhancing excellence in education with higher education institutions across the country. Steve holds a B.S. in social work from Cornell University, serves on the Board of Directors of the Samaritans of Greater Boston, and is a member of the Board of Advisors at The Home for Little Wanderers in Boston.
Jesse Adelman, Vice President of Sales
Jesse leads Eduventures' growing Learning Collaborative sales team, which is focused on introducing new members to Eduventures Learning Collaboratives as well as supporting membership renewal initiatives. Jesse brings to Eduventures his significant sales experience in business information services. He comes most recently from Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) as a Principal Consultant, where he led the sales effort in launching D&B's successful Private Data Portal product and generated six straight years of strong growth and overachievement. Prior to D&B, Jesse held roles of increasing responsibility at iMarketinc, which was later acquired by D&B. Jesse holds a marketing and business administration degree from Bryant University. He serves on the Board of Wayland Baseball and Softball organization and chairs a local community toy drive, in affiliation with Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), that benefits inner-city families.