About Us

Who We Are

We are advisors who help leaders accelerate their top initiatives to drive productivity and growth.
As former operating executives, we’ve observed the workplace changing dramatically – people are less connected, more pressed for time, and overloaded with information. Disconnection and miscommunication create friction, impeding growth and change.
The mission of CI2 Advisors is to improve productivity and business outcomes by transforming the way people connect and communicate in the modern workplace.
Organizations work with us to gain alignment and inspire action in their most important relationships – because action delivers results. Our customers experience increased sales and retention, higher customer satisfaction, and increased speed of execution.

What We Do

Ci2 Advisors makes leaders, teams and their ecosystem more connected and productive. Our Dynamic Relationship Model and Business Storytelling are at the heart of our TrueConnect product suite. Together, they accelerate building stronger personal connections and communicating clearly and authentically to achieve better team, customer and revenue outcomes.

We utilize several modalities to help your unique team:

Our solutions accelerate business outcomes and power engaged modern teams to be more collaborative and get more done.

Why Choose Us

Our Team

John Geraci

Founder & Managing Partner
Experienced Executive & Motivated Leader

Melanie Cary

Co-founder & Managing Partner
Customer Experience Executive & Passionate Leader

David Lynn

Managing Partner
Sales Leader & Executive Coach

Kate Schwen

Client Partner & VP of Customer Experience
Professional Connector & Passionate Speaker

David Carpenter

Client Partner
Effective Team Developer & Sales Executive

Vincent Mauro

Client Partner
Sales Executive & Strategic Leader

Sydney Haines

Head of Demand Generation
Strategic Marketer & Servant Leader

Our Board

Chris Rice

Previous President & CEO at BlessingWhite

Deanna Ransom

CMO at Mahdlo Executive Advisors

Bill Mahoney

CEO at Questek Innovations

Brad Childress

CEO at Competitive Edge Consulting

Alf Bringaker

Co-founder of Motivational Productions AS

Håkan Valberg

Previous CEO & COO at Extenda Retail

Steve Shander

Previous CCO at SAP America

Rich Natinksky

Former Master Instructor at The Pragmatic Institute

Beth Kaplan

(Advisor to the CEO)
VP of Global Enablement & Leadership Development at Medidata Solutions

John Geraci

Founder & Managing Partner
Education:

John had over 40 years of executive leadership before becoming the Founder and CEO of Ci2 Advisors. His prior experiences includes: President at Information Associates, President at BlessingWhite (now GP Strategies), Partner at The Complex Sale, Executive VP at Advent Software, and Managing Partner at Unlimited Connections Consulting. John has also served on the boards of companies like ASM International, TraderTools, and FolioDynamix, as well as being an Advisor to the CEO at SCRA.

When John reflects on his time in executive level leadership, he realizes that effective communication was the leading factor in determining success or failure for business objectives. As the world of work began to change, John knew that communication would be even more difficult to convey effectively, and being about to connect with, understand, and inspire customers would be harder to do than ever – that is why he founded Ci2 Advisors. His passion for this work stems from his belief that when customers feel heard and understood, amazing things can happen within your customer relationships and overall business performance.

Melanie Cary

Founder & Managing Partner
Education:

With more than 35 years in the Customer Experience space, Melanie understands how vital effective communication is for successful execution. Prior to joining Ci2 Advisors, she spent 12+ years in independent advising for executives and consulting for businesses. Her overall career experience includes the roles of Senior Manager of Management Consulting at Deloitte, VP of Professional Services at Dun & Bradstreet, and SVP of Customer Experience at Advent Software. 

Over her career, Melanie has led thousands of implementations and customer initiatives, and the difference between projects failing and projects succeeding was almost always the efficacy of their communication. Her passion for working with our customers comes from being able to leverage her vast CX experience to help people grow and develop. Melanie believes that all leaders and customer-facing teams need this skill to make a significant impact on revenue and customer satisfaction.  

David Lynn

Managing Partner
Education:

David brings more than 25 years in people strategy, leadership, and professional development to our team, having consulted and coached executives across a variety of businesses. Prior to joining CI Squared, he spent five years as Managing Partner at Ankura Consulting as an Executive Advisor. His previous experience includes roles as EVP of Strategic Services at LeadFirst Learning Systems, SVP at sales development firm IMPAX Corporation, Consulting Services Leader for Siebel Systems (now Oracle), and VP of Business Development at professional development firm Blessing/White (now GP Strategies).

He has had the privilege of leading sales and consulting organizations, as well as advising and coaching FORTUNE 100 executives at the intersection of culture and strategy. Throughout his career, his driving purpose has been to help individuals and organizations communicate more effectively and authentically to drive strategic execution. His passion for this work comes from knowing that companies can achieve a competitive advantage by elevating their teams’ ability to connect with, understand, and inspire their customers.  

Kate Schwen

Client Partner & VP of Customer Experience

With more than 10 years of customer success and management experience, Kate thrives when connecting with clients on both a personal level and in a team environment. Prior to joining Ci2 Advisors, Kate was a sales representative and expert at cultivating and maintaining customer relationships. In her career at Ci2 Advisors, Kate has achieved three promotions from her initial title as the Head of Product Development, to VP of Customer Experience, and now holding the title of a Client Partner.

Kate believes that the most rewarding part of life in general is connecting with other people and that connection is key to creating massive value for customers. Her passion for our work stems from the authentic connections that she has seen our own customers create, and feels a deep sense of purpose when she can teach others to harness the power of effective communication.

David Carpenter

Client Partner
Education:

With more than 30 years of experience in sales, sales management, and management consulting, Dave has worked with both billion-dollar companies and small start-ups. Prior to joining Ci2 Advisors, Dave was the Director of Sales for the Pacific Northwest Region at Sisense. His previous experience includes VP of Sales at ClearDATA, VP of North American Sales at Teralytics, and Director of Sales and Strategic Accounts at Teradata. Over the course of his career, Dave has implemented the following sales methodologies: SPIN Selling, Solution Selling, The Complex Sale, Challenger, MEDDICC and Command of the Message.

Dave believes that the key to successful teams is effective customer relationships, and communication skills impact that greatly. His passion for this work stems from his desire to build “A Teams”, not just by hiring well, but by developing their talent and participating in their success.

Vincent Mauro

Client Partner
Education:

Vincent brings more than 30 years of sales management and executive sales experience to our team. Prior to joining Ci2 Advisors, he held the title of SVP of Sales for North America at Worksoft. His previous experience includes Senior Director of Sales Strategy & Planning at Oracle, Client Partner at InfoMentis (now Altify), VP of Global Sales at Excelergy, and Regional VP of the East Region at PeopleSoft (now Oracle).

As both an experienced sales leader, trainer, and coach, Vincent is passionate about helping our clients achieve greater success through more effective communication. His passion comes from a belief that storytelling is a skill that will positively impact companies and individuals in a way that facts and figures could not accomplish on their own.

Sydney Haines

Head of Demand Generation
Education:

Sydney brings 15 years of customer success, team management, and sales & marketing experience to our team. Prior to joining Ci2 Advisors, she held the titles of Sales & Marketing Team Manager, State Project Coordinator, and Social Media Marketing Team Lead.

Having direct customer experience as well as team management skills, Sydney knows firsthand how important effective communication is for your team culture, as well as your customer interactions. Her passion for the work that we do comes from her innate need to create authentic connections for others, and her overall love of business development. Sydney believes that when you genuinely care about the needs of your customers, and know how to articulate that effectively, your team will have an opportunity to achieve their business goals.

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