Leadership

Blake Garrett

Founder and CEO

Blake created Aceable in 2012 following a 6-year career in consulting at EY. The company’s original focus was gamifying books and training manuals to make them more consumable and engaging. In 2013, Blake focused Aceable on consumers growing desire for mobile-based learning, targeting its first product at mobile-centric millenials looking for a more convenient and entertaining drivers education experience. The first product by Aceable, TX Parent Taught Drivers Ed, launched in May 2014. Blake holds a BS in Management with a concentration in Accounting from Boston College.

Eric Seifert

Chief Revenue Officer

Seifert most recently served as the COO and CMO of A Place for Mom, a Warburg Pincus portfolio company. Under Eric’s leadership, APFM grew by 400% over 5 years and delivered a 6x return for investors, eventually leading to a successful sale to General Atlantic and Silver Lake Partners in 2017. Prior to AFPM, Eric served as VP of Marketing and Strategy at Expedia where he oversaw 50% of Expedia’s traffic acquisition across 26 countries worldwide. Throughout his career, Seifert has valued, negotiated, and integrated dozens of acquisitions and partnerships on both the buy and sell sides.

Erin Defossé

Chief Strategy Officer

Defossé oversees M&A, government affairs, and long-term strategic partnerships. Before joining Aceable, he was SVP of Product Management at Bazaarvoice and also founded the Magellan International School in Austin. He started his career as an engineer for NASA. Defossé holds an MBA and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Aeronautics & Astronautics from Stanford University.

Justin Kvasnicka

Chief Financial Officer

Kvasnicka spent over five years at RetailMeNot, Inc., where he served as Vice President, Corporate & Business Development, as well as the CFO of the company’s Gift Card segment. He also worked at Capital Southwest Corporation, a private equity and venture capital firm, and at J.P. Morgan, where he was an Investment Banking Analyst. Kvasnicka earned his MBA from Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business and his BBA from Texas A&M University.

Derrick Mar

VP of Engineering

Mar brings 35 years of technology leadership experience in high-growth environments. Derrick has led multiple companies to successful exits in his career. Most recently, Mar served as the CIO at Travelport, where he drove innovation and broadened the products’ footprint to include cloud and mobile to position the products for the future.

Emily Lawrence

VP of Content

Lawrence joins Aceable after an incredibly successful run at the online education company, Craftsy. As its SVP of Content and Production, Emily and her team grew an award-winning online education business from its infancy to serve over 12 million members, partner with 600+ instructors and create 1300+ classes across 16 verticals. The company was acquired by NBCUniversal in 2017.

Nancy Spencer

VP of Finance

Spencer comes to Aceable after nearly three years at Google, serving as an Operational Controller and Google Fiber Regional Finance Lead. She also spent 10 years at Ernst & Young, where she was Senior Manager, Assurance Services. She received both her BBA and MPA from the Red McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Kristen Haga

VP of Customer Experience

Kristen ensures that Aceable is a delight for our students! She leads Customer Support and Fulfillment teams responsible for delivering memorable and valuable customer experiences to our students. With a BA in Sociology from the University of Michigan and over 15 years leading Customer teams in high growth, early-stage companies, Kristen thrives helping organizations anticipate and decode complex growth stages during critical seasons of change.

Ben Opps

VP of Marketing

Ben is responsible for all things marketing. He previously served as VP of Marketing at A Place for Mom and SeniorAdvisor.com, a Warburg Pincus portfolio company. A Wisconsin native, he holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ben Carolan

VP of Business Development

In his role, Ben oversees B2B business and affiliate marketing. Ben joined Aceable after six years with TabbedOut, a hospitality market leader in connecting consumers with their favorite venues through a mobile payment application. In addition, he has more than ten years of business development and online management experience. Ben is also a CFO - certified forklift operator - and holds a BS from the University of Texas at Austin.

Marjorie Edwards

VP of People & Culture

Marjorie is responsible for attracting and retaining top talent, providing an outstanding employee experience that drives business outcomes and cultivating culture. Over the past 12 years, Marjorie has led teams through IPO and high impact transitions. Prior to Aceable, she led the Business Partner team and Global Learning & Development teams at Stitch Fix and RetailMeNot. Marjorie holds an SPHR (Senior Professional of Human Resources) and CPLP (Certified Professional of Learning & Performance), has a BS in Communications with Business certification from the University of Texas and a Master’s in Management from Harvard University.

Jacob Rios

VP of Product

Jacob is responsible for all things product. Prior to Aceable, Jacob was Director of Product Management at Civitas Learning; an education technology company focused on helping students graduate. He started his career at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory working in their Ballistic Missile Defense department and subsequently managed product innovation in audio at Jawbone. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rice University and an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, where he was a Mayfield Fellow.