Leadership
Tim Toomey
Chief Executive Officer
After graduating from Villanova University with a degree in Economics in 2011, Tim received his commission in the United States Marine Corps. Designated as an Infantry Officer, Tim completed two overseas deployments and served as a Warfighting Instructor at The Basic School in Quantico, VA. Tim left the Marines in 2018 to pursue a joint MBA/MPA program at The Wharton School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and upon completing the program joined Bain & Company as a Consultant in their Washington, D.C. office.
Tim joined the Web Age Solutions team in 2022 as part of their acquisition by Axcel Learning, a private-equity backed firm dedicated to educating the modern workforce. Tim currently lives with his wife and 4-year old daughter in Annapolis, MD.
Mark McCreath
President
Mark graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa in 2000 with a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting. He has more than 20 years of experience in sales and accounting in the IT industry.
When ExitCertified opened in Ottawa, Canada, in 2001, Mark served as an account executive. In 2008, he moved to California permanently to build a U.S. business.
The U.S. business skyrocketed, and in 2010, Mark was promoted to VP of Sales. After the owner of ExitCertified sold the company to an enterprise and left his leadership position in 2018, Mark took over his role as V.P. of Education Services.
In 2023, Axcel acquired ExitCertified, and Mark was promoted to President. He lives with his wife and three sons in El Dorado Hills, CA.
Lauren Elliott Zünd
Chief Operation Officer
Lauren is responsible for overseeing the delivery and operations of all ExitCertified training programs.
Before working at ExitCertified, Lauren led M&A Integrations as the Head of Growth Operations for Heyday, overseeing eight acquisitions’ integrations. Before her work at Heyday, Lauren consulted for Bain & Co., where she supported Private Equity clients with due diligence, post-acquisition transformations, and corporate strategy. Lauren also spent four years at Nielsen, most recently in their Global Services division.
Lauren earned her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
Victor Torgrimson
Chief Technology Officer
While working toward a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at the University of Maryland, Victor began working as a programmer for a video game company. He soon combined his passions for programming and teaching by becoming an instructor for an IT training school.
After earning his degree, he was named Department Head of Computer Programming. He was promoted again that year to Director of Education. In that position, he discovered his passion for supporting the success of students and instructors through education management.
He started as an instructor at ExitCertified in 2004 and soon transitioned back to education management. As Senior Director of Delivery Operations, he ensures that ExitCertified delivers high-quality training to enhance the careers of IT professionals and the organizations they work for.
Victor enjoys model railroading, building electronic gadgets, and bicycling with his twin boys.
Brian Carlson
Vice President of Sales
After earning bachelor’s degrees in business administration and psychology from Appalachian State University, Brian began working in the IT Training Industry in 2002. He’s held roles in operations, customer service, product and partner management, and, since 2009, various Sales roles. This experience has provided a holistic view of what it takes to understand and deliver enablement programs that exceed customer expectations, leading to lasting relationships. Brian now leads the sales organization, guiding colleagues to provide the same exceptional value to their customers. Brian lives in Apex, NC, and enjoys anything outdoors, woodworking, staying active, and spending time with family.
Diane Jamison
Vice President of Sales Operations
Diane has worked in IT training for more than 30 years. She joined ExitCertified in 2010 as a Senior Sales Consultant and was promoted to Director of Sales and, more recently, Vice President of Sales Operations. Previously, she was Vice President of another IT training organization, operating nine training centers.
At ExitCertified, she supports the sales team, sales operations, and contract negotiations.
Diane takes pride in providing top-quality training solutions to meet customer requirements by enhancing employee knowledge and upskilling employees to transform and excel in their organization. She enjoys hiking and travelling with friends and family in her recreational vehicle.
Tapas Banerjee
Strategic Advisor
Tapas was the founder of Web Age Solutions, Inc. He has over ten years of experience in management, consulting, instructor-led t, and courseware development.
Formerly with IBM, Tapas’ experience includes architecting IBM’s flagship e-commerce product, WebSphere Commerce Suite, and serving as Development Manager of Internet Solutions for Cognos’ Impromptu Web Reports. Additionally, Tapas is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for IBM’s e-business Marketplace products. Tapas’ technical expertise includes Web Services, WebSphere, Java, OOAD, C++, e-commerce, and more.
Tapas holds a B.E in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, and a Master’s from the University of Newfoundland in Electrical Engineering (VLSI Design).
Steve Heckler
Vice President of Instructional Content
Steve founded Accelebrate in March 2002. He manages Accelebrate’s overall curriculum, works with clients to design enterprise-wide and team-level learning solutions, helps lead Accelebrate’s overall strategy, and teaches several times a year (which he loves).
Specialties:
- Designing enterprise-wide technical training solutions for corporations, government agencies, and universities
- Facilitating the development of team-level training programs that build genuine competency among the participants in the topics taught, not just “check the box” skills for passing a multiple-choice test.
- Utilizing current trends in cloud and on-premise application development and hosting
- Blending synchronous and asynchronous learning to maximize results and convenience
- Leading international business initiatives (Accelebrate has delivered classes in-person and online for students in more than 20 countries)
Before founding Accelebrate, Steve served nearly seven years as Vice President and then President of a Washington, DC-based IT training firm.
Steve is passionate about education and ensuring that every Accelebrate student has a successful class with a knowledgeable, engaging instructor and hands-on material directly relevant to real-world projects. Within the firm, Steve is one of Accelebrate’s lead instructors for Apache httpd, Apache Tomcat, JBoss, and IIS.
Outside of Accelebrate, Steve enjoys spending time with his family, helping lead workouts with a local fitness boot camp, travelling, teaching English and math skills to refugee children, and reading about foreign policy and current affairs. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Stanford University.
