Leaders That Inspire

Geoff Gross

Founder Chief Executive Officer

Geoff Gross is the founder and CEO of Medical Guardian, a leading provider of personal emergency response and connected care solutions. Founded in 2005, Medical Guardian protects 300,000+ active subscribers nationwide. Geoff’s passion for the connected care, healthcare tech, and IoT industries is the basis for the mission of Medical Guardian — to empower customers to live a life without limits. With 16 years of experience in the personal emergency response systems industry, Geoff has positioned Medical Guardian to empower its customers through innovative products that offer protection at home and everywhere they go.

Medical Guardian was named one of the “Best Places to Work” by Philadelphia Business Journal in 2015 and 2018, included in “Philly 100” fastest growing companies, and listed in Inc. 5000’s list of fastest growing American companies for the seventh consecutive year in 2019.

Geoff was named Ernst & Young’s 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year and a Glassdoor Top CEO in 2018, ranking #38 in the U.S. small-and-medium-sized business category. In 2016, Geoff was named to the “Most Admired CEO’s” list by the Philadelphia Business Journal. He has also been named a “40 under 40” by the Philadelphia Business Journal and Direct Marketing News, and Smart CEO Magazine’s “Future 50”. Geoff sits on the Board of Directors for the Medical Alert Monitoring Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of the Delaware Valley, the Please Touch Museum, and as a Co-Chair of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia largest fundraiser event, “Cheers for CHOP.” He’s also a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO).

Mark Leighton

President & Chief Operation Officer

Mark joins Medical Guardian with more than 25 years of management experience, 10 of which were focused in the Healthcare space. Mark’s most recent role was as CEO of Connect America, a leading provider of personal emergency response systems. During his six years there, Mark significantly expanded the company’s Marketing and Sales capabilities, helping grow the business to one of the largest providers in North America.

Before Connect America, Mark spent four years at CVS Pharmacy, where he managed a healthcare department focused on disease state management and home healthcare. During his time there, he was able to significantly grow market share and drive increased profits.

Mark’s passion is to motivate and support teams of great people. He strongly believes that working together is the key to delivering exceptional results. In addition to running the day-to-day operations and working closely with each department, Mark also plays an essential role in obtaining new business and partnerships to fuel Medical Guardian’s growth in the coming years.

Mark Gaudiosi

Chief Financial Officer

Mark has 25+ years of strategic finance experience across multiple sectors and companies. Most recently Mark was the Chief Financial Officer at Gopuff where he led the growth and scale of enterprise value over 3500%. Over the past 3 years Mark has driven growth by building a world class finance organization focused on profitability and strategic acquisitions.

Prior to Gopuff, Mark led Accounting and Finance organizations for large retail and technology corporations including eBay Enterprise (now Radial), Aramark, and Wawa. Mark began his career in the Philadelphia startup scene, building teams and partnership to successfully work through an acquisition and IPO at Zany Brainy.

Mark received his MBA in Finance and BS in Accounting from Drexel University and sits on the Steering Committee of the CFO Leadership Council.

Brian Simmermon

Chief Information Officer

Brian Simmermon is the Chief Information Officer at Medical Guardian, a Rowan University alumni, and a board member for the tech-focused non-profit organization named Hopeworks. His passion for innovation and forward thinking has contributed to a long list of notable achievements in his 30 years of direct business and technology experience.

One of Brian’s most impressive achievements took place within his first year as CIO of Advanced Call Center Technologies. Within a month’s time, he created infrastructure for over 5,000 call center agents to work from home but still benefit from the same secure environments that agents had come to expect from their on-site experience. This ambitious approach to improving customer and employee experiences is one of the factors that has led to his operational success in a variety of domestic and international markets.

Brian strongly believes in a collaborative managerial approach. His proclivity for team- based, progressive work styles generates a productive and efficient work environment. His approachable disposition encourages successful interaction with diverse backgrounds, cultures and professional levels.

Robert Smedley

Chief Sales Officer

Robert joins Medical Guardian with over 11 years of experience in call center management. Beginning a career in sales in 1999, Robert excelled through multiple levels of sales management leading to positions as either Vice President or Senior Vice President of Sales. He also expanded his career skills and professional education by becoming an RCCSP Certified Call Center Manager, completing Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership II Training and the Wharton School of Business Executive Development Program.

One of Robert’s most notable experiences was a tremendous 8-year run while working as Vice President of Sales and Counseling for Nutrisystem, Inc. Charged with driving performance for a 400-person call center, Robert was responsible for sales growth of $38 million annually to over $775 million annually.

Robert strongly believes in coaching and developing talent with a strong emphasis on creating a sales culture that continues to strive for excellence. Robert’s passion lies in inside sales operations with both an entrepreneurial spirit and a strategic plan focused on expansion through driving sales performance.

Matthew Guerrieri

Chief Marketing Officer

Matt Guerrieri is the Chief Marketing Officer at Medical Guardian and a Philadelphia Business Journal 40 Under 40 nominee. Matt graduated from Ohio State University in 2009 with a Bachelors’ Degree in Social Communications and Marketing. In 2010 Matthew joined Digitas Health, an interactive marketing agency catering exclusively to pharmaceutical companies. In 2011, the agency integrated into the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), the world’s largest healthcare communications network, where Matt was promoted to the role of Media Planner for AstraZeneca.

In 2013, Matthew was hired as the Digital Marketing Manager at Medical Guardian at age 26 and was promoted after a year and a half to Director of Marketing, earning his spot on the company’s Executive Team before the age of 30. He’s helped the Medical Guardian secure partnerships with retail giants like Costco, CVS, Walmart, and QVC, as well as upwards of $105 million in capital investment from Apollo Global Management.

Jennifer Sali

Vice President of Customer Care

Jennifer joins Medical Guardian as Vice President, Customer Care. She brings with her an extensive professional background in insurance operations, with over 20 years in the industry leading high performing service teams. Most recently, she spent 14 years with Transamerica, holding a number of key leadership roles in the areas of call center, workforce management and claims. During her tenure, she championed several initiatives netting measurable improvements in service quality, customer retention and departmental efficiency.

Jennifer strongly believes in collaboration and the power of “team” in delivering consistency and excellence in results. She possesses a deep passion for providing products and services that offer protection and security to families. As an integral part of the leadership team, Jennifer will focus on optimizing call center performance to deliver a best in class customer experience to our customers.

Karina Brodsky

Vice President of Information Technology

As Vice President of Information Technology, Karina Brodsky oversees core business processes and technology development with a primary focus on monetizing the Medical Guardian IoT platform.

Karina’s 20+ years experience includes 8 years at Subaru of America and 12 years at the Hibbert Group, as a leader of the IT Development and Ops Team. Specializing in project management life cycles and Agile methodologies, Karina also has extensive experience with implementing large-scale B2C and DTC web application initiatives.

Howard Teicher

Vice President of Healthcare & Business Development

Howard has joined Medical Guardian with over 20 years of experience in the Medical Alert and Life Safety industries. As the Director of New Business Development, he continues to expand Medical Guardian’s footprint with national partnerships and strategic alliances, as well as its dealer and affiliate business.

He also plays a key role in helping Medical Guardians growth by expanding its healthcare program for Hospitals, long term care, and senior housing communities.

Prior to joining Medical Guardian, Howard has been a consultant in the Healthcare, Security and PERS industries for such things as product manufacturing, marketing strategies, and sales growth implementations. He also served as Vice President of Business Development at Connect America.

Howard has been recognized and received awards by such companies as Honeywell, General Electric, and First Alert for his business growth and partnership strategy programs.

His genuine love for helping others and carrying out our mission is reflective in his personality and resonates clearly to his new business partners.

Emily Berman

Vice President of Human Resources

Emily graduated from Penn State’s Schreyer’s Honors College with a B.S. in Recreation Park and Tourism Management and a minor in Business. After graduation, she moved to New York City to work as a Buyer for Bloomingdale’s Department Stores. After two years in the buying office, she transitioned into Human Resources and spent five years running and managing the Executive Buying Program. Emily then spent a year at Bloomingdales.com as a Recruiter before moving back to Philadelphia. Throughout her time in NYC, Emily earned her PHR Certification (Professional In Human Resources) from Pace University.

In May of 2012, Emily moved back to Philadelphia and worked for Burlington Coat Factory as a Corporate Recruiter. She then joined Medical Guardian in March 2013. Emily worked as The Director of Human Resources until June 2017. Emily took a 2.5-year hiatus to start her family and returned as Director of Human Resources in January 2019.

Eliza Salerno

Vice President of Product & Operations

Eliza joins Medical Guardian with 10 years of experience in the Healthcare sector as a Program Director and Project Manager for Healthcare facilities. Eliza has had several key leadership roles at Medical Guardian, including a Director of PMO position where she led several teams in project management, quality assurance and business operations. During this time, she was responsible for execution of technical initiatives, driving significant company growth, and establishing several operational teams needed to support that expansion.

In her current role, Eliza oversees cross functional teams including supply chain and logistics, training, fulfillment, healthcare operations and product management. Eliza’s passion for quality and innovation fosters her diligence in the development of Medical Guardians’ expanding product suite. She strongly believes collaboration is the backbone of success and loves working with the teams at Medical Guardian to drive operational efficiencies and creative design of products.

Eliza graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University. She is a PMI certified Agile Practitioner and an active member of the Project Management Institute.

Derek Gerberich

Vice President of Product & Derek Gerberich

Derek Gerberich is the Vice President of Marketing at Medical Guardian, overseeing performance marketing, marketing technology, and marketing analytics for the team.

Derek arrived at Medical Guardian with nearly a decade of experience in digital performance media consulting. Some of his notable work included leading digital media efforts for Five9 which culminated in a $15B purchase offer from Zoom.

In addition, Derek has overseen growth efforts for several challenger brands which subsequently secured multiple rounds of investor funding, in addition to three different acquisitions exceeding $1B.

Derek graduated from Penn State University with his Master’s Degree in Statistics.

Sean Coyne

Vice President of Finance

Sean joined Medical Guardian in June 2014 as the Controller. Leading the finance team Sean is responsible for the overall accounting and financial reporting functions for Medical Guardian LLC. In addition he also oversees Medical Guardian’s billing and collections department.

Prior to joining Medical Guardian, Sean spent over twelve years in public accounting at Elko & Associates Ltd. While at Elko, he led teams on audit and review engagements, prepared complex corporate tax returns and performed due diligence for lender support in the security and alarm industry.

Sean is a 2004 graduate from Widener University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.