Leadership

Michael Rubiera is the President/CEO and Founder of Accelevation. Prior to starting Accelevation, Michael was the Chief Commercial Officer of Senneca Holdings, a specialty industrial door company owned by private equity group Audax. At Senneca, Michael led the sales, marketing, customer service, and product development efforts. During his time at Senneca, Michael played a key role in the acquisition and integration of 16 companies in a period of 18 months as well as the successful sale of Senneca from Audax to Kohlberg for $555 million.

While also spending considerable time in key leadership roles in Fortune 100 companies like Valspar, Ecolab and General Mills, Michael has also successfully launched 8 start-ups, has three patents, and acquired 22 companies. Michael received his MBA from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and his BA from the College of William and Mary.

Outside of Accelevation, Michael and his wife Shawn spend their time with their family, restoring a centuries old 56-acre farm and taking care of their many farm animals. He also enjoys playing guitar and woodworking.

Chip Hillman is the Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Accelevation, Chip was the Chief Financial Officer at Corsearch, an international software company providing trademark and brand solutions to legal professionals. Before his role as CFO, Chip operated as Corsearch's Chief Transformation Officer, accelerating the company’s growth into new markets and solutions through the successful acquisition and integration of 8 companies.

Chip has over 15 years experience in leadership positions in finance, M&A, and strategy with private equity held companies including: Senneca Holdings, Vertafore, and Reynolds & Reynolds. He has played integral roles in inorganic growth and financial strategy, leading over 20 acquisitions and completing two successful sale transactions while at Corsearch and Senneca Holdings. He earned an MBA from San Diego State University and B.S. from the University of Toledo.

Chip is a Dayton native, where he lives with his wife and two sons. Outside of work he enjoys coaching his son’s youth sports, traveling, and is an amateur sneakerhead.

Ericka Harrison is the Senior Vice President of Operations. She has a Master's in Social Work from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor's in Business Administration from the University of Evansville, where she excelled both academically and athletically as a Division 1 Student Athlete. Ericka has over 15 years’ experience in leadership positions in Supply Chain. Most recently, Ericka was the Senior Operations Manager at Amazon Fulfillment, where she oversaw a state-of-the-art fulfillment center equipped with cutting-edge technology and robotics. Ericka oversaw the launch of the world's largest Amazon field project, the Amazon Air Hub, where she daily served over 1.2 million customers and orchestrated 66 cargo flights through the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). Ericka also worked for GE Aerospace, building the foundation of her supply chain expertise.

Ericka is a devoted mother of three, twin daughters and a son, who are all a source of joy and inspiration in her life. Ericka and her husband Vince are proud natives of Cincinnati, and they enjoy the outdoors, swimming, and playing sports together.

Chad Cizinsky is the Senior Vice President of Construction. Prior to joining the Accelevation team, Chad held several instrumental management roles leading & growing teams for both privately owned and private equity owned companies. Most recently Chad was the CEO of Trident Franchise Systems, an organization that acquires & accelerates the growth of franchise companies through investment in talented professionals, process improvement, and systems integration.

As a dynamic sales leader, Chad played an essential role in the integration and sustainable growth of the portfolio of legacy brands at Senneca Holdings as VP of Sales – North America. Working with the executive teams and through multiple private equity sponsors, Chad’s leadership & vision helped Senneca achieve consistent and significant enterprise value expansion. His leadership, characterized by a keen focus on results & a collaborative approach, has earned him a reputation for being trusted to lead teams through transformative growth.

Chad’s personal passions include golf, travel with his wife, hockey and cooking. Chad is a Minnesota native, and today lives in North Carolina.

Shawn Rubiera is a Founding Partner and Vice President of Expansion at Accelevation. 

Previously, Shawn has worked in several nonprofit organizations, start-ups and in the social entrepreneurship center at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector and is passionate about building strong and vibrant connections between businesses and their communities.

Shawn has worked in both international health organizations and in corporate philanthropy. She received a BA in International Studies from Bowling Green State University.

She and her family live outside of Cincinnati, OH.

Kelly Miklas is the Vice President of Systems and Transformation. Early in her career, Kelly found a passion for change management within business and end to end process alignment. Prior to Accelevation, Kelly was a Senior Director of Operations at BeLeaf Medical Co., overseeing the complete seed to sale process through developing strategic plans around growth and optimization, establishing clear key benchmarks in a nascent industry, while developing young leaders along the way. Kelly also held key roles with Amazon within the fast-paced Sub Same Day Division where she was instrumental in continuous improvement projects while running her own fulfilment center in East Saint Louis, Illinois. She comes with over ten years’ experience in enterprise resource planning and supply chain planning, execution, and management.

Kelly obtained her Bachelor’s in Accounting with a minor in Business Law from the University of Toledo and her Master’s in Business Administration from Franklin University

Outside of work, she loves to spend time with her boyfriend of six years traveling, watching Buckeye football on Saturdays, exploring new restaurants, and hanging out with family and friends. They also have a two-year-old Lab, Luna Bear, that keeps everyone on their toes.

Russ Neale is the Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to joining Accelevation, Russ was Senior Vice President at Momentec Brands, a leading manufacturer of athletic uniforms and performance apparel.  Russ led marketing and branding at antecedent company Founder Sport Group, driving growth to over $246 million and resulting in the successful merger of Founder Sport and Augusta Sportswear, to form Momentec.  While at Momentec, Russ led sales and marketing integration projects.

Russ has over 20 years of branding leadership, and has managed iconic brands such as Campbell Condensed Soup and Pedigree Dog Food, and has led product innovation for Valspar Paint and Cabot Stain.  He holds a B.A. from Truman State University and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, he is a lifelong fan of the Royals, the Chiefs, and authentic Kansas City barbecue. He enjoys cycling and hiking with his family.

Mike Jurek is the General Counsel. Mike brings over 17 years of legal expertise to our team, with a strong background in both private practice and corporate law. Before joining Accelevation, Mike served as the Assistant General Counsel at Fuyao Glass America, one of the world’s largest automotive glass manufacturers, where he played a key role in managing complex legal matters and strategic business initiatives.

Throughout his career, Mike has demonstrated a deep understanding of business litigation and corporate law, having worked in private practice as a business litigator and served as a Federal Judicial Law Clerk to the Hon. Michael J. Newman at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Mike earned his J.D. from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2007, where he was an Associate Editor of The Ohio State Law Journal, and holds a B.A. from Denison University, earned in 2004.

Terry Salo is the Vice President of Human Resources. Prior to joining Accelevation, Terry served as a Senior HR Advisor with strategic HR inc., HR Director for Trade Global, and as a Regional HR Manager at AECOM, a global leader in engineering consulting services.

She has over 25 years of HR experience and has worked in a variety of industries including professional services, manufacturing, the nonprofit sector and the Department of Defense. Her collaborative approach and customer service skills have made her a trusted adviser among business leaders and a respected HR resource to employees at all levels within the organizations where she has worked. Terry has a BS in Human Resource Management from the University of Maryland.

Outside of work, Terry enjoys spending time with her husband of 28 years, Jerry, and their 2 daughters, Sam & Sabrina. Terry and her family moved to Ohio from Virginia in 2016, and enjoy discovering all of the festivals this area has to offer.

Mahdiyar (Matty) Akhaven is the Chief Technology Officer of Accelevation and brings over a decade of experience in mission critical power solutions. Prior to joining Accelevation, Matty founded and developed Earnest Solutions LLC, a power distribution consultancy, integrator, and value engineering power solution provider.   

Matty has extensive experience designing and implementing optimum power distribution and control systems for data center, healthcare, industrial and government projects. He holds a Bachelor and Master Electrical power engineering as well as Master graduate certificate in system engineering and master’s degree in computer software engineering. After 23 years of engineering journey from designing infrastructure to product side in the evolving markets, his desire to solve the obstacles in power distribution never reduced.

Outside of work Matty enjoys spending time with his wife and his little daughter. Exploring playgrounds! And look for new scavenger hunt places. He also enjoys Travel and discovers new destinations with family.

Geri Morgan is the Chief People Officer of Accelevation. With 20 years in HR experience, Geri has a passion for creating People & Talent teams during times of scale and transformation. 

Most of her career has been in high-growth tech and manufacturing companies. Most recently while at Intellum, she made engagement and retention her top priorities, implementing innovative employee benefits and award-winning development programs. 

Born and raised in Ohio, Geri graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a focus on HR Management. She's married to her husband, Matt, for 13 years, and has three amazing kids. When she's not cheering on her kids or jamming to Taylor Swift, you can find her spiking volleyballs in a women’s league or diving into a good book with my monthly Book Club.