Venminder CEO and leadership

Experienced in driving fintech and SaaS companies to achieve rapid and sustainable growth. As a leader with years 16 of experience in the banking and payments space, I’m passionate about the use of elegant platforms and code to streamline cumbersome processes and help businesses to succeed. My business development and sales expertise have help propelled now-prominent companies to evolve from the startup phase through to high-value acquisition. I was most recently responsible for revenue growth at Braintree as SVP of Sales. Now the payments processor for tens of thousands of online and mobile commerce innovators such as Uber, Airbnb, StubHub, Vivid Seats, and GrubHub to name a few. The company sold to eBay for $800M in Q4 2013 and continues to operate as the primary technology platform of PayPal.Prior to my time at Braintree, I served as SVP of Direct Sales at iPay Technologies. When the company sold to Jack Henry and Associates in 2010, it had grown into one of largest independent bill pay providers in the United States with a 40% market share.

Dana Bowers is Founder, Board Member and Chief Solutions Architect at Venminder where she assists with the firm’s long-term strategy and innovative product development. Dana has been an entrepreneur and leader in the financial industry for more than 30 years.

As the Founder of Venminder, Dana designed an entire new approach to vendor management by creating a state of the art software and integrated services solution that allows organizations to answer the ever growing challenges and regulatory demand for vendor management compliance. Dana served as Venminder’s CEO for five years until 2018. Under her leadership, Venminder grew into the third-party risk management leader it is today with almost 1,000 clients ranging in size from small to Fortune 100 organizations.

Prior to Venminder, Dana founded and led the team as CEO at iPay Technologies. Under Dana’s leadership, iPay grew from a start-up in 2001 to the one of largest, independent bill pay providers in the United States. When the company was sold to Jack Henry and Associates in 2010, iPay had a 40% market share, millions of subscribers and moved billions of dollars annually.

This hands on operating experience in a high-profile/high-risk “vendor” business gave Dana a unique perspective into the challenges organizations face on a daily basis. Whether it’s negotiating a financial technology contract, sitting across from examiners to answer tough questions regarding safety and soundness or protecting confidential customer data, she has sat in her customer’s chair. Following the sale of iPay to Jack Henry, Dana recognized the opportunity to use her experience and assist financial institutions and other organizations with managing their critical vendor relationships. The team at Venminder was formed with the vision and goal to create a best in class outsource vendor management solution, Venminder.

Throughout Dana’s career, her proven leadership and talent has been recognized by many. She was awarded the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 award for the South Central Ohio/Kentucky region in the Technology category.

Dana is on the board of advisors for the University of Louisville College of Business and serves as a board member for Associates in Pediatric Therapy, a Kentucky-based company. In 2019, CSI elected Dana as it's newest board member. Dana earned her bachelor's degree in Business Management from Embry Riddle University.

Aaron Kirkpatrick is the Chief Information Security Officer of Venminder. Aaron Kirkpatrick attended Iowa State University - Ivy College of Business.

Brian Adams joined Venminder in 2012 to lead the Information Systems team. Brian has more than 17 years working with his passion for learning to use technology to solve business problems.

Venminder provides a unique experience and freedom to exercise his broad range of experience in building complete end-to-end systems using best of breed technologies, patterns, and practices. After growing up with a family owned business Brian enjoys the company’s tight-knit relationship and desire to empower its employees to effect change.

Brian has worked as a developer gaining experience with a broad range of programming languages and other system’s supporting technologies. With this strong foundation Brian has found success leading large teams providing support to Sales and Marketing, Referrals Management, and Accounts Receivables departments with over $1.2 billion in annual revenue for a Fortune 500 healthcare provider.

Brian spent several years successfully directing teams who mined 20+ Terabyte databases looking for incorrect health insurance claims payments and other health related trends.

Brian enjoys the challenges of breaking complex business processes into simple rules and using those rules to build systems that more efficiently carry out these processes. He is passionate about learning new languages as well as keeping up with and shaping industry trends. Brian’s down-time is often spent learning new languages and technology, however immersing himself in foreign cultures and environments through travel and scuba allows him to continue his quest for knowledge while relaxing at the same time.

Cindy Horn is a Chief Operations Officer at Venminder and is based in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She has worked as Customer Service Manager at BLUEGRASS CELLULAR and Installation, Sr Manager at HENRY JACK & ASSOCIATES INC.

Jim Ciortan is Vice President of Sales with Venminder. Jim is a high-performing sales executive with over 15 years of sales leadership experience with Fortune 200 companies across multiple industries. He is passionate about sales and solving complex problems that deliver value for his clients.

Previously, Jim was responsible for Global Sales and Business Development with PayPal, Inc. Jim joined PayPal in 2015 and under his leadership PayPal’s share price grew over 3x. Jim was PayPal’s top Sales Leader in revenue attainment across PayPal’s worldwide business for four straight years, and most recently Jim’s global sales team exceeded its sales quota by over 400%. Jim is a 3-time recipient of PayPal’s prestigious Top Talent Equity Award and PayPal’s President Club Award.

Before joining PayPal, Jim served as the North America Business Development Leader with Citi Retail Services where he and his team expanded the portfolio by over $25 billion in receivables with multiple new logo wins. Prior to joining Citi, Jim was a VP at GE Capital where he held various sales leadership roles of increasing responsibility across the commercial and consumer finance organizations.



Jim earned a Bachelor’s degree from Denison University and his MBA in Finance & Strategy from DePaul University’s Kellstadt School of Business. In his commitment to serve the community, Jim is an avid contributor to various animal rescue causes. In his downtime, Jim is an avid sports fan and enjoys traveling with his family. He resides in Chicago with his wife, 2 children & 3 pets.

Ramin Zacharia leads and oversees the Venminder Finance department, while also working across the organization to identify future strategic initiatives and opportunities to drive internal and external efficiencies, and areas of growth. Ramin enjoys developing novel solutions for complex and ever-evolving business needs. Prior to Venminder, Ramin founded and managed RTD Insights, working alongside growth businesses, private equity funds, venture capital firms, and entrepreneurs to provide solutions for the offices of the CFO and COO. Ramin has worked with companies throughout the maturity lifecycle, serving as a value-added team member across finance, operations, and go-to-market functions. Ramin began his career in investment banking, most recently with William Blair & Company in Chicago, focusing on the technology and software vertical end markets. During his time at William Blair, he completed 16 M&A, public capital, and private capital advisory engagements. Ramin is a Certified Public Accountant in Illinois, and earned his Finance and Accounting degrees with honors from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

Dana Bowers is Founder, Board Member and Chief Solutions Architect at Venminder where she assists with the firm’s long-term strategy and innovative product development. Dana has been an entrepreneur and leader in the financial industry for more than 30 years.

As the Founder of Venminder, Dana designed an entire new approach to vendor management by creating a state of the art software and integrated services solution that allows organizations to answer the ever growing challenges and regulatory demand for vendor management compliance. Dana served as Venminder’s CEO for five years until 2018. Under her leadership, Venminder grew into the third-party risk management leader it is today with almost 1,000 clients ranging in size from small to Fortune 100 organizations.

Prior to Venminder, Dana founded and led the team as CEO at iPay Technologies. Under Dana’s leadership, iPay grew from a start-up in 2001 to the one of largest, independent bill pay providers in the United States. When the company was sold to Jack Henry and Associates in 2010, iPay had a 40% market share, millions of subscribers and moved billions of dollars annually.

This hands on operating experience in a high-profile/high-risk “vendor” business gave Dana a unique perspective into the challenges organizations face on a daily basis. Whether it’s negotiating a financial technology contract, sitting across from examiners to answer tough questions regarding safety and soundness or protecting confidential customer data, she has sat in her customer’s chair. Following the sale of iPay to Jack Henry, Dana recognized the opportunity to use her experience and assist financial institutions and other organizations with managing their critical vendor relationships. The team at Venminder was formed with the vision and goal to create a best in class outsource vendor management solution, Venminder.

Throughout Dana’s career, her proven leadership and talent has been recognized by many. She was awarded the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 award for the South Central Ohio/Kentucky region in the Technology category.

Dana is on the board of advisors for the University of Louisville College of Business and serves as a board member for Associates in Pediatric Therapy, a Kentucky-based company. In 2019, CSI elected Dana as it's newest board member. Dana earned her bachelor's degree in Business Management from Embry Riddle University.

Experienced in driving fintech and SaaS companies to achieve rapid and sustainable growth. As a leader with years 16 of experience in the banking and payments space, I’m passionate about the use of elegant platforms and code to streamline cumbersome processes and help businesses to succeed. My business development and sales expertise have help propelled now-prominent companies to evolve from the startup phase through to high-value acquisition. I was most recently responsible for revenue growth at Braintree as SVP of Sales. Now the payments processor for tens of thousands of online and mobile commerce innovators such as Uber, Airbnb, StubHub, Vivid Seats, and GrubHub to name a few. The company sold to eBay for $800M in Q4 2013 and continues to operate as the primary technology platform of PayPal.Prior to my time at Braintree, I served as SVP of Direct Sales at iPay Technologies. When the company sold to Jack Henry and Associates in 2010, it had grown into one of largest independent bill pay providers in the United States with a 40% market share.

Dana Bowers is Founder, Board Member and Chief Solutions Architect at Venminder where she assists with the firm’s long-term strategy and innovative product development. Dana has been an entrepreneur and leader in the financial industry for more than 30 years.

As the Founder of Venminder, Dana designed an entire new approach to vendor management by creating a state of the art software and integrated services solution that allows organizations to answer the ever growing challenges and regulatory demand for vendor management compliance. Dana served as Venminder’s CEO for five years until 2018. Under her leadership, Venminder grew into the third-party risk management leader it is today with almost 1,000 clients ranging in size from small to Fortune 100 organizations.

Prior to Venminder, Dana founded and led the team as CEO at iPay Technologies. Under Dana’s leadership, iPay grew from a start-up in 2001 to the one of largest, independent bill pay providers in the United States. When the company was sold to Jack Henry and Associates in 2010, iPay had a 40% market share, millions of subscribers and moved billions of dollars annually.

This hands on operating experience in a high-profile/high-risk “vendor” business gave Dana a unique perspective into the challenges organizations face on a daily basis. Whether it’s negotiating a financial technology contract, sitting across from examiners to answer tough questions regarding safety and soundness or protecting confidential customer data, she has sat in her customer’s chair. Following the sale of iPay to Jack Henry, Dana recognized the opportunity to use her experience and assist financial institutions and other organizations with managing their critical vendor relationships. The team at Venminder was formed with the vision and goal to create a best in class outsource vendor management solution, Venminder.

Throughout Dana’s career, her proven leadership and talent has been recognized by many. She was awarded the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 award for the South Central Ohio/Kentucky region in the Technology category.

Dana is on the board of advisors for the University of Louisville College of Business and serves as a board member for Associates in Pediatric Therapy, a Kentucky-based company. In 2019, CSI elected Dana as it's newest board member. Dana earned her bachelor's degree in Business Management from Embry Riddle University.