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Prevent financial crime, improve operational efficiencies and enhance profitability.
Analyze diverse bits of data and connect relevant information for more accurate, timely and informed decisions.
Ensure appropriate access to health information, improve operational outcomes, and proactively reduce health care fraud.
Reduce expenses, streamline critical business processes, and gain insightful information about your business.
Protect your revenue, maximize operational efficiencies and enhance your ability to predict and prevent fraud.
Gather and analyze disparate data to gain relevant, insightful information quickly and securely.
Increase your ability to detect and prevent fraud, contain costs and protect revenue.
Do business securely and profitably by better understanding your customers, employees and vendors.
Make informed decisions by identifying, authenticating, investigating and monitoring individuals.
Identify right party contacts by leveraging the largest repository of relevant data.
Protect your organization using state-of-the-art background check tools to identify risk and stay compliant.
James Peck CEO
Rick Trainor CEO, Business Services
Haywood Talcove CEO, Government and LexisNexis Special Services Inc.
Bill Madison SVP and GM, Insurance
Lee Rivas SVP and GM, Screening
Eric Hess SVP, Global Operations
Harry Jordan VP and GM, Health Care
Peter Lynch President, Insurance Exchange
Rebecca Schmitt CFO
Armando Escalante SVP and CTO
Lisa Agona CMO
Scott Sessler SVP, Strategy and Business Development
Donald Welsko SVP, Human Resources
Meredith Sidewater SVP and General Counsel
Debbie Atwell VP, Public Records
James Peck is Chief Executive Officer for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. He started with the business unit in March 2004 with responsibility for driving revenue and merging market needs with technology solutions. In 2008, Peck spearheaded the $4 billion acquisition and integration of ChoicePoint® into LexisNexis, which was a milestone transaction to catapult LexisNexis into a leadership position in the risk management space. Peck also facilitated the 2004 Seisint acquisition and integration into LexisNexis. Under Peck’s leadership, the business unit has become a $1.5 billion dollar business with a history of consistent double-digit growth and significant margin improvements for the past five years.
Previously, Peck was Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer of the Global Electronic Product Development Organization for LexisNexis. He was responsible for product development and online solutions to serve global markets. He was appointed to this position in October 2001.
Prior to 2001, Peck was the Senior Vice President of Product Development with Celera Genomics, a bio-technology firm. After joining Celera in 1999, Peck led the construction of a new online system containing information about human genetics deployed in task-based applications for research scientists, delivered via the Internet. He spearheaded the creation of their product development group and increased revenue by more than 100% in fiscal year 2001.
Peck previously spent a decade at LexisNexis in engineering and executive roles to manage build data and editorial systems. In 1997, Peck joined Lexis Online Publishing to head product design. As Vice- President of product development, he led the teams that designed and built all the components of the lexis.com research system. Peck also headed creation of a new editorial publishing system for the summaries and launched the summaries operations that now employ 700 full-time lawyer-editors.
Peck serves as a Trustee on the Board of the Directors for the southeast region Boys & Girls Club of America. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the metro-Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the March of Dimes of Georgia.
Peck earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Dayton in management information systems, and a masters in business administration from The Ohio State University. He lives in the Atlanta-area, with his family.
Bill Madison is Senior Vice President and General Manager, Insurance, for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis, a position he has held since October 2006. Madison is currently responsible for all insurance transactional business including solutions for underwriting, claims, analytics, and international markets; as well as pursuing new market initiatives in life, telematics, auto rental.
Madison has played a key role in the integration of data services into multiple channels, and in transforming Insurance Data Solutions from being a data provider to providing a holistic approach to risk analysis, underwriting, and claims processing that includes process enhancement. These innovative solutions have helped insurance carriers achieve significant improvements in performance.
Madison joined the organization in 1989 as part Equifax’s acquisition of Innovative Research, Inc., where he was a member of the leadership team that developed several products that revolutionized auto insurance underwriting. When the Insurance Services team was spun off from Equifax to create ChoicePoint, he was instrumental in transitioning the organization into a standalone unit.
During his tenure, Madison has served in a variety of roles including customer sales representative in the Personal Lines (Auto and Home) market, then later as Vice President of Sales for the Insurance Data Services division where he was responsible for the National Accounts Program, in addition to all ChoicePoint data sales activity.
Madison earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Economics from Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia. He lives in the Atlanta area with his family.
Peter Lynch is the President of the LexisNexis Insurance Exchange, a business and renewal submission placement platform that enhances the flow of application data between brokers, agents and their markets. In this role, Lynch was responsible for launching the Insurance Exchange to the market in 2011 and directing strategy and development efforts with industry leading early adopters. He was instrumental in establishing the Insurance Exchange’s overseeing body via the Insurance Exchange Trust, an industry board with broker, carrier and industry trustees, including representatives of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, the Independent Insurance Agents & brokers of America, Assurex Global and ACORD.
Most recently, Lynch led strategic product and services for LexisNexis Insurance Solutions, overseeing both the development and marketing of the company’s portfolio of claims services. In addition, he was responsible for exploring new international opportunities across the LexisNexis Insurance Solutions business. He joined ChoicePoint, now a part of LexisNexis, in 2005.
Prior to ChoicePoint, Lynch served as senior vice president and general manager of AIG Technologies (AIGT) and served in product management for the company’s insurance software division. Previously, he was president of Cover-All Technologies.
Lynch is a graduate of Cornell University and received a masters in business administration from the University of Houston.
Rick Trainor is Chief Executive Officer, Business Services and Content for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. Named to this position in July of 2009, Trainor directs the unit's strategy, market and product direction, and manages the sales and vertical marketing teams for the business unit's banking, receivables management and corporate/emerging markets. In addition he manages the company's content acquisition, bulk content fabrication, sales and licensing, along with managing our two specialty businesses: VitalChek and Signature Information Solutions.
Previously, Trainor served as Senior Vice President of Content and Data Services. In that capacity, Trainor was responsible for all content acquisition, along with bulk content fabrication, sales and licensing.
Prior to joining LexisNexis, Trainor was Vice President of Content for Seisint, a privately owned Boca based company, which was acquired by LexisNexis in 2004. In this position, he was responsible for all content acquisition. Prior to 2001, Trainor served as Vice President of Contracts and Program Management for Diveo Broadband Networks, where he managed significant vendor financing agreements and the contract management aspects of building out world-class data centers and fixed wireless networks across Latin America.
Trainor serves on the Board of Directors for Zoo Atlanta. He earned his BS in Accounting and MS in Finance from Boston College.
Haywood "Woody" Talcove is Chief Executive Officer, Government and LexisNexis Special Services Inc., for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. In this role, he is responsible for all sales, market planning and product management for government for LexisNexis. Talcove also oversees all operations for LexisNexis Special Services Inc. (LNSSI), a separate subsidiary that is responsible for classified government business. A recognized expert in the Government IT space, Talcove joined LexisNexis in 2008, bringing a customer-centric focus to LNSSI's operations.
Previously, Talcove served as Vice President of Public Sector Americas for Juniper Networks, where he spearheaded federal (civilian, intelligence, and defense) state and local, and education sales for the company, and supported the networking and security needs of government through Juniper's broad range of high performance technology solutions. Earlier in his career, Talcove served in several positions at Cabletron Systems.
Talcove is a sought-after source for trend analysis by media and industry event organizers, and serves on the Board of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.
Talcove earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in public administration from the University of Maine.
Lee Rivas is Senior Vice President and General Manager for the screening business of LexisNexis®. He is responsible for growing the background screening business and to enhance its position as an industry leader. Other roles he has held at LexisNexis include Vice President of Sales for the legal division and Senior Director of Strategy.
Prior to joining LexisNexis, Lee spent three years at the strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he was an Engagement Manager specializing in strategy, marketing, and sales force improvement for Fortune 500 companies.
Previous to McKinsey, Lee spent five years in the U.S. Army where he served in a variety of leadership roles including M1A2 tank platoon leader and M3A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle Reconnaissance platoon leader. He was stationed at various U.S. locations and in the Middle East where he participated in operations in Kuwait.
Lee serves on the Board of Directors for the Children's Museum of Atlanta. Lee graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a BS in Political Science where he was a member of the academic honor society Phi Kappa Phi. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is married with two children and resides in the metro-Atlanta area.
Eric Hess is Senior Vice President, Global Operations for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. In this capacity, Eric drives strategic direction for all U.S. and international operations for Risk Solutions, which include Screening Fulfillment, Customer Service, Compliance and Regulatory support and Consumer Advocacy. The Operations group comprises more than 1200 employees worldwide and maintains a customer-centric focus, dedicated to delivering streamlined, technology-driven services that help LexisNexis clients make better informed decisions.
Prior to joining LexisNexis, Eric was Vice President and General Manager of Occupational Health Services for ChoicePoint. Under his leadership, the group successfully launched new solutions to the marketplace such as The Digital Solution for Drug Testing – an advanced Web-based technology that offers instant transparency into historically manual processes such as substance abuse screening.
Eric is a respected industry expert on the topics of drug testing and employment-related screening, and is a frequent lecturer, speaker and author on these topics. In 2001, he was appointed by the Secretary of Transportation to the Department of Transportation's Federal Advisory Committee for the Transmission and Storage of Electronic Drug Testing Information. Having served more than a decade on the legislative and regulatory affairs committee of the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA), including two years as Board Chairman, he now resides as Chair Emeritus. Eric is also a previous recipient of Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Inc. Magazine and Ernst and Young.
Harry Jordan is Vice President and General Manager, Health Care for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. He directs the Health Care business, offering capabilities in Health Management, Predictive Claims Fraud Analytics and Health Information Exchanges.
Jordan joined LexisNexis in 2004 as Vice President, Strategy; then in 2007 he transitioned to Vice President, Government solutions. Since joining LexisNexis, he has led several acquisition due diligence efforts including the $775M Seisint and the $4.1B ChoicePoint acquisitions. He also led various critical initiatives for the business such as coordinating the response and remediation to the 2005 LexisNexis data fraudulent incident.
Prior to joining LexisNexis, Jordan served as a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and Perot Systems. He ran the Financial Services business unit of the IT infrastructure consulting firm Greenwich Technology Partners. Jordan has also been an IT consultant with Cambridge Technology Partners (now part of Novell) and began his career with Price Waterhouse as a consultant.
Jordan holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management.
Rebecca (Becky) Schmitt is Chief Financial Officer for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. In this role, she is responsible for leading the finance function, including planning and analysis, financial reporting and various accounting functions. The finance team is focused on providing analysis and recommendations that support the decision making of the business to drive profitable growth.
Previously, Schmitt spent twenty years with various divisions of Sara Lee Corporation. Her most recent role was Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer for Sara Lee Branded Foods, a $1 billion division that included the Sara Lee Bakery portfolio. Other roles crossed a variety of financial disciplines, including integration of several acquisitions, planning and analysis, general accounting, accounts receivable and supply chain finance.
Schmitt serves on the Board of Directors for Hands on Atlanta. She also holds a certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation and earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from Hanover College, and an MBA from Northern Illinois University.
Armando Escalante is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. In this position, Escalante is responsible for technology development, R&D, information systems, security and operations. Previously, Escalante was Chief Operating Officer for Seisint, which was acquired by LexisNexis in 2004. In this position, he was responsible for Technology, Development and Operations.
Prior to 2001, Escalante served as Vice President of Engineering and Operations for Diveo Broadband Networks, where he led world-class data centers located in the U.S. and Latin America. Before Diveo Broadband Networks, Escalante was VP and General Manager for one of the fastest growing divisions of Vignette Corporation, an eBusiness software leader. He also worked for Unisys Corporation, EPSON America and Bell Labs.
Escalante serves on the Board of Directors for TechBridge, and is a member of the Board of Advisors at Florida Atlantic University. He earned his bachelor's degree in electronic engineering at the USB in Caracas, Venezuela and a master's degree in computer science from Steven Institute of Technology as well as a Master's degree in business administration from West Coast University.
Lisa Agona is Chief Marketing Officer for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. In this role, Agona leads the development and implementation of marketing strategies that drive revenue growth, elevate the brand and represent the voice of the customer.
Joining LexisNexis in 2007, Agona spearheaded the communication strategy for the $4 billion 2008 acquisition of ChoicePoint, and in 2009 led a year-long company-wide rebranding effort as ChoicePoint was integrated into LexisNexis.
Previously, Agona was global marketing director for Accenture's capital markets group. She also held the role of Vice President with Republic National Bank of New York (now HSBC) where she co-lead the development of one of the early online banks. Agona's areas of expertise traverse business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets, and include marketing strategy, branding, product management, direct marketing, and corporate in-house venturing.
Agona serves on the Board of Directors for the Junior Achievement of Georgia. She holds a BA in economics from West Virginia University and an MBA from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.
Scott Sessler is Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. In this role, he is responsible for strategic planning, acquisitions, strategic business development projects and competitive intelligence.
Sessler's involvement with this business unit began in 2000 as a member of the team responsible for the acquisition of RiskWise International, which ultimately led to the establishment of the LexisNexis risk-focused business. He joined the Risk business in 2001, with responsibility for strategic planning, business development and competitive intelligence. Sessler has been an active participant in large-scale acquisitions including RiskWise, Dolan, Seisint and ChoicePoint, which have grown the business from $46 million in 2000 to $1.4 billion in revenues, and has also been a key driver in the divestments of several non-core businesses. He has also served as Venture Associate to the Reed Elsevier Ventures Fund.
Prior to Sessler's role in LexisNexis, he led the Strategic Marketing function within the Nexis organization. He joined LexisNexis in 1986 as a senior business analyst, and has held a variety of positions in strategy, business development and finance.
Sessler earned his BBA in Finance and Accounting at the University of Cincinnati, and his MBA from The Ohio State University. He is also a certified public accountant (inactive) in Ohio, and serves on the Strategic Communications committee of TechnologyFirst, a nonprofit trade association based in Dayton, Ohio.
Donald (Don) Welsko is Senior Vice President, Human Resources for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. Welsko joined LexisNexis in 2008, during Reed Elsevier's acquisition of ChoicePoint, commencing an integration that nearly quintupled the size of the business unit.
With more than twenty years of operating and executive human resources experience, Welsko has held positions with PepsiCo (Frito Lay), General Electric (GE Capital), Sears, The Limited, and Philips Electronics. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Georgia State Chamber of Commerce and the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, and was previously a board member for the Georgia Special Olympics, the HR Leadership Forum and SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise).
Welsko holds a BS degree in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University, an MBA from Jacksonville University, and the SPHR designation from the Human Resource Certification Institute.
Meredith Sidewater is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. In this role, she is responsible for all legal, compliance and regulatory matters.
Prior to assuming this role, Meredith served as Vice President and Lead Counsel for the Insurance business of LexisNexis, continuing in a similar role she had held since 1999 at ChoicePoint Inc., prior to its acquisition by Reed Elsevier in 2008.
A board member of the Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter of the American Red Cross, Meredith is also active with the Bright Pink organization as a PinkPal, serving as a one-on-one supportive resource for young women at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
Meredith holds a BA in history from the University of Michigan, and earned her law degree at the University of Georgia School of Law. Meredith lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children.
Debbie Atwell is Vice President, Public Records for the risk solutions business of LexisNexis®. In this position Atwell is responsible for managing the business between the risk and legal business units. This includes leveraging existing solutions and identifying new opportunities that would apply across these two business units.
Prior to joining the risk solutions business, Atwell worked in the legal business in a variety of sales capacities, most recently leading the team who managed the Top 20 Customers for U.S. Legal Markets. She is a ten-time winner of the company's Circle of Excellence sales award, and has been with LexisNexis for 16 years.
Atwell earned her bachelor's degree in Finance from Baldwin Wallace College and graduated Magna Cum Laude, and attended business school at John Carroll University in Cleveland.
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