Executive Leadership
Daniel Porcaro, President and CEO
Dan started Project Leadership Associates (PLA) in 1998, with the concept of offering senior-level consultants to manage, implement and lead mission critical IS projects to mid-sized firms at an affordable price. Today, PLA has grown to more 140 employees, specializing in six core practice areas and continues to maintain a high growth rate.
Prior to starting PLA, Dan was one of three partners at the Chicago based Lotus Notes development firm of Workgroup Productivity Corporation. Dan’s role as Chief Operating Officer was to organize the firm’s national expansion and position the company for sale. Workgroup Productivity was sold in 1998 to Corestaff Inc., in a sale negotiated by Daniel Porcaro. Prior to Workgroup Productivity, Dan worked at Lansystems Inc. As part of the senior management team, he led the central division of the firm from 2 employees to over 50 in four years.
Dan holds a degree in B.S. in Marketing from Northern Illinois University.
Bruce Munies, Executive Vice President, Network Integration
Bruce manages the Network Integration practice group at PLA and is one of the original members of the Project Leadership team. Bruce has a strong operations and business background based on over 24 years of experience in a variety of positions.
Prior to joining PLA, Bruce was a partner and Chief Operating Officer at Courtesy Home Centers. Courtesy Home Centers was a $60 million dollar home improvement retail chain located in Illinois. The company was grown from one store to six locations over a 15 year period and employed over 700 people. Bruce also had positions at LanSystems (later Donnelley Enterprise Solutions) where he served in several management capacities including; Director of Project Management and Branch Manager. Bruce’s group led all large-scale engagements for the central region.
Bruce holds a B.S in Finance from the University of Arizona.
Daniel Safran, Executive Vice President, Management Consulting
Dan heads PLA’s Management Consulting, Technology Risk Management and Litigation Solutions practice groups. Through these service lines, PLA provides strategic, management and business consulting, as well as technology risk management services and litigation solutions to the legal, professional services, financial services, manufacturing and distribution industries. Dan has over 21 years business and technology professional services experience and specializes in the management and delivery of quality assurance, business and technology strategy, organizational alignment, technology assessment, program management and business improvement of complex, multi-disciplinary business and information technology solutions. He also participates on the company’s Board of Directors.
Prior to joining PLA, Dan was President and Managing Partner of Project Leadership Consulting, a pure play management consulting business until this entity was sold to PLA in late 2002. Dan has held various positions as President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer at a variety of international public and private companies and law firms. He has developed and executed strategic, operational and tactical business plans delivering value in start-up, growth and turnaround situations. Dan’s consulting experience stems from his 10 years at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and senior consulting positions at several Chicago based business and technology consulting firms.
Dan holds a B.S. in Public Affairs from Indiana University.
Kevin Callozzo, Executive Vice President, Small Business Services
Kevin manages the Small Business Services practice at PLA. He uses his technical and strategic background to help clients wisely invest in technology solutions that best meet their business needs and strategic goals. Kevin strives to view PLA’s services from the client’s perspective and add value to our consulting relationships through our wide range of services.
Prior to joining Project Leadership Associates, Kevin ran his own technology consulting firm which merged with PLA in 2001. He began his career working in public accounting where he was involved in all aspects of auditing and taxes covering various industries. After 5 years in public accounting, Kevin accepted a position as Chief Financial Officer and was later promoted to Executive Vice President where he was involved in all aspects of the business as well as directly overseeing the finance and information technology areas.
Kevin has a degree in Accounting from Illinois State University and he is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Lee Hovermale, Executive Vice President
Lee currently serves as Executive Vice President (TOLA - Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Alabama) of Project Leadership Associates Houston office.
Prior to joining Project Leadership Associates, Lee served as Principal/Chief Information Officer at Client Profiles Corporation based in Atlanta, GA. Before working at Client Profiles he was the Principal/Chief Information Officer at FirmLogic, L.P. In 1995, Lee was the co-founder of Enhanced Systems and Solutions (ESS), a leading integration firm serving the legal industry. He was a member of the ESS Board of Directors and the company's Strategic Planning Committee responsible for researching vendors and products to bring value to ESS E-Support and Web-based System Management Offerings. In 1999, ESS was recognized by the Houston Business Journal as the 2nd fastest growing private company in Houston. Prior to co-founding ESS, Lee specialized in law firm integration while employed with LAN Systems in Washington, D.C.
Lee has presented on a number of topics including Database Administration and Database Tuning for iManage and Hummingbird, Storage Area Networking (Storage Virtualization), Security (Protecting Assets from the Outside), Information Lifecycle Management (Storage Networking), Server consolidation, Enterprise Active Directory design and Disaster Recovery/Business Continuance Planning. Lee's expertise in the areas of security, professional project management, computer technology, product knowledge and Disaster Recovery/Business Continuance consulting has earned him the reputation as a leader in the Information Technology industry.
Gaurav Issar, Executive Vice President, Software Development
Gaurav manages the Software Development practice group at PLA. He previously co-founded NEXUS Consulting Group, a business intelligence firm that was acquired by PLA in November 2005. Through his efforts as a thought leader and successful engagement manager, he has helped build the practice into a leading provider of business intelligence consulting services.
Prior to joining NEXUS Consulting Group, Gaurav was a senior manager at Headstrong (formerly james martin+co), where he specialized in process and project management. A major focus area was the development of both custom and package information systems for Fortune 500 corporations. His prior experience as a consultant at Price Waterhouse and Greenbriar & Russell provided him with additional industry and functional experience.
Gaurav has an M.B.A in Marketing and Finance from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. He also holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.
Steve Taeyaerts, Executive Vice President, Business Intelligence
Steve manages the Business Intelligence practice group at PLA. He previously co-founded NEXUS Consulting Group, a business intelligence firm that was acquired by PLA in November 2005. Steve has worked with clients across a number of functional areas performing technology planning, business analysis, design/architecture, project management, facilitation and training.
Prior to joining NEXUS Consulting Group, Steve was a principal at Headstrong (formerly james martin+co). During his seven years at the firm, he worked with a variety of clients as a consultant, project manager and account manager. He was also a consultant with Coopers & Lybrand in Chicago. His consulting assignments have included work in tool-based development, package integration, open systems technologies and structured methodologies.
Steve has an M.B.A., with distinction, from DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. He also holds a B.A. in Economics and Computer Applications from the University of Notre Dame.
Douglas E. Klatt, Director of Business Development
Douglas is Director of Business Development at Project Leadership Associates and has over 26 years of IT related sales, marketing and business development experience. In this role, Douglas manages the day-to-day, and year-over-year sales through a staff of dedicated senior account executives. Additionally, Douglas manages many relationships with the firm’s strategic vendor partners.
Douglas has been involved in many areas of the IT industry including technical engineering, hardware and software manufacturer sales, distribution sales, reseller sales, technology consulting sales and sales management.
Douglas holds certifications with Interwoven WorkSite, Microsoft Solutions, Citrix Solutions, Neverfail Solutions and EMC SE Accreditation.
Susan Walsh, Director of Human Resources
Steven Getto, Chief Financial Officer