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 140,000 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 14 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

Chief Operating 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.

Marc Gilbert

Chief Financial Officer

Marc has over 30 years of experience in working with both public and private companies, 25 of which were spent within the alarm industry, including electronic security and PERS. This experience includes his current CFO role for Medical Guardian LLC, 7 years with Matrix Security LLC as their VP of Mergers and Acquisitions, and 13 years as the CFO for Response USA.

Prior to joining Medical Guardian, Marc formed Pinnacle Advisory Services LLC (“PAS”). PAS provided advisory services to alarm industry lenders, alarm company owners, and central stations. His area of expertise includes due diligence, financial reporting, customer retention, financing, and M&A consulting.

Marc has completed over 200 acquisitions during his career and procured more than $200 million in capital. Throughout his career, Marc has been responsible for spearheading cost-saving projects and has developed highly-skilled financial and operational management teams. He has experience in SEC financial reporting and has extensive experience overseeing due diligence processes used to evaluate acquisitions.

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.

Sunil Vulli

Chief Technology Officer

Sunil brings over 15 years of experience in lifestyle consumer products and technology. His experience includes product innovation, digital transformation, continuity and CRM execution in health foods, personal care and home security space with a deep focus on data and automation.

Prior to joining Medical Guardian, Sunil led digital transformation as marketing and technology leader at Hihealth, LifeShield and Nutrisystem through their startup to growth phases. At Nutrisystem, he was the key member of the original team in E-commerce Operations that led NutriSystem turnaround by taking sales from $20M to $778M (EBITDA from $0 to $170M) by 2007.

Sunil has strengths in both strategic data analysis and new product innovation to maximize both topline and bottom line growth. Whether it is a process detail or new concept in IoT, he embraces big ideas but also understands ultimate success depends on what is measurable and not just what is imaginable in delivering the best customer service.

Sunil holds a Masters in Computer Science from St. Joseph's University and is currently pursuing his Masters in Business Administration from Kellogg, Northwestern.

Matthew Guerrieri

Chief Marketing Officer

Matthew 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 Matthew was promoted to the role of Media Planner for AstraZeneca.

Throughout 2011 he worked on numerous accounts including: Crestor (heart medication), iBGstar (blood glucose monitor), Synvisc-One (knee pain treatment), Fluzone (flu shot), Menactra (meningitis) and Sklice (children's head lice).

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. Today, Matthew is the Vice President of Marketing, overseeing the Marketing Department.

Pete Cava

Director of Information Technology

Pete is a graduate of Drexel University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and over 25 years of technical operations and executive management experience. He started his career as Director of Technical Programs at Formation Inc. developing embedded control systems for the radar communications and large storage markets. While at Formation, Pete led their ISO 9000 certification effort.

In 1998 Pete founded and served as President of SNiP Telecommunications, a Philly Metro based regional telephone and Internet company where he was responsible for IT, sales and marketing, and call center operations.

In 2010 SNiP was acquired by NetCarrier and Pete continued his career as a business process consultant specializing in helping companies use tools like Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM to streaming their operations. He then joined Medical Guardian in June 2015.

Eliza Salerno

Director of Project Mangement

Eliza joined Medical Guardian in 2017 with 8 years of Healthcare experience. Prior to her role at MG, Eliza worked as a Program Director and Project Manager for several multifunctional Healthcare Centers in Philadelphia. With a strong background in Healthcare project portfolios as well as experience managing large and complex company initiatives, she brings a versatile skill set that fosters an intricate understanding of stakeholder needs and project design.

Eliza has been integral in the planning and execution of Medical Guardian project priorities. In her current role she works directly with the IT department to communicate and develop strategies around technical implementations of software and web development projects. After receiving her certification from the Project Management Institute, she has played a crucial role in streamlining operational functioning and product innovation at Medical Guardian.

Russell Reich

Logistics Manager

Russell joined the Medical Guardian team with more than 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Most recently, Russell worked as the Outlets Manager at Radisson Warwick, where he oversaw the hotel restaurant, bar, coffee shop, and room service for three years.

Beginning as a Sales Associate in April of 2013, Russell quickly rose to become one of the top-performing employees. Due to his hard work and dedication, he was then selected to create and oversee Medical Guardian's logistics operation just six months later in September.

Since then, Russell has grown the Logistics Department from a one-man operation to a team of professionals that ships more than 400 products to Medical Guardian customers every day. As the Logistics Manager, he oversees 15 employees at Medical Guardian's shipping and fulfillment facility in Delaware.

In 2014, Russell was honored with the Medical Guardian Employee of the Year award.

Paige Coho

Director of Marketing and Communications

Prior to Medical Guardian, Paige graduated from the Art Institute of Philadelphia in 2012 with a dual Bachelors' Degree in Marketing and Graphic Design. While in school, she spent three cumulative years interning for fashion house moguls Oscar de la Renta and Milly, and international retailer, QVC.

After graduating, Paige went to work for May Media Group, publishers of a nationally-distributed parenting magazine. During her time there, she focused on digital marketing and was an integral part of launching both the media group's start-up ecommerce site and communications programs.

Paige started at Medical Guardian in September of 2013 as the Affiliate Marketing Coordinator. In this role, she was responsible for the development and growth of the affiliate and performance marketing programs, greatly increasing Medical Guardian's presence within the digital space. In January of 2015, Paige was promoted to Marketing Manager. Today, she focuses largely on communication and customer journey strategy and the team's project management.

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.

Emily Berman

Director 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.

Howard Teicher

Director of New 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.

Eric Kligman

Director of Customer Care

Eric joined Medical Guardian with more than 25 years of business management experience. As he leads the Customer Care department, Eric continues to implement Medical Guardian's internal call center strategies and operations, while also monitoring and improving systems and processes to provide the best in class customer service.

Eric has successfully led diverse, cross-functional teams to exceed results through strategic and tactical problem solving and collaboration. Prior to joining Medical Guardian, Eric was a Senior Director at AmerisourceBergen and VP of Call Center Operations for Connect America. During his time at Connect America, Eric defined, analyzed and improved strategy for Billing, Collections and Retention teams by increasing saves per agent by 65 percent annually, and reducing attrition rates by over 25 percent.

Eric's passion is making a difference and having his team members feel valued and appreciated, while developing innovative customer support and product delivery solutions. Eric holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Pennsylvania State University.