Ascella Leadership

As the co-founder and President of Ascella Technologies since 2002, Amith Varghese focuses much of his time assisting clients in addressing their business and technology needs. Amith's expertise lies in designing and implementing customer-facing system infrastructures, primarily based on open-source business applications and tools. He has also led projects for clients such as the Department of Homeland Security, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of the Interior, and Virginia Department of Taxation. Prior to co-founding Ascella, Amith was a senior technical consultant for Tallan, Inc. (a CMGI company). Amith graduated at the top of his class with a BS in Computer Science from the University of Virginia.

Christian Stauffer leverages more than 30 years of Information Technology and large project management experience to help set the strategy and business development for Ascella. He brings his innovative and creative problem-solving capabilities to develop need-based solutions for government agencies. Chris also focuses on delivering solutions to clients that have a quantifiable return on investment. Prior to joining Ascella, Chris was at Accenture for over 26 years. As a senior executive at Accenture, Chris led the North American Tax & Revenue industry practice. In this role, Chris developed critical alliances with premiere technology product companies to jointly design solutions to meet client business needs. In achieving technological advances for his clients, Chris has developed solutions that have received nationally recognized awards for innovation. Chris graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in Aerospace Engineering.

Since co-founding Ascella Technologies in 2002, Jacob Varghese has led the company’s administrative business processes, including financial management, HR, and recruiting. He leverages more than 30 years of Information Technology experience to effectively support client engagements. Jacob's unique strengths include his ability to manage large organizations comprised of high-performance software engineers and technical specialists. Prior to Ascella, Jacob spent 25 years at American Management Systems (AMS). He left shortly before the firm was acquired by CGI, a major Canadian systems integrator. As a Vice President at AMS, Jacob led the Division-and Corporate-level software engineering organizations responsible for development and support of eight major proprietary software product lines that generated hundreds of millions in revenue to AMS. Jacob also served as a senior technical consultant for many of the firm's most visible clients in the government industry. Jacob earned an MBA from Columbia University; a MS in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras; and a BS in Engineering from Mysore University.

Joshua Shapiro applies his more than 20 years of combined Federal IT systems consulting and U.S. Federal Government financial management systems experience and subject matter expertise to analyze, identify, develop, and implement financial management solutions for government agencies and organizations. Mr. Shapiro is currently a Vice President with Ascella Technologies, Inc. (Ascella) where he manages several portfolios of accounts, leads client relationship and engagement efforts, supports financial management system shared services migrations, and implements Ascella’s GovCycle® budget formulation and execution solution. Mr. Shapiro specializes in federal financial management, budget, and acquisition systems, and has an in-depth understanding of the data and systems associated with the U.S. Federal Government budget and spending life cycle, including how the information in this data can be unlocked through data analytics to support data-driven and evidence-based decision-making. Prior to joining Ascella, Mr. Shapiro served as the Financial Systems Manager and as the Acting Budget Director for a U.S. Federal Government agency as a GS-15 where he managed and executed agency-wide financial system upgrades, enhancements, maintenance, and operations activities. Prior to entering federal service, Mr. Shapiro was a Senior Consultant and Project Manager with CGI Federal (CGI) and served as a financial systems subject matter expert for CGI's Momentum® solution. Mr. Shapiro graduated from The College of William and Mary with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Operations and Information Systems.

Priya Seth brings more than 15 years of experience in the field of Business Process Optimization and Reengineering focused on mission services for Federal agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Priya works closely with clients to review process and system workflows and leverage technology and business process optimization solutions to maximize efficiencies and reduce costs. Priya provides functional subject matter expertise for business and financial management process improvements, end-filer communication support, user training, and system modernization. Priya has expertise in and is currently supporting various compliance initiatives with a focus on evaluating the opportunities and impact from distributed ledger (blockchain) technologies. Prior to joining Ascella, Priya served as Lead Business Analyst focused on enterprise wide business process reengineering for India’s largest Bank. Priya redesigned and automated processes in the Bank exponentially improving branch cost to service ratios and client satisfaction scores. Priya also carried out strategic marketing for customer service and branding for the Bank. Priya graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi and has an MBA with a dual major in Finance and Marketing. Priya holds Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

John Hooley is a seasoned federal financial management professional with over 28 years of experience driving organizational improvements, process optimization, and technology enablement across government agencies. As a Vice President at Ascella, he provides strategic vision and subject matter expertise to transform clients' financial and mission operations. John collaborates closely with agencies to implement tailored solutions leveraging leading practices and innovative technologies spanning areas like budget formulation, accounting operations, cost modeling, process automation, and financial systems modernization. Previously at Deloitte, BearingPoint/KPMG, and MIL, John led large-scale initiatives revamping fee structures, overhauling reporting capabilities, and realizing cost savings. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), and Project Management Professional (PMP) with a Bachelor's in Accounting from the University of Maryland and Master's Certificate in Federal Acquisition.

Billy Paulson is a costing specialist who has consulted in both the private and federal sector. Prior to joining Ascella, he supported the Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington as part of an enhanced supply-chain management initiative. Billy has also supported Shell Canada in Alberta, Canada, and was instrumental in developing a solution to price the labor, raw materials, and overhead required to produce a barrel of oil. Besides his work in the private sector, Billy has supported U.S. Federal Government clients such as Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Agriculture, where he has worked to develop integrated costing and budgeting solutions. Billy is an expert in SAP Profitability and Cost Management, and also has experience working with various dashboarding solutions. Billy graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Science and Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy.

Dr. Marc Martinez brings over 26 years of technical and program management expertise to federal civilian IT. As an Ascella Senior Principal, he leads the PMO, CMMI appraisals, training, and process implementation. Marc has spent 20+ years focused on federal financial IT systems and large-scale business/reporting systems, primarily at HUD. Marc holds a BS and MS in Information Technology, and he earned his PhD in Information Technology with a specialization in Project Management. His dissertation, titled "Examination of Project Success in Agile Project Implementations for IT Organizations," reflects his commitment to advancing the understanding of project dynamics in agile environments. Marc boasts a portfolio of nationally recognized certifications, including Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Product Owner (CPO), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).