Meet the department heads at Ulysses Learning

Dimitris Lyras
CEO

As a member of a family with more than 150 years of experience in shipping, Dimitri Lyras had a vision that software could assist in managing the enormous variety of information and coordination requirements of the industry. He then partnered with artificial intelligence thought leader Roger Schank and channeled this knowledge to the call center industry by founding Ulysses Learning. He is also a member of the Intertanko Council and is leading efforts to both improve the image of the shipping industry and encourage a culture of continuous improvement. Lyras is an engineer by training.

Dina Vance
Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing/Managing Director of North American Operations

Dina Vance is a widely respected thought leader on developing and leading contact center staff and a pioneer in improving performance of contact centers. Vance was responsible for the ground-level startup of two contact centers before she moved into a consulting role where she also managed the call center division for an international consulting and training organization. She has worked with Fortune 100 companies to optimize their contact center performance through focus on results, people and process.

She currently serves as Ulysses Learning’s Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing/Manager Director of North American Operations. A regular speaker at conferences such as the BCBS Association and the Executive Learning Exchange, Vance frequently writes and talks about leveraging the power of social media in contact centers. She is on the executive board of the Call Center Industry Advisory Council (CIAC).

Anne Nickerson
Vice President, Client Advocate

Anne Nickerson brings years of customer service, coaching and eLearning experience to focus on client advocacy and achieving bottom line results through successful engagement. She focuses on developing long-term relationships with clients by building strong service, sales and coaching cultures that are sustainable over time.

With more than 25 years of learning and development experience, Anne has deep roots in the call center industry, including CIGNA Healthcare. In addition, she was part of the core research and development team with Ulysses Learning and has call center expertise in training, quality, work flow and organizational development.

Susan Meyer
Vice President, Client Services

For the past ten years, Susan Meyer has led the Client Services Team at Ulysses Learning, overseeing the project implementation team and managing all details of training delivery from the initial diagnostic phase through training rollout to follow-up support. She also helps organizations managing the change process, key to any successful training initiative.

Meyer is a Six Sigma Green Belt and has extensive experience in the e-Learning industry, working as a project manager and program manager on large client implementations for Fortune 500 organizations overseeing custom and off the shelf training solutions. She is passionate about the customer experience and the steps involved with creating a “wow” experience at each point of contact for clients.

Jeannie Rose
Manager, Creative Solutions

Jeannie Rose is responsible for instructional materials design, development, and management for Ulysses Learning. She is a trusted and responsive resource for the Ulysses team and clients, developing and customizing an array of communications that support every stage of the client's training implementation and ongoing performance improvement—from trainer and participant handbooks and slide decks, to a full range of support materials, including posters, forms, handouts, surveys and more. She also works closely and on an ongoing basis with clients to develop new training support materials over the lifetime of their relationship with Ulysses, many of whom have been working with the organization for over ten years.

Prior to joining Ulysses in 2005, Jeannie was a marketing and communications specialist at Carolinas Research Associates, a clinical trials company, where she worked closely with advertisers and research review boards to procure quality advertising and engaging initiatives. Before that she created all client presentation materials, while maintaining rigorous regulatory standards, for Private Asset Management department at Evergreen Investments/Wachovia Bank. Earlier in her career she was responsible for writing and creating training manuals for the United States Department of Defense. While working at these organizations Jeannie developed an expertise in turning data and difficult concepts into communications that were meaningful, actionable, and easy to understand. She possesses expertise in a wide spectrum of software and technology-based tools which provides Ulysses Learning’s clients with additional value and confidence.

Meet Our Advisors

Cheryl O'Donoghue, MS
Advisor, Emotional Intelligence Leadership

Cheryl works with Ulysses Learning to enhance training content for Uysses’ clients in the area of Emotional Intelligence Leadership. She has built a reputation in this area over a twenty-year period as an author, content creator, trainer, mentor, and college instructor. Cheryl is president of Emotional Intelligence Leadership Training Solutions, Inc., a leadership training and mentoring company that transforms company cultures through emotional intelligence leadership development. She has published two books related to emotional intelligence—How to Be a Woman in Business (while Being True to Yourself) and How to Be a Woman in Technology (while Focusing on What Matters Most. Her latest book project—How to Be an Emotionally Intelligent Leader (while Crushing Your Goals) is set for release in mid-2020. Cheryl earned a master of science degree in adult business education from Northern Illinois University and holds several industry certifications as an executive and business coach. She served on the faculty at Harper College for several years, designing and teaching emotional intelligence and strengths discovery courses for the college’s continuing education department and InZone program for youth, and continues to serve as a guest lecturer.

Sarah Kennedy
Senior Client Development Consultant, Canadian Operations

Sarah Kennedy, is well known for her work in contact center market research with SQM Group. After a successful 16-year career with SQM, Sarah begins a new chapter of her professional life with Ulysses Learning as the company’s Senior Client Development Consultant for their Canadian Operations. Sarah is not new to Ulysses though as she enjoys a long association with the company through numerous collaborations with SQM, including several joint presentations with Ulysses Learning at noteworthy industry events. Sarah possesses a proven track record in developing consultative and lasting client relationships, offering clients added value through the depth of her knowledge in contact center operations. In her new role, Sarah will build upon her contact center analytics to include her passion for coaching and training contact center associates and managers to become fully equipped to deliver exceptional customer service experiences in a complex world. As Ulysses Learning’s Senior Client Development Consultant, Canadian Operations, Sarah will be responsible for developing the company’s Canadian base of clients with a special focus on those in the insurance, energy, and financial industries.