Executive Team

Jim Bowler, an education industry veteran, brings more than 20 years of education and technology experience to his role as President and CEO of Classroom Connect. He spent more than 15 years in education holding a number of positions within schools, including curriculum director, school site principal and school president. Most recently, Mr. Bowler was CEO of Kids123, a company providing online standards-based learning resources for educators. He also served as vice president of marketing for CCC/NovaNet, a division of Pearson Education, and was an educational consultant for Kleiner Perkins Venture Capital.

Melinda Cook is Vice President of Sales for Classroom Connect. She has been with the company for four years and has extensive experience working in the educational technology market. Prior to Classroom Connect, Ms. Cook worked for both Mindscape and the Learning Company in field sales, strategic relations and business development. In addition, she worked with SchoolVision, the Texas Apple Computer sales agent, in both sales and product marketing. Ms. Cook came to the education technology industry with four years of classroom teaching experience and has a B.S. in Multidisciplinary Studies from McMurry University in Abilene, TX.

Paul E. Finer is Vice President & General Manager of Classroom Connect's custom development group, eSchool Online and is responsible for operations, instructional design/content creation, quality assurance and technology interface with the company's engineering group. He joined the company in November following the acquisition of the eSchool Online business from ACTV, Inc. There he served as Executive VP/COO of the education group of this digital media and broadcast iTV business and was responsible for all operations functions of the company. Mr. Finer is a senior executive with more than 30 years diversified experience in technology businesses and has served as President and Corporate Officer of several corporations including KDI Corporation, Keene Corporation and Chomerics, Inc. Mr. Finer has also provided management consulting services for operations assessment, technology licensing and market analysis for a number of businesses and organizations. Mr. Finer has a B.S. in Chemistry from Suffolk University, Boston.