executive leadership

Keyvan Rafei - President and CEO

Mr. Rafei has been instrumental in providing strategic direction and leadership for the company, transforming Geographic Services from a geographic names and analysis startup in 2005 to what it is today: a recognized leader in Human Geography Data and Technology offering a broad range of geographic information systems, linguistic and sociocultural services and solutions. His business acumen comes from more than 30 years of experience in the private sector with investment advisory and financial services firms.

Jennifer Hergenroeder - COO

Ms. Hergenroeder has 14 years tenure with Geographic Services, Inc., overseeing aspects of operations ranging from managing operating procedures, product delivery, and solidifying business practices. She has experience developing and implementing standard operating procedures for new data and technology projects. She has extensive experience managing cross functional teams and rapid ramp up for multiple projects including identifying and training qualified technical and cultural analysts. Ms. Hergenroeder successfully engineered the ISO 9001 certification process for GSI, implementing scalable procedures for all production work. She holds a bachelor’s degree in both International Affairs and Geography from the University of Mary Washington.

Fred Hejazi - CTO

Mr. Hejazi has over 30 years of experience in Information System design, software development, project management, and Geospatial Information Systems, including leading GSI’s Human Atlas® development and developing multiple GIS applications for customers including the US Army and local government agencies. System design experience includes over 20 years of application development, consulting, and project management. Mr. Hejazi is certified as an Oracle DBA, ESRI SDE Manager and as a SUN Unix System Administrator.

AMIR KHOSRODAD - SENIOR TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECT

Mr. Khosrodad has over 20 years of experience in data architecture and systems design. He has led GSI’s R&D team for the past 3 years supporting the development of GSI’s Human Atlas® Project, a graph-based architecture to allow navigation and analysis of Hyper-Relational human geography data. Prior to joining GSI, Mr. Khosrodad spent 14 years as the chief data architect at Cranium Softworks, employing state-of-the-art technologies in analysis and dissemination of editorial content on the Internet. He was the Sr. engineer leading the development of Cranium’s flagship product lines including the Entitlement Management Server (EMS) and Epilog Content Aggregator (ECA). He received his Master of Science degree in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland in 2000.

GWYNETH SUTHERLIN, PHD - DIRECTOR OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY AND ANALYTICS RESEARCH

Dr. Sutherlin has more than ten years of experience in intercultural mediation including the development of programming that garnered UN recognition for innovation in North Africa. As a researcher, she focuses on the intersection of cultural dimensions and technology for application in conflict analysis. Dr. Sutherlin has a degree in political science from Indiana University and a doctorate in peace and conflict studies from the University of Bradford. She works in seven foreign languages.