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Vistage International has assembled an experienced management team with a wide range of achievements in different industries and professions. Each executive has more than 20 years’ experience in executive and senior management positions with Fortune 1000 companies, start-ups, divisions of multinational firms, government agencies and running their own consulting firms.

Rafael Pastor, Chairman of the Board and CEO

Executive Team

Ruby L. Randall, Chief Operating Officer

Greg Wells, Chief of Regional Operations

Jerry Schneider, Chief Financial Officer

Jim Higham, General Counsel and Head of International Development

Diane Gallo, Chief Human Resources Officer

Richard Carr, Senior Advisor and Vice Chairman of the Board 

Management Team

John Cloyd, Chief Technology Officer

Rob Coull, Chief Accounting Officer

Laura DiPietro, Chief Marketing Officer

Patricia Franklin, Chief Learning Officer

Kathy Gilmore, Vice President of New Groups

Michael Hagy, Senior Vice President, U.S. Field Operations, Eastern Division

Carlo Saggese, Vice President of Application Development

Tony Vignieri, Chief of Corporate Communications

Chairman of the Board and CEO

Since 2004, Rafael Pastor has been Chairman & CEO of Vistage International (formerly TEC), the world’s leading for-profit chief executive organization. Headquartered in San Diego, Vistage helps 14,000 senior executives in 16 countries to become better leaders, make better decisions and achieve better results.

Previously, Mr. Pastor lived in New York City and had an extensive background in both leading and advising business enterprises. He held senior executive positions at global media companies, including CEO of Hoyts Cinemas Corporation; President of USA Networks International; Executive Vice President, International, of News Corporation and Fox Television International; and President of CBS/Fox Video International. He dealt with all aspects of the film, television and publishing businesses in the United States and throughout the world. Subsequently, he and his partners founded the Sonenshine Pastor investment banking and private equity firm.

Mr. Pastor started his career as an attorney, first at the Wall Street law firm of Hawkins, Delafield and Wood and then as Associate General Counsel at CBS Inc. He has a BA from Columbia University and a JD from NYU School of Law, serves on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations, and speaks several languages.

Executive Team

Chief Operating Officer

Ruby L. Randall joined Vistage in November 2007. At Vistage, Randall oversees internal operations, with responsibility for sales and marketing opportunities, service and support functions, content creation and distribution.

Previously, Randall served as President and CEO of Robbins Research International (dba Anthony Robbins Companies) in San Diego. In this role, she led the company to unprecedented sales growth, innovative product expansion and development of new distribution channels.  Prior to taking the helm in January 2005, she served as the company’s COO and previously as Vice President of Marketing.

Randall has also held senior executive positions at Trellion Technologies and CollegeClub.com, 20th Century Fox, Procter & Gamble Distributing Company and Go Aerobic Inc. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Rochester and earned an MBA from UCLA.

Chief of Regional Operations

Greg Wells is Chief of Regional Operations. He is responsible for leading the company's field operations which includes Vistage's Regional Presidents, Regional Market Directors, Best Practice Chairs, Vistage Group Chairman and Vistage's Strategic Alliance initiatives. Previously, he served as Vistage's Chief Alliance and Market Officer, responsible for alliances and market strategy. Prior to that Wells served as Vice President and General Manager. He was responsible for Vistage's products, programming, new group formation and member services. He joined the executive team in 2002 as head of Vistage Strategic Programs.

Prior to joining Vistage, Wells spent 18 years in the financial services industry in various leadership positions, most recently as the Senior Vice President and Division Manager of Wells Fargo's Southern California Business Banking Group. Wells also oversaw retail operations in several regions for Wells Fargo including San Diego County and the Inland Empire.

A Southern California native, Wells is a graduate of the University of Oregon and the Pacific Coast School of Banking at the University of Washington. Wells is involved with several San Diego-based community service organizations, including the San Diego International Sports Council, the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl and has served on the boards of LEAD San Diego, the Children's Museum, the Better Business Bureau, and the United Way.   

Chief Financial Officer

Jerry Schneider joined Vistage in 2004. He has responsibility for financial reporting, accounting, treasury, international business and acquisitions.

Prior to Vistage, Schneider served as Senior Vice President in two different roles: Chief Financial Officer and Strategic & Financial Planning of the $4 billion North American division of Fresenius Medical Care AG, a DAX and NYSE listed company in the dialysis products and services business. He previously served as Executive VP and CFO of GranCare, Inc., a $1 billion NYSE listed company in long-term healthcare and institutional pharmacy businesses.

In addition to his years of experience in the healthcare industry, he has worked in real estate, investment management, and thoroughbred racing. Schneider is a certified public accountant, and a member of the California State Bar and Financial Executives Institute.

He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a doctorate of jurisprudence from Loyola University School of Law. He started his career as a tax accountant working at Price Waterhouse and Touche Ross.

General Counsel and Head of International Development

Jim Higham joined Vistage in October 2005 as its General Counsel. Jim is responsible for all legal matters involving Vistage.   As Head of International Development, Jim is also responsible for Vistage’s international development activities, including the expansion of Vistage into new global markets and managing Vistage's relationship with its existing international affiliates and operations. Previously, he was General Counsel of Vsource, Inc., a public company based in La Jolla, Calif. Higham joined Vsource as its Deputy General Counsel in March 2002, and also served as Vice President, Human Resources for Vsource. Prior to Vsource, Higham worked as a Director, Legal & Business Affairs, for Teligent, Inc. and as a Director, International Group, Business Affairs Department, for America Online, Inc. Previously, he was an associate in the Corporate & Securities Group of the D.C. law firm Hogan & Hartson LLP. Before law school, Higham was a research analyst with the International Monetary Fund. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University and a Juris Doctorate from The University of Virginia School of Law.

Chief Human Resources Officer

Diane Gallo is Chief Human Resources Officer, with responsibility for leadership and oversight of the Human Resources department at Vistage, including recruiting, personnel matters, employee development, and the refinement of, and compliance with, HR policies and practices.

Gallo brings over 27 years of HR experience to Vistage, the past 20+ in a Director or Vice President role. Most recently, she was Vice President of Human Resources at Overland Storage, the leading provider of storage management solutions for small to mid-sized businesses.

Gallo has a master’s degree in management science from Houston Baptist University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas.

Senior Advisor and Vice Chairman of the Board

Currently serving as a Senior Advisor, Richard Carr leverages his nearly 30 years experience with Vistage as a member, Group Chair, President, and CEO to work with the Group Chair community, executive staff, and affiliates to achieve maximum unity of purpose and effective communications across all matters of strategic importance.

Carr is a West Point graduate and a highly decorated infantry officer with significant command experience in Germany and Vietnam. After receiving his MBA from Pepperdine University, Carr went on to become president and CEO of Sentinel Container Corporation and Engineered Foam Inc., serving in that role for 15 years. For nine of those years, he was a Vistage member and in 1992 he became a Vistage Group Chair. Carr continued his career with Vistage as its COO in 1998, before being named President and CEO in 2001 where he served until his appointment as Vice Chairman of the Board in 2005.

Management Team

Chief Technology Officer

John Cloyd joined Vistage in February 2007. He provides the overall leadership, vision and strategy for our technical and systems endeavors. Previously, Cloyd worked for SpaceDev, where he was responsible for Information Technology, Industrial Security and Legal Affairs. He also negotiated acquisitions and sales contracts for both the purchase and sale of rocket and satellite technology. Cloyd has worked in small to mid-sized companies as well as Fortune 500 employers and brings a broad spectrum of business experience to Vistage. His expertise includes business unit management, internet program management, and business strategy. John received his MBA from UCLA and has an undergraduate degree in Information Systems from SDSU.

Chief Accounting Officer

Rob Coull joined Vistage as Controller in January, 2005, and was named Chief Accounting Officer in 2006. Prior to joining Vistage, Coull served as financial due diligence manager for a large, publicly-held healthcare company, Fresenius Medical Care, and before that, he was corporate audit manager of the same company. He has a broad background in financial statement auditing, internal auditing, mergers and acquisitions and internal control compliance. Coull is a certified public accountant, and started his career in public accounting working at KPMG, LLP. He received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Salem State College.

Chief Marketing Officer

Laura DiPietro is Chief Marketing Officer, with responsibility for marketing goals for all Vistage programs; internal and external communications; public relations; branding initiatives and brand compliance; development of strategic marketing plans, support and research of new product development; and overall supervision of marketing, programs and product development teams.

DiPietro joined Vistage in 2005. Previously, she served as Vice President of Marketing for dj Orthopedics; Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Provasis Therapeutics, a bio-tech start-up; and Director of Marketing for Safeskin Corporation, where she was responsible for the strategic and tactical marketing of medical gloves, representing sales of $180 million at an annual growth rate of 30 percent. She also was instrumental in bringing the corporation to a successful IPO. DiPietro holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of California, Davis and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She is on the Board of Directors for MPS Corporation and has served on the Board of Directors of the Make a Wish Foundation.

Chief Learning Officer

Patricia Franklin joined Vistage in 2006, and is responsible for the design and delivery of training programs for new Chairs, ongoing development programs for existing Chairs, training for staff, online collaborative learning, and the creation of curriculum programs for members. She has more than 20 years' experience in learning and knowledge management, and was most recently CEO of Atlas Island Media in San Francisco, a company she founded to develop online learning tools that integrate simulation, mentoring and collaboration for more successful corporate training and development programs.

In her initial career, Ms. Franklin wrote for Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times and The Economist and became a commissioned international non-fiction author. She founded Intrepid Film and Television (London) where, for six years, she led teams in the development and production of drama, documentary and music programming for the BBC, Channel Four Network Television and International Video Network (IVN).

Franklin graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California with a BA in Journalism and Anthropology. She also holds a Graduate Diploma in International and Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics.

Vice President of New Groups

Kathy Gilmore joined Vistage in April 2005, with more than 20 years' experience in high-level management and business operations. At Vistage, Glimore is responsible for managing a team that supports starting and increasing the size of executive peer groups for new Chairs as well as facilitating group starts and builds for all programs, from our small business program to our chief executive program. She also works in the field to manage special events, including informational member guest days. Prior to joining Vistage, Gilmore served as Vice President of Operations at a disability management company.

Kathy holds a Masters Degree in Education from The Catholic University of America and has extensive experience in leadership, training and development, and performance management.

Senior Vice President, U.S Field Operations, Eastern Division

Michael Hagy is Senior Vice President of Regional Operations, responsible for leading the company’s growth and development and managing the quality of service for the eastern region of the U.S. Hagy comes to Vistage from Pinnacle Performance Group in Philadelphia, an executive coaching firm he co-founded in 1992. He served as a Vistage Chair from 1999-2005, and led two CEO groups, a Key Executive group and a Trusted Advisor group.

As a Best Practice Chair, Hagy led the growth and development of Chairs in the Carolinas, New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Prior to Vistage, he served as a naval officer for 20 years, retiring as a Commander in 1992 to start his business. He was one of the few officers to be dual-qualified as a Navy Pilot and Surface Warfare Officer.

Vice President of Application Development

Carlo Saggese joined the Vistage team in  July 2007. As Vice President of Application Development, he is responsible for all internal and external systems development, integration and deployment efforts.

Saggese brings a rich and successful background in Information Technology and Business Management to Vistage. Prior to joining Vistage, Saggese was the head of global Information Technology for Overland Storage, a high-tech manufacturing company in San Diego.  Prior to that, he was a senior business consultant responsible for major ERP systems rollouts through out the U.S. He has held senior management positions at a large South African manufacturing business. He has a business degree from the University of Port Elizabeth, where he was also a part-time lecturer.

Chief of Corporate Communications

Tony Vignieri joined the Vistage team in 2006. As Chief of Corporate Communications, Vignieri is responsible for all internal and external communications efforts including media relations, public relations, as well as messaging to members, Group Chairs and staff. He also serves as company spokesperson.

Vignieri brings a rich and successful background in public relations, communications and broadcast journalism. Prior to joining Vistage, Vignieri was the Communications Director for a San Diego marketing communications firm. He also led his own communications/public relations consulting firm, and served as a Press Secretary for the governor's office in the State of Minnesota. Vignieri had a 17-year career as a TV broadcast journalist, working as a reporter, writer, producer and anchor for ABC and CBS News affiliates in New York, Minneapolis and Houston, and for ABC News in Chicago. He has a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin, where he was also a part-time instructor.