Our Staff

We are proud of our history, committed to providing a great workplace for our loyal employees, and dedicated to providing clients with the highest quality products and services to meet the technology and training needs of their organization. Here are the people who make Seward a success:

Greg Sales
Chief Executive Officer
Greg has been designing and developing award-winning technology-based learning materials since 1976. He has produced educational technology projects in the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, addressing issues of technology integration, teacher training, and student curriculum development. Greg helps clients in corporations, government, international agencies, and education settings embrace new technologies and apply them.

“Often organizations focus all of their energies on the development of eLearning. They assume that once the product is completed everything else will take care of itself. This is an unwise path. So, I educate organizations about the lifecycle of eLearning products.”

Interact with Greg: Slideshare, LinkedIn, Delicious Bookmarks


Vicky Frank
President

Vicky has over 25 years’ experience in the area of business operations, marketing, and technology. Vicky works with corporate, non-profit, and educational organizations to expand and improve their use of information technology and, especially, the Internet. Since 1995, Vicky has overseen the design, development, and implementation of hundreds of information technology projects that support organizational growth, increase communication, promote training and education, and increase productivity.


“Improved and expanded use of the Internet translates into better business, with more measureable results, at a more affordable price. Better qualified prospects, better prepared employees, quicker acquisition of customers, better customer relationships, and more valuable feedback that can be built back into the business strategy are the outcomes clients expect from Seward Inc.”

Interact with Vicky: Follow on Twitter, Slideshare, LinkedIn, Delicious Bookmarks


Matt Finholt-Daniel
Director of Technology

Matt leads Seward’s technology team in the development of web-based systems for the creation and delivery of training and education, web-based business applications, and data-driven web sites. Matt also oversees development of Seward’s line of technology products designed for the academic and corporate markets.


"Technology, when applied appropriately, can transform even the most complicated process into an intuitive and efficient experience. I ensure that our clients realize this end through the detailed analysis of their needs and by carefully crafting the most technologically appropriate solution."


Melanie Ruda
Senior Instructional Designer

Melanie has 25 years of experience in education and instructional technology. She has designed and developed interactive multimedia training for the corporate market and educational software for grades K-8. Melanie has worked on projects for Ideal Learning, Reality Interactive, General Motors, Sundstrand Aerospace, Medtronic, Thomson University, Target, American Medical Systems, and the MN Department of Public Safety.

"As an instructional designer, I see myself as an advocate for the learner. Two questions I return to again and again during the development process are these: 'What does the learner need to be able to do when they're finished?' and 'How can I clear the path to make learning efficient, effective, and engaging?'."


Absalom Phiri
Malawi Senior Teacher Training Advisor

Absalom has 29 years of experience in teaching primary school students and training teachers in Malawi. He was a science teacher trainer at Malawi’s Primary Teachers’ Colleges for 15 years. Most recently, he served in Malawi’s Ministry of Education as the training manager for secondary school science and mathematics teachers. Absalom will be leading Seward’s teacher training efforts for the Malawi Teacher Professional Development Support project.

"I am excited to combine my skills as a teacher educator, training manager, and experience in organizing professional development for primary school teachers for the Malawi project”


Steve Sharra
Malawi Education Specialist
Steve is a teacher educator and a peace educator with research and teaching interests in teacher autobiography, critical literacy, gender studies, peace studies, and African studies. His teaching includes primary school in Malawi, and teacher education, peace studies and academic writing in a number of universities and colleges in the United States. A social media enthusiast, Steve follows Malawian bloggers, and posts on several blogs covering critical pedagogy, social justice and Pan-African issues.

"My passion is working with teachers and social justice activists. I believe that all education should be peace education, promoting what I term 'global uMunthu-peace' at all levels from pre-school to the university classroom. And I believe teachers must be at the center of that effort."


Master Kalulu
Malawi Education Specialist
Master is a teacher educator and instructional materials developer. His teaching experience includes teacher training at both primary and secondary levels. He is a trained in-service teacher education facilitator. Master has 12 years experience managing non-governmental organization projects. He worked on high profile USAID–funded projects such as Quality Education through Supporting Teaching (QUEST), Malawi Education Support Activity (MESA), and Malawi Teacher Training Activity (MTTA).

"My interest is in developing teachers and learners to be continuous and practical learners. I believe that with the rapid change in knowledge and technology, schools should be places for ‘learning to learn.’"


Nell Kauls
Editorial and Content Strategist

Nell has ten years of experience writing, editing, and designing web content and print publications for a diverse clientele. She strives to write smart, useful web content and documentation based on clients' business objectives and user requirements. She has worked on projects for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU), Metropolitan State University, 3M, and the University of Minnesota.

"I write smart, useful web content for many audiences. I also educate my clients about sound content strategy."

Interact with Nell: Follow on Twitter, LinkedIn, Delicious Bookmarks


Nick Wanserski
Graphic Designer

Nick creates compelling designs and illustrations for Seward clients. He realizes project concepts with energy, elegance, and efficiency. Attention to detail and creativity are hallmarks of his work for Seward clients.



"The visual dimension of any project is intensely important. A graphic interface can be bold and decisive, vitalizing a project; or it can be subtle and unobtrusive, working best by not dominating important information. My goals as a designer are creating visuals that whether they speak loudly or speak quietly, speak to the client."


Brian Thompson
Programmer

Brian constantly evaluates his development process to find the best approach for each project. Recent projects include work on Minnesota Transfer, a website for college transfer resources for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU); The First 4000 Words, a multimedia system for ensuring that students in grades 1-4 incorporate the 4,000 most frequent words into their listening vocabularies; and Virtual Patient Clinician Training, a site aimed at training clinicians in the use of medical devices.

"I'm constantly growing as a developer at Seward. Every new project impels me to expand my programming skills, whether it be picking up a new language, using new techniques in a language I already know, or even simply learning more about packaged web programming libraries."


Paul Johnson
Programmer

Paul has worked in a variety of different industries designing, implementing and supporting software: airline accounting, mainframe support, medical devices, energy trading, and now, educational software. Paul finds Seward a rewarding environment that fosters personal initiative and creative thinking.


"I love programming because it is a creation process: you start with nothing but a blank page and maybe some help from what another programmer did and build a useful application that will enrich the life of someone else."


Alison Sanders
Office Manager

Friendly voice answering the phone; bill payer; property manager; human resources representative; PR liaison; blogger; editor; content developer. Alison assumes a wide array of roles at Seward to keep the company running smoothly. In accordance with Seward’s priority of establishing and maintaining great client relationships, she strives to ensure that communications are always polished and professional.

“My day-to-day experience at Seward contains an incredible amount of variety. I love the unique opportunities to interact with people; and I feel that I am consistently learning new ways to improve their first impressions and their continuing relationships with us.”