Meet The Team

Our leadership team of technologically-minded suppliers, distributors, and service providers have personally experienced supply chain communication problems. Their years of experience in the promotional products industry have led to the development and implementation of groundbreaking electronic communication standards.

Catherine Graham - Chair
Co-Founder and CEO at commonsku

Catherine Graham is the CEO of commonsku, a workflow collaboration platform enabling promotional product distributors to work seamlessly with clients and suppliers. It was originally built in-house for Rightsleeve, a promotional products agency, where Catherine spent 12 years as President before selling the business in 2019.

Her role before joining Rightsleeve was as a management consultant at A.T. Kearney, working with Fortune 500 companies in various areas, including merger integration, marketing strategy, and operational efficiencies. Outside of work, Catherine sits on a variety of boards in the nonprofit space, including PromoStandards, the Loran Scholar Foundation, and Communitech. She holds an MBA from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and a BAH in Political Science and Psychology from Queen’s University.

Amy Rabideau - Vice Chair
VP of Product at Hit Promotional Products, Inc.

Philip Gergen - Treasurer
CIO at Koozie Group

Erica Griffitt - Standards Committee Chair
Senior Software Engineer at Staples Promo

Erica Griffitt is a Senior Software Engineer for Staples Promotional Products with 25 years of experience on the IBM i platform, starting in tech support in 1998. Her first job as a Programmer Analyst was for the City of Independence working on utility billing and police systems, where she completed her IBM ILE RPG Programmer Certification.

In over 20 years at Staples, she has specialized in Inventory and Product Management systems and has been involved with PromoStandards since 2016. Having developed the EDI supplier implementation at SPP, she was excited to attend early meetings to discuss the standard for Purchase Order delivery and helped architect and implement Staples' adoption of PromoStandards. Erica has modernized an in-house written ERP, creating webservices in RPGLE and implementing standard procedures for http, xml and json processing used across the system. Her artistic background fuels her passion for the creative process of application design.

Eric Alessi - Immediate Past Chair
President & CEO at Essent Corporation

Eric Alessi is the Co-founder and Chairman of PromoStandards, Founder of Essent Corporation, and Chief Architect of Essent’s innovative business management and commerce software solutions. In his 30+ years leading Essent, Eric has consulted with companies ranging from startups to multinational corporations, including Air Products, AT&T, Merck, Nestlé, Papa John’s Pizza, and Pfizer. During his tenure, Eric transformed Essent from a regional custom software development house to a multimillion-dollar corporation focused on business commerce automation solutions that serve thousands of trading partners worldwide.

Since college, Eric has spoken professionally to business and information technology professionals on integrated business systems engineering and automation. Eric holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Cognitive Psychology with Computer Science from The Pennsylvania State University and has performed graduate studies in computer science, operations research, accounting, and business management.

Jon Norris - EC Member at Large
CSO at Hit Promotional Products, Inc.

Jon Norris is the VP of Business Process Improvement at Hit Promotional Products, Inc. At PromoStandards, Jon serves on the Executive Committee and heads up the Education Workgroup on the Membership Marketing and Education Committee (MMEC). As the inaugural Chair of PromoStandards, he oversaw the formation and formalization of the organization. Other board services include being on the Alumni Advisory Board for the University of Buffalo School of Engineering, the Customer Advisory Board for FedEx C-suite, and the Executive Committee for PromoKitchen.

He is passionate about the intersection of technology and operations in the branded merchandise space. As a frequent speaker at industry events, his goal is to evangelize the industry about the power of technology and the transformative nature of PromoStandards supply chain integrations. Jon is a repeat member of the ASI Power 50 and was named Technology Executive of the Year by ASI in 2019. He holds a PMBA in Business Administration from the University at Buffalo School of Management and a BSIE in Industrial Engineering from the University at Buffalo.

Michael Knapick - EC Member at Large
Chief Information Officer at SanMar

Michael Knapick leads SanMar’s IT group as its Chief Information Officer to implement process improvements and major software upgrades to their ERP and e-commerce platforms. Before joining SanMar in 2014, Mike led the IT team at Isilon Systems, was the CIO at Expedia, and began his career as a Project Manager at Accenture, delivering projects of varying scope and size at posts including Microsoft and Expedia. He holds an MS in Mathematics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a BASc in Mathematics from California State University, Long Beach.

Daniel Becker - Member at Large
Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Financial Officer at Kotis Design

Daniel Becker co-founded Kotis Design, a promotional product distributor, more than 20 years ago, where he currently serves as the CTO and CFO. He manages the finance, IT, and engineering teams, overseeing the development of a proprietary company-wide platform that runs the company’s core internal and client-facing business processes. 

Kotis was an early adopter of PromoStandards because of the company’s fundamental belief in efficiency and innovation, and Daniel brings that experience and his years as a distributor to the PromoStandards board. He has a BA in Business Administration with a focus on Information Systems, from the University of Washington.

Dustin Downing - Member at Large
Chief Product Officer at OrderMyGear

Dustin Downing is the Chief Product Officer at OrderMyGear, where he leads product, design, engineering, and strategy for OMG. Dustin’s primary focus is ensuring that OMG’s product strategy ties to the overall company goals and that the OMG Tech team operates and executes as a single, client-focused team.

Dustin received an MBA at Texas Christian University where he focused on consumer product insights and marketing.

Irwin Goldstein - Member at Large
Vice President of Enterprise and Solutions Architecture at HALO Branded Solutions

Irwin has 25 years of IT experience in the promotional products industry and years of prior IT experience in various other industries. He enjoys his current role as an IT executive, looks back fondly on his days as a coder and builder of solutions, and is always happy to engage in technical discussions. From PromoStandards' earliest beginnings, Irwin's been there to help bring process efficiencies to distributors and suppliers alike. He holds an MS in Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a BS in Computer Science from Loyola University Chicago.

Steven Stanley - Member at Large
Chief Technology Officer at ePromos Promotional Products

Steven Stanley joined the PromoStandards Board with over 15 years of experience in the promotional products industry. He has spent over 20 years writing software and working other IT jobs, providing a well-rounded view of technical needs. Steven is a major supporter and contributor to the PromoStandards and loves solving problems and collaborating with others to build solutions. He holds a BSBA in Computer Science from Oregon State University.

Edward Streiff - Member at Large
director of Application Development at PCNA

Edward Streiff is a seasoned professional with 16 years of experience in the promotional industry. Edward's expertise and knowledge of the industry have helped him excel in his career, where he has been a valuable asset to the organizations he has worked with. Currently, Edward serves as the Director of Application Development for PCNA. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the development of various applications that enhance PCNA's promotional products and services. Edward's ability to lead and motivate his team has made him an effective leader and an essential part of the PCNA team.

Edward holds a dual major in Computer Science and Information Technology from Clarion University. His educational background has enabled him to combine his technical skills with his understanding of the promotional industry, providing him with a unique perspective on how technology can be used to enhance promotional products and services.