Management Team
Executive Officers
Ed Donnelly
Chief Executive Officer
Ed Donnelly joined DynaVox Mayer-Johnson as CEO in September 2007. Before joining the organization, Ed was CEO of Scrip Products, Inc., a leading provider of Wellness supplies to healthcare providers. He also served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Patterson Medical, formerly AbilityOne, the global leader in rehabilitation products distribution. During his tenure at Patterson Medical/AbilityOne, Ed grew the business from $35 million to more than $300 million in annual sales. Prior to this, Ed spent 13 years in senior sales and marketing roles, which included Vice Presidential positions in sales, corporate accounts and hospital marketing with Support Systems International and the Hill-Rom Co., both divisions of Hillenbrand Industries. He holds a bachelors degree in nursing (1978) and a Masters Degree in Health Care Administration from Long Island University (1981).
Michelle Heying
President and Chief Operating Officer
Michelle Heying joined DynaVox Mayer-Johnson as Chief Operating Officer in December 2007. She brings more than 15 years of leadership in both strategic development and operations working with companies in the healthcare, life science, and industrial/security industries. Prior to joining DynaVox, Michelle served as Vice President/General Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific. In addition, she served in multiple general manager roles at General Electric Healthcare in the Americas X-Ray, Global Nuclear Medicine and Global Mammography divisions. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.
Kenneth Misch
Chief Financial Officer
Kenneth Misch joined DynaVox Mayer-Johnson in 2009 as Chief Financial Officer, bringing with him more than 20 years of domestic and international accounting, financial management and treasury experience with both public and private companies. Prior to joining DynaVox, Ken was CFO at invivodata, Inc. and has also held the CFO position at Artromick International and Expedient Communications and began his career at Price Waterhouse. Ken holds an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management of Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University. Ken is a Certified Public Accountant and serves on the Board of Directors of Financial Executives International (FEI).
Richard Ellenson
Chief Vision Officer
Richard Ellenson joined DynaVox Mayer-Johnson as Chief Vision Officer in 2009. Before that, Richard was CEO of Blink Twice, where he headed the creation and launch of the Tango, a fresh new AAC device that brought the field new insights into design and innovation. Prior to entering the field of AAC, Richard was in advertising, where he worked for many larger agencies, and eventually started his own shop. He worked on the introduction of the American Express Corporate Card, rebranded products from Cross Pens to Cointreau, and wrote the Tagline “It’s Not TV. It’s HBO.” Since entering the field of Assistive Technology, Richard has been on the Boards of the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA), CSUN, various UCP Groups, and has been appointed to an Advisor to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NICDC). In 2006, Richard and his son Thomas, who uses a Tango device, were named “Persons of the Year” by ABC World News Tonight. Richard is a graduate of Cornell and holds an MBA from The Wharton School.
Bob Cunningham
Sr. Vice President, Chief Technical Officer
Bob Cunningham joined DynaVox Mayer-Johnson in 1993 as the director of software development. His first major assignment was to create the software that ran the DynaVox 2c. He went on to lead the engineering team that designed the software for the DynaVox Series 5, M3, DynaVox Series 4, DynaVox 3100, MightyMo and MiniMo product lines, and the Dynamo and DynaWrite. Prior to joining DynaVox, Bob was a senior software engineer at Vertex Software and vice president of research and development for the Guidance Corporation. He began his career as a research programmer at the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center, where he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. Bob has worked as an independent computer-programming consultant on long-term projects for Xerox, Inc. and the U.S. Air Force. He also has written articles for a variety of technical publications, including "Interactive Method of Developing Software Interfaces," which was patented in the United States in 1991.
Other Management Team Members:
Jim Mills
Vice President of Education Products
Jim Mills joined DynaVox Mayer-Johnson as Vice President of Education Products in 2008, bringing over 20 years experience in software, business development and finance to the company. Prior to joining DynaVox, he was Senior Director of Marketing at LeapFrog Enterprises, responsible for product development and brand marketing in the K-12 market. Prior to that he was Vice President of Marketing with Scientific Learning, a provider of neuroscience-based training software for clinical and education markets. His career also includes 10 years in project finance at Citibank, structuring and syndicating financings for both domestic and offshore clients. Jim holds a BS from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard.
Jim Shea
Vice President of Marketing
Jim Shea joined DynaVox Mayer-Johnson as vice president of marketing in July 2006. Jim brings more than 20 years of marketing experience working with companies in the scientific, software, telecom, and defense industries. Before joining DynaVox, he served as vice president of marketing for the Scientific Research Division of Fisher Scientific International, Inc. Jim has also served in vice presidency and business unit management roles at Acterna Corporation, as well as marketing management roles at Synopsys, Inc., and Northrop Grumman (formerly Westinghouse Defense). He holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a BSEE from the University of Notre Dame.
Rodney Kight
Vice President of Direct Marketing and E-Commerce
Rodney joined DynaVox Mayer-Johnson in July 2009 as vice president of direct marketing and e-commerce. Rodney brings more than 20 years of experience in leading web initiatives and in retail direct marketing. Prior to joining DynaVox Mayer-Johnson, Rodney ran the Retail Digital division of Mullen, a leading marketing agency. Prior to that, Rodney was director of direct marketing and e-commerce for GNC, where he launched GNC.com. Prior to that, he worked in similar roles for Brookstone, Golfsmith, Sharper Image, and Staples. Rodney holds an MBA from St. John’s University and a BA in Finance from the University of Dayton.
