Jenny Kompolt – Founder, President & Chief Creative Officer

Jenny is a true pioneer of Cause Marketing – she saw a niche, expanded on the idea and founded Kompolt over five years ago with a vision of helping connect sponsors and charities via online auctions. We’re still following that vision today, having raised over $13 million by bringing together major brands and celebrities in support of hurricane relief, breast cancer awareness and dozens of other worthy causes.

Just as much as her heart fuels the Kompolt vision, Jenny’s insight and experience have made us the leader in high-value, high profile auctions.  From her years at eBay managing high profile partners to her role as Creative Director in the early days of Netflix as well as several Ad Agencies, Jenny’s ability to design, execute, merchandise and manage online marketing campaigns is unrivaled. 

That expertise has paid off time and again for our clients and the charities they sponsor: we’ve run hundreds of high level auction events, and thousands of auction listings since our founding in 2001.  Our auctions consistently outperform expectations - not just because of operational excellence, but because at the core of Kompolt, Jenny cares as deeply about the brand we’re promoting as the cause that’s being supported.

That’s why our clients trust Kompolt to bring it all together.

 

Jenny supports: Girls, Inc., Autism Speaks and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

Chris Noble – Chief Executive Officer

Chris started with Kompolt in 2006. From a misspent youth running political campaigns to a misspent adulthood in dot-com fervor, Chris has been championing new ideas and forming teams around them for over 15 years. Upon graduating from Cornell University, Chris spent the first few years of his career running political campaigns across the US. Realizing in 1994 that campaign management and product management used essentially the same skill
set, Chris transitioned to high tech, working as a product manager for several software companies in the Northeast. In 1997 Chris was tapped to become General manager at an Ecommerce start-up know as TechWave, which he helped to take public in 1999 as ShopNow. For the past few years, Chris has been CEO of Singlestep Technologies, a networking software company based in Seattle. While at Singlestep, Chris oversaw the release of 2 versions of their award winning software and forged a critical strategic partnership with IBM.

Having led successful teams all the way from startup to IPO, Chris has gained broad experience in creating and launching new businesses, marketing campaigns, and products - including the ability to take existing products and chart new directions, or to start it all from scratch. At Kompolt Chris combines those skills to help us introduce new products and services while improving efficiencies in our current operations.

Chris supports: Habitat for Humanity, The Nature Conservancy, and Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang.



Melissa James – Co-Founder, GM and Executive Vice President

Melissa joined Kompolt in 2002 after a distinguished service in Marketing Communications, Project Management and was part of the eBay University Team at eBay. Today, she directly manages some of our most high profile accounts to include Good Morning America, Girls Inc., The Glide Foundation, The W Hotels, eBay and many others.

 

Kompolt Operations is another of Melissa's strong suits. She was instrumental in building the Kompolt Bidder Prequalification as well as the Customer Service processes with Jenny. In addition to the high profile client management, she helps to oversee Customer Service & Bidder Prequalification.

In addition, Melissa has a strong background in retail merchandising with Gap and Macy's as well as graphic design and digital/print production with P3M and JWK Design Group.

 

Melissa supports: Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, National Parks Conservation Association, Girls, Inc. and Habitat for Humanity



David Yaskulka – Vice President, Product Marketing

David joined Kompolt in 2007. After nearly 20 years as CMO for PR and ad agencies and leading nonprofit groups (serving clients from Ben and Jerry’s to HP and Cisco), life really got fun for David in 2002. He and his wife Debbie started Blueberry Boutique so she could run a part-time eBay business from home. Modest plans notwithstanding, Blueberry soon became the world’s largest shirt and tie seller on eBay. David’s product marketing success has been featured in eight books, including Secrets of the eBay Millionaires, and in a PBS special. AuctionBytes publisher Ina Steiner labeled him “likely eBay's best all-around seller.”

 

Serving as CEO of Blueberry, David also consulted for Investors’ Circle (social mission venture capital), ran cause marketing projects for eBay and its PR agency Kaplow Communications, and penned the charity auction column for AuctionBytes. Blueberry Boutique was acquired in 2006, and David helped the parent company become the world’s largest supplier of eBay Giving Works products. He also serves as Marketing Chair for the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, speaks widely on eBay cause marketing, advises Wall Street firms on eCommerce trends, and helps grow product marketing for eBay Giving Works’ nonprofit partner MissionFish.

 

David leads the agency’s product marketing practice, applying Kompolt "cause magic" to achieve clients’ product launch, liquidation, and channel sales goals – while improving philanthropic impact.

 

David supports: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Disabled Online Users Association and MissionFish



Leslie Du Clos –Vice President, Client Programs

Leslie joined the Kompolt Team in early 2003. She has helped to manage high profile partners and to develop the highly regarded account management processes, which have contributed to the rapid growth of the business.

Prior to joining Kompolt, Leslie was Senior Merchandising Manager with eBay where she doubled the team and helped to build Merchandising into a scalable and thriving business by tripling the number of unique visitors and bids on the eBay site. Prior to that position, she was Promotions Manager with eBay Charity and Promotions Group responsible for high profile partner promotions as well as management of all promotional placements on the entire eBay site.

In addition to eBay, Leslie has extensive buying, merchandising, sourcing and product managing background with both Smith & Hawken and Cost Plus World Market.

 

Leslie supports: Relay for Life San Jose, Relay for Life Greely, CO, Adoptions Dreams Come True, Inc, Global Fund for Children and Habitat for Humanity



Joey Leslie – Vice President, Cause Marketing

Joey joined the Kompolt team in 2004. He brings an extensive range of web development skills and auction management experience to the Kompolt Auction Operations team.

Prior to joining Kompolt, Mr. Leslie served as the Manager of E-Marketing for the Motion Picture & Television Fund, the entertainment industry’s foremost resource for charitable assistance, health care and retirement care.

Joey brings over 10 years of experience creating and managing unique charitable auctions for major entertainment studios, large national charities and dozens of Fortune 500 companies. He’s directed online and offline auctions that have raised over $1 million for non-profits across the United States.

His proven online promotion and marketing skills, as well as his extensive experience with eBay Giving Works and MissionFish, make Joey an integral part of the Kompolt team.

 

Joey supports: The San Luis Obispo Children's Museum, The Motion Picture & Television Fund, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Autism Speaks



Jason Morgan - Manager, Customer Service

 

Mr. Morgan joined the Kompolt team in 2003 as the lead member of Kompolt’s renowned Customer Service and Bidder Pre-Qualification teams.

 

Prior to Kompolt, Mr. Morgan worked as a recovery/risk manager for American Express Centurion Bank where he was responsible for researching cost effective ways to minimize asset liability. He worked as a liaison between attorneys, insurance companies, and the commercial banks to investigate American Express Traveler cheque fraud and prevent asset loss.

 

Before American Express, Jason worked as a Consumer Loan Collection Manager at Wells Fargo Bank where he supervised customer service representatives and developed collection strategies to minimize bad debt portfolio loss.

 

Mr. Morgan’s experience in finance and customer service management makes him a very key part of the Kompolt team.

 

Jason supports: Breast Cancer Research Foundation, American Red Cross, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America and Muscular Dystrophy Association

 

Geri Wilhelm - Account Manager

 

Geri joined the Kompolt team in 2006 and brings a unique blend of creative and operational strengths…and Geri has consistently used these strengths to help launch businesses at the forefront of new markets.  During the rise of the personal computer, Geri worked for Leland O’Brien Rubinstein Associates.  They pioneered the use of computer technology to drive investments for the pension funds of companies like Caterpillar, General Motors, Honeywell, and TWA.

As the world of interactive entertainment exploded onto the scene, Geri carried her production and marketing skills to that arena, where she  had a significant impact on the growth and success of Oddworld Inhabitants. With her assistance, the Oddworld series of interactive games garnered over 100 industry awards and sold more than 4.3 million units worldwide.
 
Most recently, her wish to work with a company who focused on helping children led her to Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, whose research-based programs teach children and adults to read, spell, comprehend, and express language.  As Marketing Manager for their School Services division, Geri was fortunate enough to help make a difference for children, teachers, and parents in at risk schools across the country.

Geri supports: New York Wolf Conservation Center, San Luis Obispo Little Theatre, Rhett Bell Scholarship Foundation and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

 

Sally Trigg - Account Manager

 

Sally joined the Kompolt team in 2007. Her experience in bringing value to online development dates back to Amazon.com’s start-up years. As a project manager on the operations side, she has helped launch new websites, promotions and initiatives on a global scale. With a passion for empowering customers, Sally advocated for and drove the implementation of self-service features across five Amazon sites. As Amazon.com diversified product lines, Sally managed merchant relationships and created scalable platforms for expanding those partnerships.

 

As the need for open source licensing programs increased, Sally joined Microsoft’s Government Security Program, where she managed accounts for high profile foreign and domestic government agencies, established new operational processes and maintained relations with clients in Microsoft subsidiaries worldwide.

 

In addition to her work in the e-commerce and software industries, Sally has a diverse background that includes directing international programs for colleges and universities, speech writing for foreign government agencies, and serving on project assignments in both Europe and Asia. Sally holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Washington, and has also served as a volunteer for international and multi-cultural focused non-profits.

Sally supports: Delta Society, The Samarya Center, and Pearl S. Buck International