Nicole
Nicole McNamara is a proven innovation leader and strategist, known for turning complex challenges into clear, actionable strategies. As the Founder & CEO of Catalyst Innovation, she partners with senior executives to drive growth, build resilient businesses, and execute transformation that actually moves the needle.
Before launching Catalyst, Nicole led the innovation team at Salesforce, one of the world’s most innovative companies. There, she worked at the cutting edge of digital transformation, helping Fortune 500 companies and high-growth businesses unlock new value, harness emerging technologies, and reimagine their customer experience.
Beyond her work at Catalyst, Nicole is the host of the podcast Who Moved My Career™, a sought-after board member, keynote speaker, and the founder of a nonprofit she runs with her children. She is passionate about leadership, innovation, and helping organizations—and people—navigate change with confidence.
Nicole doesn’t believe in strategy for strategy’s sake. She’s built Catalyst Innovation to be a different kind of consultancy—one that operates at the speed of now, helping organizations not just plan for the future, but build it.
Chantal
Chantal Gagnon has over 15 years experience building solutions that support both teams and clients as companies expand their reach. She began her career in financial services at big banks like Morgan Stanley, but soon craved a more creative, strategic space, leading her to establish the digital transformation department at Columbia University SPS. She then played a key role in expanding the NYC startup ecosystem through Techstars Startup Weekend and the AI XPrize before moving into innovation consulting at Salesforce, where she worked with manufacturing, telco, retail, NGO and higher ed clients - and filed for an AI patent (pending!) with fellow Catalyst, Christina Marchetti. Passionate about designing unique, purposeful experiences that drive growth, she has hosted over 60 hackathons, conferences, and workshops. Beyond her work at Catalyst, Chantal is a Partner at The Hive, helping solopreneurs and small businesses thrive. Chantal currently lives in Toronto with her partner, Jack, and their golden retriever, Nacha.
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Chantal Gagnon has spent over 15 years designing solutions that help teams and clients navigate growth without losing their minds (or their margins). She kicked off her career at the Big Banks before quickly craving a more creative, strategic space leading her to establish the digital transformation department at Columbia University SPS. From there, she played a key role in expanding NYC's startup ecosystem through Techstars Startup Weekend and the AI XPrize before stepping into innovation consulting at Salesforce, guiding manufacturing, telco, retail, NGO, and higher ed executive teams in unique, purposeful experiences that drive growth. She’s also filed for an AI patent (pending!) alongside fellow Catalyst, Christina Marchetti, and has hosted over 60 hackathons, conferences, and workshops. Beyond her work at Catalyst, Chantal is a Partner at The Hive, helping solopreneurs and small businesses thrive. She lives in Toronto with her partner, Jack, and their golden retriever Nacha (who believes she is the true CEO of the household).
Christina
Christina Marchetti is a strategist and transformation leader with 15 years of experience helping Fortune 500 companies and government agencies navigate complex challenges through strategy, responsible technology, and experience design. She drives innovation with a people-first approach, leveraging her diverse background in consulting, nonprofits, and technology to create meaningful change. Previously, Christina led engagements at Salesforce, partnering with global brands like HPE, Warner Music, Lululemon, and Chevron to enhance customer experiences and deliver measurable impact. A winner of Salesforce’s Global AI Ethics Hackathon and co-filer of a pending AI patent alongside fellow Catalyst Chantal Gagnon, Christina is deeply engaged in ethical AI and innovation. She is passionate about turning bold ideas into real results and ensuring technology serves both business and society. Outside of work, she enjoys riding horses, baking, and exploring new bourbons in Middleburg, VA, where she lives with her husband, Stephen, and their dog, Piper.
Hollis
Hollis is a business strategist and innovation leader with over 18 years of experience in business and customer experience transformation, operating models, and scaling organizations. With a strong track record of guiding Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups, Hollis partners with senior leaders on strategy and roadmap development, business model optimization, and leveraging emergent technologies to drive performance, efficiency and sustainable growth. His expertise spans strategy development, customer experience innovation, and AI-driven transformation, helping organizations navigate dynamic market shifts and turn disruption into opportunity. Previously, Hollis held key leadership roles at Salesforce, driving large-scale enterprise transformation and innovation strategy, and led a design and innovation consultancy, advising global clients across the UK, Europe, and the US.
Olivia
With over 15 years of experience as a Strategic Design Leader, Olivia specializes in turning complex challenges into human-centered solutions. Her multidisciplinary background blends artistry with innovation, allowing her to develop thoughtful, forward-thinking designs that drive growth and create meaningful connections. She has worked with companies of all sizes across industries like retail and consumer goods, financial services, hospitality, and telecommunications. Skilled in experience prototyping and visualization, Olivia brings concepts to life in ways that are both compelling and practical. Her expertise spans ideation, frameworking, storytelling, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. A lifelong learner and collaborative thinker, she is passionate about crafting strategic, impactful designs that resonate with audiences.
Aru
Aru is a versatile strategy leader, passionate about solving complex, growth problems and helping businesses stay ahead of the curve. She believes successful products, services, and experiences are designed for people first. And while some categories and businesses do this better than others, there’s still a lot more work to be done.
For the last 12 years, Aru has worked at top consulting firms and tech companies, partnering with Fortune 50 companies and high-growth startups on customer experience, product innovation, and brand, to scale their impact in a tech-powered world. She thrives on turning ideas into reality, aligning strategic initiatives with business goals, and tailoring strategies to drive tangible impact. Notable clients include: Bain Capital, Live Nation, Cotopaxi, athenahealth, Danone, AdventHealth, Google, La Mer, Pepsico, Autotrader, Walmart, Samsung, Nestle Purina, Tyson Foods, Cargill Foods, Art Basel.
She serves on the jury for the Cannes Lion Film Festival, and is on the Emeritus Council for WIN (Women in Innovation).
Jason
Jason Dumont is a seasoned innovation consultant and business leader with nearly two decades of experience at the crossroads of technology, people, and digital experiences. Known for his human-centered approach, entrepreneurial mindset, and passion for enabling customer success, Jason excels at uncovering actionable insights and crafting strategies that drive value and future-proof businesses. His work has empowered Fortune 100 companies to navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and achieve transformative growth.
Jason’s expertise spans AI startups and global enterprise software companies, with deep experience in strategy development, customer and employee experience, product management, sales, and sales enablement. His ability to transform challenges into opportunities has made him a trusted advisor to some of the world’s most recognized brands.
A published author and sought-after speaker at global technology conferences, Jason shares his insights on innovation, digital strategy, and business transformation. Outside of his professional work, he is a Grammy-nominated musician, an avid ultimate frisbee player, and head game-day official for the Professional Ultimate Frisbee Association. He balances his dynamic career with his roles as a devoted husband and father to his remarkable daughter.
Arun Changamveetil
Arun Changamveetil is a results-driven technology executive with deep expertise in solution engineering, enterprise architecture, and AI-powered modernization. Currently serving as Vice President of Global Data & Analytics Solution Engineering at Tableau, he leads a high-impact global team responsible for driving AI-driven data transformations, securing over $30M in ACV within 12 months, and scaling pre-sales engagements that influenced top enterprise deals.
Previously, Arun played a pivotal role at Salesforce as Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture & CRM Transformation, where he launched and scaled the Enterprise Architecture practice, directly contributing to $500M in digital transformation deals. His leadership in developing go-to-market strategies and executive engagement programs drove $230M in pipeline growth and significantly enhanced enterprise adoption of Salesforce solutions.
With prior leadership roles at MuleSoft, MongoDB, and Oracle, Arun has been instrumental in driving cloud migration, DevOps adoption, and large-scale AI implementations for Fortune 500 companies. His tenure as an Enterprise Architect at MongoDB saw him securing the company’s first $1M+ enterprise deals, while his contributions at Oracle helped scale PayPal’s payment infrastructure to support 15,000 transactions per second.
Arun holds a BS in Civil Engineering with a 4.0 GPA from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and is currently enrolled in the Executive Leadership Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a strategic innovator, passionate about building high-performing teams, fostering an engineering-first culture, and enabling organizations to modernize through AI and data-driven solutions.