We’d Follow These People Anywhere
Executive Team
Felix Serrano
Chief Executive Officer
Felix is an accomplished executive in the business process outsourcing and customer experience industry. He has over 20 years of experience in global operations, solutions engineering, partner management and shared services with Granada, Sitel, Vertex Business Services, Alpine Access, and TeleTech. He is also one of the industry’s recognized experts in the home-based customer support delivery model.
Prior to joining Granada Corp., Mr. Serrano was the Chief Operating Officer for Sitel Work@Home Solutions. Sitel is a $1.5B global customer support provider. In this role, he co-designed, implemented, operated & led the global expansion of what is largely regarded as one of the fastest growing Work@Home solutions in the industry. As a member of Sitel’s Extended Executive Leadership Team he also held key responsibilities for strategic, global transformational initiatives. He also served as Senior Vice President, Account Management at Vertex Business Services as well as various senior leadership roles at Alpine Access (now Sykes) & TeleTech Holdings.
Mr. Serrano holds a Master’s Degree in Global Business Management from the University of Denver (DU), Daniels College of Business.
AJ Flores
CTO/CISO
AJ Flores is Granada’s chief technology officer and chief information security officer. Earning a CHFI certification, he is one of the industry’s foremost leaders in information security, network engineering and data and voice connectivity. AJ is an expert at data security infrastructure, having led and executed the PCI certification for three companies. Prior to working with Granada, AJ was a technology executive at Fusion Contact Centers where he was responsible for information systems, PCI compliance, systems integration, business continuity planning and voice/data telecommunications. Before Fusion, he built the ASP.NET applications and data analytics tools for blue chip clients such as Mitsubishi and Ricoh. Earlier in his career, he worked at Microsoft, where AJ was a key member of the MSN Hotmail team and was the project lead for developing the ASP.NET MS SQL server framework.
Mary Childers
Vice President
Mary Childers is the Vice President of Client Partnerships at Granada. Her passion for execution and her deep commitment to her team’s success translates to inspired performance and process adherence across Granada’s client partnerships. Mary is responsible for delivering the results that make Granada a valuable partner to each of our clients. This includes KPIs as well as any topic that our clients have communicated as being important to them. Mary has been in the contact center industry for over 15 years, starting as a front-lines customer support professional. Prior to Granada, Mary led the sales operations for the largest solar energy provider in California. Before that role, Mary served as director of global operations for the the second largest cruise provider in North America. Her strength is building winning teams and obsessing over data analytics to provide direction to her team to execute and drive results. She brings structure and processes to the forefront to ensure the company provides predictable results and outcomes to our clients.
Garrett R Mullins
Senior Vice President
Garrett is a veteran of customer engagement sales and solutions. He has extensive sales and customer service leadership and operations experience gained early in his career at FedEx. He has been a key member of number of successful turnarounds and IPO’s. At Purolator Courier Ltd., he created a national network of advanced contact centers being the first to deploy “touch tone” package tracing and disabled at-home workers in Canada.
At Teletech as a Vice President in sales and operations, he managed new business sales and large inbound government contact center operations and relationships deploying 1,000’s of employees.
At IBM Global Services, he managed the operations portion of one of the largest outsourcing and transformation contracts in the company with over 8,000 outsourced positions in six countries.
As a Senior Consultant at Eventus Solutions Group reporting to the company’s founders, Garrett managed contact center consulting, customer relationship management technology selection, and implementation of contact center solutions for one of the largest state-based Affordable Care Act Health Exchanges. He played a key role as daily executive team participant in the stabilization of the largest state based Health Exchange.
He joins Granada Corporation as a senior leader managing partner relationships leveraging his experience in matching secure cloud enabled work from home and bi-lingual agents with brands looking for boutique and white glove dedicated customer engagement outsourcing solutions. Garrett reports to CEO of Granada Corporation, Felix Serrano.
Garrett holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Auburn University and Executive Education for Tuck School of Business/Dartmouth College.
Laura Candler
Partnerships Director
As Partnerships Director, Laura Candler is responsible for driving the Granada brand, ethos and corporate identity across our entire organization. Laura also runs our day-to-day marketing communications and demand generation activities. She is a results-driven professional with over ten years of experience in marketing, brand building, graphic design, project management and partnerships. Her inspiring and emotive creative strategies drive our business and heighten brand awareness. In her previous roles she has spearheaded corporate new business and client acquisition through devising and executing marketing campaigns across the US. She has an eye for details and supports multiple departments such as human resources and business development through developing social media, marketing campaign and partnership networking opportunities.
Katrin Grienitz
Controller
As Granada’s Controller, Katrin Grienitz manages the company’s corporate finance function and works with senior management to drive continuous improvement across the business. She directly oversees Granada’s accounting, tax strategy, forecasting and financial analysis functions.
Katrin has an extensive business and corporate finance background with over 20 years of experience across a variety of sectors. Prior to Granada, Katrin founded a supply chain software business in Germany. She received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Humboldt University Berlin and Hildesheim, a B.A. in Business Administration from University Hagen/Germany and a MBA from UC Santa Barbara.
Arturo Rodriguez
Director of Operations
Arturo Rodriguez is Granada’s Director of Support Operations, responsible for managing the functional areas that support the company’s overall delivery model. Arturo ensures that business standards are being met in an efficient manner. Arturo also heads our strategic Monterrey, Mexico office, a best-in-class operation that supports our onshore work-from-home delivery model. Arturo has more than ten years of experience in the customer experience industry, working with both Fortune 500 and emerging growth companies. His diverse background includes leadership roles in operations management, compliance, workforce management and project management.
Tami Cashion
Human Resources
Tami Cashion is the Human Resources leader at Granada. She brings an ideal mix of human capital innovation and technology-enabled operationalization to the Granada human resources domain. Tami is the architect and process adherence leader to our recruitment, onboarding, employee community initiatives, as well as core human resources administration. Tami understands that employees want a great, inspiring place to work but they also want to work with a company that “does what it says it will do” and executes consistently on the fundamentals of employee relations. Tami has over 20 years of experience in human resources, primarily with B2C technology companies driven by customer experience and best-in-class support organizations. She spent ten years in human resources roles at Monster.com and from there she took on leadership positions in high-growth companies such as Move, Inc and Endurance International Group. Tami’s passion is for the people and building a company culture that values its employees and the contributions they make every day.
Board of Directors
Kit Cooper
Founder and Chairman
Kit is the founder and chairman of Granada Corp. He oversees company culture, client services and labor market strategy. He interfaces with all clients from partnership origination process to project implementation to partnership operations.
Cooper has been doing business internationally since 1999 when he co-founded Hispanic Teleservices Corporation (HTC), a customer support business with nearshore operations in Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico. HTC was one of the first companies in the world to capitalize on near shore markets and the first to focus on the U.S. Hispanic market through operations based in Latin America. The company raised venture capital from JP Morgan Partners and Citicorp Venture Capital and employed over 1,500 employees at the time of it sale to The Carlyle Group in 2005. In 2005, Kit received Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in recognition of his company’s achievements.
Kit is also the founder and executive director of The Quality of Life Project, a 501c3 whose mission is to help people live more enjoyable, purposeful and contented lives. The organization conducts in depth interviews with individuals that are successful in the many aspects of life and then shares the findings through its website, social media and offline community gatherings. Interviewees include well-known folks like Richard Branson and Gary Player to lesser-known but equally interesting and successful individuals such as Solly Amon who runs a successful fish market in Seattle.
Kit’s passion for the Spanish-speaking world began in 1993 when he lived in Granada, Spain. He is fluent in Spanish and has 15 years experience in the Hispanic customer experience space.
He received a BA in History from UCLA and a MBA from Georgetown University. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and work/life balance and has spoken on the subject at national conferences like South by Southwest and MBA programs at UCLA, USC, Pepperdine and Rice University.
Jason Kelly
Jason Kelly
Jason Kelly is the CEO of Rincon Technology, a company he co-founded in 2003 that provides hardware and services to the largest telecommunication carriers in the world. Under his leadership, Rincon has continued to innovate and evolve the way carriers treat their network assets. Since 2012, Mr. Kelly has served as the Managing Member in charge of Investments for Channel Island Capital, investing in real estate, mezzanine investments in middle market companies and some hedge trades in public markets. He also serves on the Board of Granada Corporation, a leading customer support organization.
In addition to his professional life, Mr. Kelly is actively involved with the venture philanthropy and membership arm of Gen Next, a network of business, political and nonprofit leaders, united to tackle the biggest generational challenges of our times. He is currently serving as the Chairman for the San Diego Chapter of Gen Next and is also on the National Board serving on the Capital Committee. Jason is also a Trustee for Pacific Ridge School an innovative independent school that fosters academic excellence, ethical responsibility and global engagement, with a focus on preparing students for a purposeful life.
Mr. Kelly holds a B.A. in Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara and an M.B.A. with emphasis on Strategy from the University of Southern California.
Christian Felipe
Christian Felipe
Christian Felipe is the Managing Member of CAF Holdings, a private investment office in Santa Barbara. He has participated in numerous Angel investments throughout the US. Prior to that, Felipe founded and managed Sirios Capital Management in Boston, Massachusetts, a multi-billion long/short global hedge fund and also worked for 13 years at MFS where he led the #1 ranked growth fund in America for the 3 years ending 1999. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an Economics degree from UCLA.
Advisory Board
Fernando Espuelas
Recruitment Outreach
Fernando Espuelas
Recruitment Outreach
Fernando Espuelas was the founder and CEO of StarMedia, one of the most popular content sites for Hispanics in the U.S. and Latin America with over 24 million unique users a month. Prior to its sale to France Telecom, StarMedia was publicly traded with a market capitalization of $3.8 billion. Fernando went on to start Voy, a digital media company serving the Hispanic market. Time and CNN named Espuelas as one of the Leaders of the Millennium and in 2007 he was honored by being named a Henry Crown Fellow through the Aspen Institute. Today, Fernando mixes entrepreneurship with social activism, hosting Cafe Espuelas, a radio show on Univision 1020. He is the author of the book Life in Action and has been interviewed and featured in major press including CNN, New York Times, Business Week and the Wall Street Journal.
Moctesuma Esparza
Community Partnerships
Moctesuma Esparza
Community Partnerships
Moctesuma Esparza, an award-winning filmmaker, producer, entertainment executive, entrepreneur and activist, is revered for his contributions to the movie industry and commitment to Latinos everywhere. Esparza established Maya Cinemas, a growing chain of modern movie theatre complexes, and Maya Entertainment, the only Latino owned Entertainment Company targeting U.S. Latinos today. Some of his production credits include: Selena, The Milagro Beanfield War, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca, and most recently Walkout for HBO. Esparza founded the Los Angeles Academy of Arts and Enterprise Charter School, is Co-Founder of NALIP, Co-Founder of the Smithsonian Latino Center, and founding Member of the Cesar Chavez Foundation. Moctesuma was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Commissioner to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and, most recently, was appointed by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to the planning commission of the National Museum of the American Latino.
Jorge Castro
In Memoriam
Jorge Castro
In Memoriam
Mr. Castro was Granada’s longest-serving Advisor and a true friend. He passed away in 2015. Jorge was a gem to all who knew him. It is rare in life to encounter an individual who is so accomplished and influential, yet so consistent and completely unpretentious at the same time. Jorge served as Chief Executive Officer of Lombardia Capital Partners, a firm that manages $2 billion of equity investments on behalf of pension funds, endowments, foundations, and high net worth individuals. In 2008 Hispanic Business magazine named Mr. Castro among the 100 most influential Latinos in the US. Mr. Castro served as Vice Chairman and was a founding board member for the New America Alliance, a non-profit organization bringing together the nation’s most prominent Latino business leaders to better the Hispanic American community. Mr. Castro was also active in civic affairs, having served as a director of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a water utility serving 16 million residents in six Southern California counties. He was a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and studied for his Ph.D. in government at Harvard University. Jorge was born and raised in Huntington Park, California and is survived by his wife Nancy and their son Dominic Diego in Pasadena, CA.
Jim Maloney
Information Security
Jim Maloney
Information Security
Jim has more than 30 years of IT experience, with the past 15 years being focused on information security, privacy and risk management. Recent positions he has held include CISO for Mercury Payment Systems, Head of Security Solutions for retail banking at Barclays Bank, and Global Head of Information Security for Amazon.com. Jim has current certifications including CISSP, CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CISM and CGEIT. He holds a master of science in management from Stanford University, an MBA from City University, a master of science in engineering from Northwestern University and a bachelor of science in system design from Marquette University. He is also a member of the FBI InfraGard program.
Al Adamsen
HR Analytics
Al Adamsen
HR Analytics
Al Adamsen is the founder and managing partner of People-Centered Strategies, a management consulting firm specializing in talent management and human resources analytics. Al’s work is based on aligning HR strategies to the economics of a business and in turn, building metrics and decision-making processes that enable leaders to manage their organizations more responsively and effectively. Al has worked with leading companies such as Charles Schwab, Ernst & Young, Gap Inc., and Kenexa. At Gap Inc. Al was responsible for HR metrics & reporting, employee surveys, and workforce planning & analytics. Al holds an Economics degree from the University of California, Davis as well as a Masters degree in HR and Organizational Development.
Matt Jarvis
Marketing
Matt Jarvis
Marketing
Matt is a partner and CEO at 72andSunny, one of the world’s most respected advertising companies with offices in Los Angeles, Amsterdam and throughout the world. Their marketing work has helped transform the go-to-market strategies for companies such as Nike, Samsung, Quiksilver and the Discovery Channel. Previously, he was the Executive Planning Director for Deutsch/LA where he led the strategy and business development efforts of the west coast office. Prior to Deutsch, he was president of the retail division of Justice Telecom, an international telco ranked the #1 fastest growing company in America by Inc. Magazine in 1998. Matt grew up in a small college town in Pennsylvania, where both his parents were professors. A graduate of Brown University, where he studied comparative literature, Matt got his start in marketing at Leo Burnett in Chicago. When not directing brand strategy for 72andSunny clients, Matt is surfing or hanging out with his wife and kids in Venice, CA. He is also a fan of jamon serrano.