David Blumstein, CEO of Knowledge Adventure, has more than twenty-five years of management experience driving sales and profitability in senior executive positions within the computer industry. Prior to his role at Knowledge Adventure, he served as Vice Chairman, as well as President and CEO of Top Tier Software, Inc. for six years. Before joining TopTier, Mr. Blumstein served as President and CEO of Softbank OnHand, Inc. (U.S.) after the company purchased Alexander & Lord, where he was Founder, President and CEO. He also served as President and COO of Peter Norton Computing, and as President and CEO of Ingram Distribution, where he turned a troubled Ingram around and merged it with Micro-D, forming Ingram Micro, the world's largest distributor of personal computer products. Prior to Ingram Micro, Mr. Blumstein was a founder of Softsel Computer Products, the industry's first software distributor, where he spent seven years as Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing. Softsel merged with MicroAmerica and was renamed Merisel. Mr. Blumstein holds a Bachelors Degree from Brooklyn College, NY.
Jay Meschel Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Jay Meschel, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Knowledge Adventure, has held various financial and operational responsibilities within the company since 1993. As CFO, Jay handles all financial, accounting, M&A, cost containment and performance metrics in a growth environment. With almost fifteen years of finance and executive leadership experience within the technology-based sector, Jay has extensive experience within this market. After Knowledge Adventure was acquired by Vivendi Universal Games, Inc. in 1997, he became Senior Vice President, Finance. Prior to Knowledge Adventure, Jay was Director of Finance of Ogden Corporation, a full support services company, including waste to energy conversion, building, entertainment, aviation food and aviation ground services. Prior to Ogden, Jay was a financial manager at Holt, Rinehart & Winston (A Division of CBS) in New York. He holds a BBA from Rutgers University. Since 1993, he has worked with the Starlight Children’s Foundation as the CFO of their California, Arizona and Nevada chapters.
Leslie House President, Knowledge Adventure Studios
Leslie House, President of Knowledge Adventure Studios, a children’s educational software leader, oversees development of the company’s best-selling and award-winning interactive brands including JumpStart® and Math Blaster®. House is a pioneer in the industry, having developed many of the earliest and best known children’s software at retail as well as in the school arena. She has been with Knowledge Adventure for 16 years and continues to lead the company’s development initiatives to expand its interactive offerings, while staying abreast of the leading research on brain development. Prior to joining Knowledge Adventure, House served four years as Assistant Director of an adult education and English-as-a-Second-Language program in Dallas, Texas and was honored as “Outstanding Educator of Mexican American Youth.” Her background also includes four years of teaching, training educators and designing curriculum. House received a BA from Texas Tech University.
Barry Levenson Chief Marketing Officer
Barry Levenson, Chief Marketing Officer of Knowledge Adventure, is a visionary leader and marketing expert in hi-tech, education, retail, and consumer packaged goods with a proven record of driving top and bottom-line improvements and fast-growth marketing strategies. As CMO of Knowledge Adventure, Barry is the architect of the marketing and public relations strategy, bringing the Knowledge Adventure brand and value proposition to life in all marketing campaigns. Before joining KA, Barry was CMO at Academy123, an online educational subscription service where he signed up over 30,000 subscribers in under 6 months. The company was acquired shortly thereafter by Discovery Communications. Levenson was a founding officer and CMO of Countrywide Bank, where he led the marketing team to efficiently exceed annual production goals, making the bank the fastest-growing bank in US history. Levenson’s career also includes executive marketing positions at Homestore, Enfish, Stern Marketing Group, The Clorox Company, and consulting at Deloitte & Touche. He is a board member for the National Literacy Network, has spoken at numerous industry conferences on Branding, and has been interviewed by CNN, Bloomberg, USA Today, Advertising News, and others. He received his MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and holds a BS from the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley.
John Bartlett Vice President, Worldwide Sales
John Bartlett, Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Knowledge Adventure, joined the company in January 2007 as Vice President of Licensing and Strategic Sales. He is currently responsible for all Retail, School, International, and Strategic sales. With over fifteen years of sales and sales management experience within the consumer software industry, he has become an authority on multiple sales channels for both educational and productivity software. Prior to joining Knowledge Adventure, he spent 14 years with the merged entities of Softkey, The Learning Company, Broderbund, Mattel, and Riverdeep. During this period, John managed all brand and licensing initiatives including partnerships with hardware, online, promotional, reseller, and alternative retail companies. Prior to entering consumer software, John held a senior audit position at Digital Equipment Corporation for seven years where he traveled extensively to their worldwide operations. He holds a BA from Stonehill College and an MBA from Northeastern University.
