Creating the Best Video Platform
for Video-Driven Businesses

David Kashak will lead JWP Connatix as Chairman of its Board of Directors. In 2014, he founded Connatix to help publishers monetize without editorial compromise. Over the years Connatix has rapidly evolved and as CEO David droves the company’s vision to become the largest, most innovative video technology company for publishers and advertisers in the world. Before Connatix, David was the Director of Business Development at Conduit and spent ten years at Verint leading their Americas Business Operations. His previous experience working with customer engagement platforms in the advertising industry helped inform his customer-centric and innovative mindset that guides his strategic decisions at Connatix. David attended Tel Aviv University, and lives in Miami with his family. 

Dave will lead JWP Connatix as the CEO.  He draws on decades of executive-level IT experience to secure JWPCs  position as the leading video software. data insights and monetization platform on the market. As co-founder and chief executive officer at JW Player, Dave helped propel JW Player from a popular open-source video player to the digital video platform of choice for hundreds of thousands of businesses, including half of the comScore top 50 websites in the U.S. Dave’s strategic leadership helped JW Player’s customer-base reach an average of over 1 billion viewers per month across 2.7 billion devices. Prior to his time at JW Player, Dave served in various leadership positions at companies including Nielsen/Net Rating and About.com. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in finance from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Oren is the Chief Operating Officer of JWP Connatix. Prior to founding Connatix, Oren was a key leader at AOL for over 8 years, playing an integral role in leading their distribution team. He also managed sales engineering efforts for their video operations. His extensive background in advertising and tech helped guide Connatix to over 10 years of continuous growth. Oren received his BA in Economics from The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo and MA in Law at Bar-Ilan University. 

Jeroen will lead JWP Connatix as its Chief Innovations Officer.  As JW Player’s creator, co-founder, and chief product evangelist, he is a recognized expert in online video and standards who drives innovation and market awareness. He is active in the IAB and W3C standards committees and frequently presents at conferences such as IBC and Streaming Media. He graduated with honors from the Design Academy Eindhoven with a degree in management and communication.

Brian Rifkin is a co-founder and Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships of JWP Connatix. A digital veteran, Brian has over two decades worth of experience working for companies on the cutting edge of technology. Prior to co-founding JW Player, he served as president of A Simple Internet, a media services firm he founded in 2001 specializing in digital marketing. He started his career with About.com serving as senior vice president of business development.  Brian currently serves as a mentor at the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA). He holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Jenn Chen currently oversees commercial functions at JWPC. Jenn has scaled multiple businesses and business units to over $100M and was an early veteran in digital programmatic advertising. Jenn started her career at Lehman Brothers, was at AppNexus as an early employee, and was the VP/GM of Programmatic at Sizmek, where she held various leadership roles and drove triple-digit growth organically and through several acquisitions. In addition to her accomplishments in the digital space, Jenn is also the Co-Founder and President of Givology.org, a nonprofit platform connecting donors to students in developing countries. Jenn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania from the Huntsman Program, with dual degrees in International Studies and Business. In her free time, she spends time with her 3 kids, cooks, and tries to globetrot. She is a strong advocate for female leadership and diversity in the workplace.

Andrew leads the finance team at JWP Connatix and is in charge of executing the company’s business strategy as a successful video platform business. Prior to joining he ran finance for RetailNext where he led the company’s transformation from one-time to recurring revenue. Earlier in his career he had senior roles in private equity and investment banking. Andrew holds a MS and MBA from Georgetown University and a BA from Bates College.

David LaPalomento is an esteemed industry veteran and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at JWP Connatix. With over a decade of invaluable experience in internet video delivery, David has been instrumental in spearheading groundbreaking advancements that have revolutionized the industry. His visionary leadership has paved the way for the widespread adoption of adaptive bitrate streaming technology on the web, empowering content creators and viewers alike. David has been at the forefront of global engineering endeavors, driving innovation in critical areas such as the transition to HTML-based video players, server-side ad insertion, and live streaming. His unwavering commitment to technological excellence continues to shape the landscape of online video, positioning JWPC as a frontrunner in the industry.

As Chief Product Officer at JWP Connatix, Leitman is responsible for guiding the company’s product strategy and technology development, and plays a key role in enhancing product capabilities and driving strategic innovation across JWPC’s  business objectives. At Connatix, Leitman’s leadership merged product and R&D teams into a single powerhouse delivery organization, enabling seamless integration of product strategy, execution, and market release processes.Leitman brings a wealth of experience to the JWPC  team, having played a pivotal role in Connatix’s technological evolution for the past five years in positions including senior vice president of product and R&D as well as VP of AI and content automation. His journey with Connatix began in 2019 following the acquisition of the AI-powered text-to-storytelling technology he created. Since then, Dor has spearheaded the development of Connatix’s Deep Contextual™ targeting offering, among other industry-leading tools. Deep Contextual™ is a proprietary technology leveraging AI-powered deep learning, advanced computer vision, and natural language processing (NLP) to analyse media content in real time — which has become a pivotal, privacy-safe targeting tool. Dor holds a B.Sc in Computer Software Engineering as well as an MBA.

As Chief HR Officer, Jillian leads the overall operational and strategic alignment of JWP Connatix’s people and talent. She is responsible for attracting, retaining, and developing JWPCs talent and culture. She has over 20 years of experience leading Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, and People Operations at media and technology companies. She is passionate about growing and evolving talent in creative, proactive, and scalable ways. Prior to JW Player, Jillian led HR and Operations at the media company, Mashable, and managed administration and HR for the financial tech firm, Correlix. She holds an MFA from Naropa University and a BA in Advertising from the University of Oregon.

Nancy leads all things marketing at JWP Connatix. Nancy brings her passion for building and transforming the revenue engine, honed during her 25 years of experience in technology companies including start ups, mid-market high growth and global multinationals. Her diverse background includes leadership roles in sales, marketing and product management.  She earned her BS in Computer Science from the University of Dayton and her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.