The Level edge starts with the team

Thomas Donohoe

CEO

Thomas is the architect behind Level Agency’s customer generation focus. For over a decade, he has led efforts on both sides of the lead generation table — starting from the client side in early 2001 buying media and driving clients on Wall Street, and later launching Level to generate sales opportunities in technology, education, healthcare, and finance verticals, among others.

Patrick Patterson

President

Patrick brings with him over 10 years of product development and marketing experience with specialization in technology, product management, online advertising and website optimization. In the direct response space, Patrick directly managed a $30+ million marketing budget to drive year-over-year revenue growth for a category leader.

Thomas Hudak

CFO

Thomas earned his JD and MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He has managed Level Agency’s finances for the better part of a decade. Thomas specializes in internal and external reporting, valuation, and capital management.

In his spare time, Thomas is a competitive rower, with 11 national and international championship gold medals.

Patrick Van Gorder

Senior Vice President

Patrick studied history and political science at the University of Pittsburgh, joining the newly-formed Level Agency shortly afterward. He is part of the leadership team that grew Level from a team of two to a team of 75+. An online marketing professional specializing in customer generation, Patrick is engagement focused, ROI sensitive, technology driven, data motivated, and forward-looking.

Patrick is naturally curious: his parents taught him “if you’re bored, you’re boring.” He loves to spend time outdoors – hiking, camping, stargazing. He travels as often as he can. He’s a die-hard Pittsburgh Pirates fan and the captain of a historically bad but wonderfully enthusiastic softball team.

JT Smith

Associate Vice President of Operations

JT brings 17+ years of digital marketing and eCommerce experience to the Level team. After starting his career managing digital marketing for an eCommerce startup, he focused his energy towards online marketing and lead generation in the higher education vertical. JT joins Level after spending nine years leading eCommerce operations at GNC, driving a variety of digital initiatives.

Brad Stephenson

Associate Vice President of Client Services

Brad Stephenson studied arts management at Carnegie Mellon University (MA) and acting at University of Kentucky (BFA). His nearly two decades of experience includes marketing leadership in the arts, education, and healthcare. Brad combines data-driven marketing expertise with a creative storytelling background to deliver ad campaigns that effectively connect Level Agency’s clients with the right customers.

His past successes include increasing annual attendance at Carnegie Museum of Art, a major contemporary art museum, by nearly 25 percent during his tenure.

Brad produces and stars in Knights of the Arcade, an award-winning Dungeons & Dragons-themed comedy show and podcast.

Craig Ferrence

Senior Creative Director

Craig loves a good story. More than that, he loves helping to create/craft those stories for the brands he works on; Finding that emotional connection through data, insights and storytelling between a brand and their consumer. He’s an award-winning Creative Director with more than 16 years of experience creating integrated campaigns on numerous Fortune 100 and 500 companies like ESPN (ABC), KFC (Yum! Brands), Miller Lite and PNC Bank. Adept at delivering out-of-the-box concepts, dynamic visuals and innovative strategies across all media; branding, broadcast, collateral, digital, logo design, OOH, print, retail, social, etc. He’s a big picture thinker with an obsessive, detail-oriented mindset that is always looking for the best solution possible. At Level, he will use this rationale to elevate the creative product and help create work that gets results.

In his free time, Craig enjoys weekly attempts at playing the guitar, the occasion nap, crushing his 11 year-old son’s dreams in basketball and staying curious by looking for whatever life has to offer.

Geoff Roebuck

Senior Director of Digital Marketing

Geoff Roebuck studied psychology at University of Maryland and pulls from five additional years of academic research experience developing statistical analyses, efficient processes, marketing surveys, and using data to solve puzzles in human experiences.

Geoff leads Level’s media team in omni-channel digital marketing strategy, tactics, and full-funnel advertising measurement to bring our clients ROI-focused digital marketing efforts that drive real business results. He has worked in performance digital marketing since 2013 in a variety of specializations, from paid search, social, and display to landing page and creative A/B testing & development.

Geoff has been personally been involved on nearly every client project that’s come through Level Agency’s doors in recent years, ranging from media lead for our largest Education clients, to one-off marketing analysis and survey development and testing projects for a Fortune-500 financial client.

In his downtime, he enjoys woodworking, snowboarding, and generally finding excuses to hang out with his dog.

Chrissy Starkweather

Sr. Director of Digital Marketing, Ecommerce

Chrissy is a digital marketing executive with a track record of successful execution and growth from hypergrowth start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. She’s accumulated over a decade of experience with integrated multichannel marketing management with specialization in the retail and healthcare industries.

Chrissy is based in Philadelphia. In addition to her agency work, she’s also an active board member for the Southeast PA Area Health Education Centers and fundraiser for the Gift of Life. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, trail running, and cheering on her hometown sports.

Amy Weyant

Senior Director of People

Amy studied business communication at Thiel College. She has over a decade of project management, operations, and strategic management experience on both the agency- and client-side. She has overseen national brand accounts, and managed projects ranging from content marketing, eCommerce website redesigns, and viral campaigns. She is passionate about process and people, working to design and implement continuous improvements to Level Agency’s staff utilization, project structures, professional development, and hiring and onboarding.

After work, Amy rallies a crew of Level employees to play in a local softball league. She also runs and attends networking events.

Jenna Sheffo

Controller

Jenna Sheffo received her Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain & Information Systems from Penn State University. Jenna manages critical operations and financial systems across Level Agency, from client hours to employee payroll. She also serves as Level’s human resources officer.

Outside the office, Jenna enjoys shopping, baking, and sporting events.

Kahlianne Jones

Director of Innovation

Kahlianne studied information systems management and entrepreneurship at Duquesne University. Since joining Level Agency, she has been responsible for improvements in Level Agency’s analytics and reporting capabilities, and the development of our custom Business Intelligence dashboard. She enjoys the challenge of taking complicated data sets and sources and turning them into concise pictures of performance that empower all teams to be data-driven.

Kahlianne spends virtually all her free time working with and riding horses. She is a semi-professional barrel racer with multiple state and national titles.

Tim Fitzgerald

Director of Media Services

Tim Fitzgerald graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with degrees in both Economics and Music. He specializes in Social and Display advertising while maintaining a passion for large analytics projects. For Tim, effective marketing lies at the confluence of art and science.

His major analytics projects include customer lifetime value analyses and Level Agency’s cross-channel attribution tool, which allows Level to get more for our client media dollars. Passionate and resourceful, Tim believes in the words of the founder of his alma mater “My Heart is in the Work”.

In his spare time Tim continues to explore his love of music as a multi-instrumentalist and producer.

Seth Tongchinsub

General Counsel

Seth studied law at Duquesne University School of Law, and English writing at the University of Pittsburgh. As Level Agency legal counsel, Seth manages contracts and agreements, as well as ensuring that data privacy protections are in place on behalf of our client partners. His legal expertise includes contracts, employment, regulatory & compliance, privacy, corporate governance, and litigation. He feels fortunate that learning has never felt like work.

Seth enjoys hockey, playing guitar, reading, and film & photography.

Brian Napierski

Associate Director of Call Center Operations

Brian received a BSBA in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh and brings over 15 years of experience in contact centers, management, sales, and operations. He has spearheaded new Level Agency Contact Center initiatives for several higher-education clients, creating preadmissions support campaigns designed to boost lead-to-application and lead-to-enrollment rates. Brian is also a vital contributor to the construction of our review and training programs, development of qualitative and quantitative measurements, and a driver of KPI attainment to achieve client-specified objectives.

In his spare time, Brian enjoys gaming and is a self-proclaimed movie buff. Most importantly, he prides himself on family and being the best uncle he can be.

TJ Bruno

Senior Client Services Manager

TJ earned his BS in Public Relations from West Virginia University. He combines his experience with SEO, landing page optimization, and data analytics with a commitment to partnership and shared goals, driving success for clients across several industries. He has applied Level Agency’s best practices toward substantial student growth for higher education clients, including IUP, University of Pittsburgh, Brookline College, South University, and Trident University. He also understands the customer-generation challenges of B2B digital marketing and has worked to continually improve performance for clients such as ANSYS and SAE International.

TJ travels regularly, attending sporting events and concerts.

Lydia Borovina

Senior Innovation Strategist, Media

Lydia received her BS in Human Development from Cornell University. She is committed to going above and beyond for her client partners, keeping their business goals in mind as she develops digital marketing strategies to help achieve them. Prior to joining Level Agency, Lydia worked for six years at Hudson River Group, conducting full business driver analyses (including marketing mix modeling) for major retail clients. She also spent a year working in Mumbai, India for Tata Consultancy Services.

Lydia loves visiting estate sales with her family and puppy, as well as going on hikes and generally getting outdoors.

Jordan Grace

Senior Innovation Engineer

Jordan studied web and multimedia management at Pittsburgh Technical College and brings nearly a decade of experience in web development and data management to Level Agency. A specialist in back-end development, he spearheaded Level’s API and data warehouse restructuring. This major undertaking allows for improved tracking and integrations with all aspects of our ad data, from client CRM, to reporting and analytics dashboards. He continues to optimize datasets for Level, aiming to automate “everything he can.”

Jordan is a hiker, gamer, and a traveler aiming to see all 50 states by age 30.

Laura Greenawalt

Senior Client Services Manager

Laura received her MBA from Point Park University and her BA in Theatre & French from Penn State. With over a decade of marketing experience in theater and the arts, Laura understands the challenges of keeping highly complex projects moving in sync, the importance of clearly communicating across departments. At Level Agency, she leads a team focused on delivering results for several clients. Tell Laura what success looks like, and she’ll help chart an engaging path to reach it.

Laura coordinates a project called Fun A Day Pittsburgh every January, culminating in a group art exhibition.

Ed Grieser

Senior UX Architect

Ed received his BS in Economics from Penn State. In his years at Level, he has built many of our best practices for website and post-click-experience testing and optimization. With expertise and certifications in several platforms, Ed works across campaigns, from early strategy discussions to implementation and beyond. His focus on performance and direct response has resulted in impressive results for Level client partners.

Ed is proud of his client work, which emphasizes intuitive user experience. These include the websites for Sous-Vide magazine, the Autonomous Vehicle Safety Consortium, Sentric, and Servicelink.

Ed is a dog lover, who takes his bichon-poodle mix everywhere, from craft beer excursions to hikes.

Leo Rubiano

Senior Python Developer

Leo is a software developer with experience across the stack, focusing on back-end engineering. He has worked with a variety of marketing automation platforms, developing custom integrations for platforms like HubSpot and Marketo. He is currently immersed in the world of microservices and blockchain.

Having studied Analytic Philosophy and Psychology, Leo spends much of his spare time reading non-fiction centered around programming, philosophy, history, and economics. He also loves playing stringed instruments and spending his fall Sundays watching football.

Samual Lothard

Team Lead

Sam received an Associate degree from Sawyer Business School. With 20+ years in call centers, sales, customer relations and university admissions, Sam brings a depth of experience in tailoring services to meet client goals. He plays an integral role in training, team building, and other aspects of Level Agency Call Center.

Sam loves to travel. His life’s goal is to earn a living acting.

Andrea Roberto

Team Lead

Andrea Roberto studied English writing at Penn State University and Legal Studies at CCAC. Andrea has spent over 20 years cultivating and growing customer service offices, where she has worked with clients as diverse as BMW, Toys R Us, and NY Daily News. For Level Agency Call Center, Andrea leverages her extensive professional track record across several industries, rising to meet our toughest client challenges.

When not at the office, she’s traveling and exploring, curled up with a book, or geeking out with fantasy & sci-fi flicks.

Sean Vargo

Team Lead

Sean Vargo studied biology at Beaver College. His 20 years of sales and B2B experience spans finance, education, and software. In his years at Level, Sean has lead teams of contact center agents in executing on challenging B2B and higher-education campaigns. For every client he serves, Sean emphasizes consistent training, rigorous QA, and measurable results.

When not in the office, Sean bikes, does weight training, spends time with his girlfriend, and travels.

Kevin Moore

QA Lead

Kevin received dual bachelor’s degrees in theater and social work from Slippery Rock University. Since his arrival at Level Agency, he has been instrumental in growing and developing call center QA systems. In his daily work, he seeks to coach and empower call center agents to do the best possible work for our clients. Coaching and mentoring is not a new role for him—Kevin spent several years teaching theater practices, and also acted in a touring theater company.

Kevin hasn’t left the theater entirely. In his spare time, he continues to act in Pittsburgh-area plays.

Humberto Briceno

Online Marketing Manager

Humberto is a digital marketing and SEM/SEO professional, with expertise in website project management, digital media analytics, and site analytics reporting platforms.

He brings a strong and diverse skillset to Level’s clients, including relationship management, social media campaign coordination, PPC campaigns management, and conversion rate optimization for enterprise-level multinational organizations.

Humberto is an avid golfer and in his free time enjoys going to the beach, occasionally playing golf, and watching his favorite football (soccer) team, Liverpool.

Jessica Echement

Client Services Manager

With client services and media management skill sets, Jess has experience in higher-ed, non-profit, retail and sports marketing among other industries. She received her Master of Science in Digital Journalism from Syracuse University and joins level after living in Erie, Pa for undergrad and beyond. As a client services team member, Jess has a passion for problem-solving through data-driven marketing and helping her clients exceed their goals.

Outside of work, you can find Jess at a Pittsburgh Penguins game, hunting for the best coffee shop, or reading a professional development book.

Jonathan Gaugler

Manager of Content Strategy

Jonathan Gaugler studied philosophy at Cambridge University (M.Phil) and Capital University (BA). He brings 10+ years’ experience in marketing and public relations, including strategic messaging, social, and web content in academic and museum settings. In between, he spent three years as an entrepreneur. As Level’s copywriter, he collaborates across departments, guiding conversations toward core messages.

His most rewarding professional moments include everything from landing exclusives with national news outlets to watching multi-month web builds take their maiden voyages.

Jonathan lives in a 125-year-old house: Half of his vacation time (and most weekends) is spent on renovation projects. He’s also a gardener, cook, and home brewer.

Ian Herzing

Resource Manager

Ian studied communication at Saint Vincent College, and is currently pursuing an MBA in Project Management at Chatham University. At Level Agency, Ian works within the client services team to develop project workflows that meet or exceed deadline expectations.

In his free time, Ian enjoys going to the gym and playing soccer.

Keefer Kopco

Online Marketing Manager

Keefer Kopco graduated from Gannon University’s Theatre and Communication Arts department. He specializes in social media and display marketing, working with clients and Level’s creative team on targeting, testing, and ad design strategy.

During his time in undergrad, he served as Editor-In-Chief of the student-run blog Gannon Edge. Has served as social media production and strategy roles for NYC indie comic publisher Drumfish Productions, and Erie-based digital marketing agency Epic Web Studios. During his time at Epic he helped get the Socialism: The Game Kickstarter-funded through securing spots on Fox’s After the Bell and Vice. He promoted undefeated boxer Gennady “GGG” Golovkin on behalf of Golden Boy Productions for his Monroe, Lemieux, and Wade fights and managed paid media for several notable stand-up comedians including Eddie Griffin and Tom Green.

In his spare time, Keefer’s a huge comic book collector and board game enthusiast.

Matthew Morran

Online Marketing Manager

Matthew Morran received his degree in Visual Communications with a minor in Advertising at Liberty University. He has worked for over 8 years across several different facets of marketing. His experience so far spans music promotion, print advertising, search engine marketing, and the apparel industry. Matt is data-motivated, consumer-focused and works constantly to learn new and best practices in the digital space.

In his spare time, Matt enjoys sports, writing movie reviews and continuing to develop his creative skills, including designing covers for 2 books currently in publication.

Dillan Nardulli

Online Marketing Manager

Dillan received his BA in Integrated Marketing from California University of Pennsylvania. With agency and consulting experience focused on search engine marketing strategy, Dillan builds and manages performance-driven search campaigns that focus on Level Agency’s client goals.

Dillan enjoys outdoor activities, including hiking, soccer, and hockey. He’s also a cook and a gardener.

Dale Riether

Client Services Manager

Dale studied marketing and international business at Ohio University. His experience includes nearly 10 years of digital marketing, account management, and freelance design, as well as founding and running his own eco-friendly clothing brand. At Level Agency, Dale taps into this breadth of expertise and creative problem-solving acumen to help clients chart a path to their goals.

Dale’s free time is occupied by art-making, including graphic illustration, clothing design, and painting. He also enjoys live music.

Troy Stiles

Client Services Manager

Troy brings over a dozen years of business and marketing experience to the Level team. He started his career as a print designer before moving into communications, content marketing, and product marketing. He has experience working in sports, non-profit, higher ed, technology, and startups.

Troy earned an International MBA from the University of Denver and a BS in Technology from Bowling Green State University. He comes to Level after 6.5 years in the international ed/higher ed space.

Based in Denver, CO, he spends much of his free time outdoors hiking, mountain biking, camping, and fly fishing.

Caitlin Bell

Junior Copywriter

Caitlin is a recent graduate of Point Park University where she obtained her BA in Writing for the Screen and Media. She joined Level as the Junior Copywriter in the Creative Services Department. She brings a background in online content and social media writing as well as experience writing for film and video, key skills to grow and support clients’ video and rich media content.

Caitlin has a love for stories in whatever medium they come. She spends her free time working on her own writing and watching/listening/reading to whatever new content she can get her hands on. When she’s not doing that she’s probably hanging out with her German Shepherd, Pepper.

Jenna Bluedorn

Client Services Specialist

Jenna received her MA in Business with a focus in Marketing from Oxford Brookes University and has in-depth marketing experience in both B2B and B2C industries. She joins the team with agency experience managing direct response marketing, organic social media traffic, SEO, and brand development. Her work on the Client Services team helps her clients meet and exceed their business goals, keeping data at the forefront of every decision.

In her free time, Jenna enjoys rock climbing, yoga, hiking, and surfing.

Micah Brightwell

Animator

Micah Brightwell studied graphic design at Arkansas State University. He brings 6 years of professional graphic design and motion graphic experience to Level Agency. A recent transplant from the South, he’s spent most of his career as the sole graphic designer for a regional network of libraries. This involved handling a major rebranding effort, executing video campaigns, driving social media graphics, and even wrapping a bookmobile. Today he ensures Level’s ads are unmissable by applying the principles of motion design to our clients’ social and web display creative.

When he’s not making pixels move, you can find Micah walking his dachshund Milo around his neighborhood.

Dan Dix

Junior Front End Developer

Dan studied Sports, Arts, and Entertainment Management at Point Park University. He brings several years of web development, media and database management, and content strategy to Level Agency, where he focuses on landing page production, and email campaign builds and testing.

In the winter, Dan coaches an alpine ski racing team based in the Laurel Highlands, east of Pittsburgh. In the summer, he enjoys hiking and kayaking.

Rico Galassi

Web Production Specialist

Rico studied Web Design and Development and Business as an undergraduate before receiving his M.S. in Media Management, all from Duquesne University. He is an experienced web designer and coder with additional expertise in media production. At Level Agency, Rico brings his development and design skills to each user experience he builds, including landing page experiences and emails. He’s also involved in conversion rate optimization (CRO), data management, and data-visualization projects. For our clients, this means intuitive post-click experiences that perform and data that flows smoothly.

Outside of work, he’s a runner and animal lover who produces and hosts his own podcast.

Caitlin Hachman

Graphic Designer

Caitlin received her AA in Graphic Design from Pittsburgh Technical College. She joined the Level team with 6 years of digital design and client-service experience. Her work on the Creative Services team helps meet and exceed client expectations daily.

Caitlin’s skills in storyboarding help her team build and iterate creative concepts for clients. She is also an experienced hand with landing page design, display ads, and the odd print project.

During off-hours, Caitlin is also a part-time freelancer, video gamer lover, and proud dog-mom to Jenny.

Emily Halpern

Client Services Specialist

Emily joined Level Agency after receiving her Master’s in Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Her background in design, audience and consumer research, and customer service supports complex campaign development and execution. To the Client Services team, she brings a passion for building positive client relationships and finding creative, data-driven ways to solve problems.

Emily loves learning and will always take the chance to try something new. She spends her free time between Pittsburgh and New Jersey and enjoys hot yoga, hiking, being a homebody, and tacos.

Joseph Hoffner

Online Marketing Specialist

Joseph studied communication at Saint Vincent College. With several years’ experience in social media advertising and content creation, Joey is a multi-functioning marketer focused on delivering client goals in search, social, and display. In past roles, he has edited online content for the Diocese of Greensburg, organized tournaments, run social accounts for the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association, and created social campaigns at an auto dealership.

Joey is a semi-professional golfer and a gamer.

Jack Hufnagel

Junior Video Editor/Animator

Jack comes from a design background with experience in UI/UX design, graphic design, and animation for motion graphics. He first obtained his Associate Degree in Graphic Design from Butler County Community College before moving on to receive his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts/Multimedia Arts from Edinboro University. With his broad experience in the field, Jack understands how to incorporate good design principles while also guiding the user experience.

In his spare time, Jack enjoys blacksmithing, landscaping, and dream-scheming.

Matt Rose

IT Specialist

Matt Rose studied Arts and design at Waynesburg University. His 20 years of experience as an IT consultant focused on special initiative launches for clients including PNC Bank, FedEx, and Mylan Pharmaceuticals. As our systems architect, Matt designs, supports, and upgrades mission-critical IT infrastructure for Level Agency, allowing for agency staff to keep data and creative flowing. Data security and compliance is a priority for Matt, and his work includes establishing the right protocols on behalf of our clients.

Matt is off enjoying the great outdoors whenever he gets the chance.

Renaldo Soto

Online Marketing Analyst

Renaldo studied marketing and digital media analytics at Penn State. He channels his data and systems expertise into building and managing search engine marketing campaigns for Level Agency clients that are performance-optimized and opportunity-driven.

Renaldo’s off-hours are spent hiking, traveling, and eating.

Felix Strater

Online Marketing Specialist

Felix is a recent graduate from the University of Pittsburgh with a major in Marketing and a minor in Economics. Specializing in display advertising as well as paid and organic social, he brings years of agency and startup experience to the team. Felix uses his background to test new platforms and ad types for his clients in order to drive growth.

Originally from outside Philly, he spends his free time exploring Pittsburgh and running his online store, Vintage PGH.

Abby Young

Online Marketing Specialist

Abby graduated in 2019 from Penn State, where she majored in Public Relations and had minors in business and communication arts and sciences. She joins our team after helping to run a small marketing agency in Michigan over the past year, where she was tasked with the creation and maintenance of multiple financial advisory firms’ digital presences. Abby uses her background to analyze data and create tactical recommendations, which helps to optimize our clients’ budgets and ad performance. When she is not strategizing or researching the newest social media trends, you can find her hiking, baking, or obsessing over her brand-new puppy.

Gloria Zhang

Junior Data Analyst

Gloria Zhang studied Economics at UCLA and brings digital marketing experience from the content publisher side to Level Agency. Prior to moving to Pittsburgh, she lived in Los Angeles, but calls Beijing her home. As an analyst, Gloria uses her curiosity and critical thinking skills to help the agency make data-driven decisions for our clients and improve organizational processes.

In her off-hours, Gloria volunteers with a Christian group focused on mentoring college students.

Nathan Zoob

Online Marketing Specialist

Nathan comes to Level via the arts, where he was a DIY marketer and freelance copywriter for 10+ years. He leverages his unique experience into a creative and dynamic approach to B2B marketing, managing media for companies invested in connecting and educating the world. Nathan has a degree in Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, and lives/works in Pittsburgh, PA.

When he’s not neck deep in DV360, you can catch him performing solo or with his band Wreck Loose. Unfortunately, he owns no dogs.