Validity Leadership

Mark Briggs serves as Chairman and CEO of Validity. He has over 25 years of experience building and leading high-growth technology companies with a strong track record of generating exceptional shareholder value. Most recently, he served as CEO of ABILITY Network, which was acquired by Inovalon (NASDAQ:INOV) for $1.2 billion. Additionally, Mark is a Senior Advisor for Silversmith Capital Partners, a leading Boston private equity firm.

Prior to ABILITY, Mark held executive leadership positions at Carefx Corporation, at NaviNet, was the President of MPI Solutions at QuadraMed Corporation, and served as the Chairman and CEO of LinkSoft Technologies, a company that he founded.  

Mark holds a Master’s in Theoretical Physics and a Bachelor’s in Physics, both from Dartmouth College.

Paul Deeley serves as Chief Financial Officer for Validity and will also oversee the HR and IT functions for the firm.

Paul brings over 25 years of extensive finance, administration and public accounting experience in diverse industries including software, services, mobile and advertising.

Paul has a proven ability to build, lead and advise organizations through business growth, restructurings and other complex transactions. With strong SEC expertise and a background in mergers and acquisitions, he is accomplished in structuring and negotiating commercial and financial transactions with favorable terms.

Paul is a Certified Public Accountant for the state of Massachusetts. He received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Boston College, Carroll School of Management.

Don Williams serves as Executive Vice President of Sales for Validity. With over 25 years in the technology industry, Don has a track record of creating, restructuring, and motivating organizations to consistently exceed sales, financial and operational goals.

Don is focused on client services for the firm, as well as creating a positive culture of accountability, developing and executing growth strategies, and monitoring business operations with attention to cost efficiency.

Prior to Validity, Don served as the SVP of Operations for MedeAnalytics Inc., a leading healthcare analytics company for providers and payers.

Don received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He also received his Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate from Villanova University.

Wayne Parslow serves as Executive Vice President of Validity for EMEA and is building a world-class sales and go-to-market team to maximize Validity’s opportunities across EMEA. In addition to general management, he is responsible for the development and execution of business plans, go-to-market programs, sales management, strategic partnerships, and public representation for the EMEA market, and to develop the EMEA business at least in line with the aspirations of the US domestic market.

For over 25 years, Wayne has been successfully building, scaling and restructuring companies in various industries, including document and workflow management, integration and interoperability, web application development, security, access management, eCommerce, business process management and the application of open source and open standards.

Prior to Validity, he served as head of European, Middle Eastern and African markets for global digital identity company, ThreatMetrix.

Wayne received his Bachelor of Science in Applied Science from Kingston University.

Jonathan Sherman serves as Executive Vice President of Product for Validity and is responsible for leading the firm’s product innovation process, developing the product roadmap and furthering overall business strategy.

Jonathan has more than 20 years of leadership experience growing some of the most successful private and publicly held technology companies.

Prior to Validity, he was the Executive Vice President of Products and Strategy at ABILITY Network where his leadership played a critical role in the explosive growth that resulted in the company’s $550 million acquisition by Summit Partners and $1.2 billion acquisition by Inovalon.

Jonathan has a BA from Wesleyan University where he earned Phi Beta Kappa distinction and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Erik Dasque serves as Executive Vice President of Engineering for Validity and is responsible for all aspects of the company’s engineering product development activities, including strategic planning, direction and control.

Erik brings ten years of experience in developing startups at the VP and CTO level. His experience includes SaaS, distributed systems, service-oriented architecture, micro-services, mobile applications, direct to consumer websites, big data analytics, B2B applications and complex third-party API integration. 

As Chief Marketing Officer, Charlie brings to Validity extensive marketing and sales expertise and a successful track record driving technology companies to growth. Previously, he served as CMO at Applause, PTC (NASDAQ: PTC), and Globoforce, as well as earlier roles in sales, marketing, and product management. Charlie’s deep experience in tech spans both established enterprise software and emerging SaaS-based companies, including participation in two successful IPOs.

Charlie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French from Fordham University and a diploma with honors from the Université Paris-Sorbonne.

Derek Swaim serves as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development for Validity and is responsible for all aspects of corporate development strategy and execution.

Derek brings more than 20 years of corporate transaction experience to Validity. He has advised leading private equity and founder-owned technology companies on domestic and cross-border strategic M&A, leveraged buyouts, and growth equity recapitalizations. Prior to Validity, Derek was a Managing Director at Aeris Partners, a provider of M&A advisory services to software, digital media, and business information companies. Derek also held investment banking positions at Harris Williams, Broadview International, and Goldman Sachs.

Derek has an AB in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.