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HomeAbout RI.govStaff

Staff

Thomas Viall
Role: General Manager
What He Does: Juggles many things at once.
Background: Before switching careers to the Internet, Tom worked for 12 years in local television as both a producer and production manager. In 1998 he left TV to join the original launch team of Ocean State Online, an early Web portal dedicated to his native Rhode Island. He first became involved with RI.gov in 2003 as a freelance consultant. He thought he would stay less than six months, but he quickly became enamored with their mission and took over as general manager late in 2004.
Outside of Work: Loves to write and tries to paint
Little Known Fact: During his TV years, he directed over 100 episodes of the Bozo the Clown show.
Phone: (401) 831-8099 x220
Joseph Alba
Role: Director of Development
What He Does: Responsible for making the code, equipment, and people behind our technology run smoothly.
Background: After graduating with distinction with a BS in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Joe worked as the Web programmer and systems analyst for projo.com where he rearchitected the entire site and developed several award-winning interactive features. Another native Rhode Islander, Joe joined the RI.gov team in the beginning of 2004 and has developed the software for many of our award winning Web services.
Outside of Work: Avid musician who has been playing piano since age 2 and guitar since age 10
Little Known Fact: In the fourth grade, Joe participated in the fifth and sixth grade spelling bee and won third place. The word 'receipt' still perturbs him.
Phone: (401) 831-8099 x250
Elizabeth Pemmerl
Role: Director of Marketing
What She Does: Ensures that things get done on schedule and that people know what we did.
Background: Elizabeth graduated cum laude from Bates College with a BA in Rhetoric. As a student she interned for both the Department of Transportation and Fiscal Fitness. After graduation, Elizabeth worked as a project administrator for the RI DMV. She left state service in 2006 to work as a marketing and communications officer for Bank Rhode Island. She joined the portal team in May of 2008.
Outside of Work: Trustee for FirstWorks, a Rhode Island arts organization
Little Known Fact: Award winning competitive equestrian
Email: epemmerl@nicusa.com
Phone: (401) 831-8099 x230
Dan Chapman
Role: Director of Creative Services 2.0
What He Does: Keep us looking good - from the RI.gov homepage to the UI (that’s geek talk for user interface) on our online services
Background: An artist through and through, Dan earned a BA in art history from Hamilton College and worked as a production assistant in New York for several independent and industrial film productions. After graduation, Dan worked for an upstart software company specializing in the summer camp industry before locating to Rhode Island to take graduate courses at RISD. Dan brought his award winning design talents to RI.gov in August of 2004.
Outside of Work: New father and homeowner
Little Known Fact: Born in Wales and has a profound admiration for all things Hello Kitty.
Email: dchapman@nicusa.com
Phone: (401) 831-8099 x240
Olanda Estrada
Role: Office & Customer Service Administrator
What She Does: Makes sure our users are happy and our business is running smoothly
Background: Olanda is the person you will most likely communicate with if you need assistance with our many online services. We are very fortunate that she is fluent in English, Spanish and techno-speak and has the patience of a saint. She first joined RI.gov in 2004 and is currently working towards her BA in Business Management at Johnson & Wales University. Another native Rhode Islander, Olanda has also lived in Miami.
Outside of Work: Is responsible for a Cairn terrier named Tarzan and rental property owned by her family
Little Known Fact: Loves to dance
Phone: (401) 831-8099 x260
Mike Auclair
Role: Lead Developer
What He Does: Writes the software that allows you to do things online rather than standing in line.
Background: As our youngest team member, Mike ensures that our software leverages the latest developments in functionality and usability. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth he holds a BS in Computer Science. Besides writing software, Mike has an incredible aptitude for crunching numbers. From estimating how many users will take advantage of an online service to explaining the stock market to co-workers, Mike loves numbers.
Outside of Work: Proud repeat finisher of the Wickenden Pub card, which involves sampling all 99 of the Pub’s brews
Little Known Fact: Once remarked “Yeah I love that. It tastes like food”
Phone: (401) 831-8099 x210
Web Monkey
Web Monkey
Role: Mascot
What He Does: Gets posed in a variety of interesting places and moves mysteriously from one office to the next.
Background: We think Dan introduced the Web Monkey to our office. Wikipedia defines a ‘Web (or code) Monkey’ as a person only capable of grinding out code, but unable to perform the more intellectually complex tasks of software architecture, analysis, and design. The Web Monkey is also the subject of Tom’s seldom-updated in-house comic The Adventures of Monkey Von Webstien.
Little Known Fact: The employee name “Monkey, Web” was once inadvertently left in a budget as a holding place for a new hire that was submitted to corporate accounting.
NIC Corporate
Role: Our parent company
What they do: Support our local operation - and operations in 20 other states - from corporate headquarters in Olathe, Kansas.
Background: The Portal Operations Division of NIC employs over 100 professionals in accounting, technology, human resources and legal. They are dedicated to making sure that our small Providence-based team can focus on our core mission of developing online services and working with the state of Rhode Island.
Little Known Fact: NIC used to stand for the National Information Consortium but now it just stands for NIC.