Darline Jean

President and Chief Executive Officer, the About Group

Darline Jean became president and chief executive officer of The About Group in September 2011. In this role, she is responsible for the strategic direction of the business unit of The New York Times Company that includes About.com, CalorieCount.com and ConsumerSearch.com. Most recently, Darline had been chief operating officer, About.com and senior vice president, chief financial officer, the About Group. During her tenure as chief financial officer the About Group strongly contributed to The New York Times Company’s performance. She joined About.com in 2003 as director of business analysis and went on to hold positions of vice president of finance, chief financial officer and senior vice president of emerging markets.

Darline was actively involved in the sale of About.com to The New York Times Company in 2005.

Before joining About, Darline served as a financial systems consultant for Fitch Ratings, Inc. from March 2003 to November 2003, where she handled the implementation of multi-currency financial consolidation systems. Before that, she worked with Thomson Media, a division of Thomson Financial, from April 1990 to November 2002 in a variety of positions, including director of financial planning and analysis. Darline began her career with Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in New York.

Darline received an M.B.A. with a dual concentration in accounting and finance from Long Island University in 1992. She received a B.S. degree in business and psychology from The State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1988.

 

Michael Daecher

Senior Vice President, New Platforms

Michael Daecher has been actively involved in the creation and management of About.com’s robust library of original content since 1999. As senior vice president of new platforms, Michael is focused on the rapidly evolving mobile, video and social markets. His detailed knowledge of About.com’s products, marketplace awareness and strong understanding of and advocacy for the user helps him focus on evaluating and developing new platforms for About.com content and services. Michael first joined About.com as education editor.

 

Tracy Raiser

Senior Vice President, Sales

Tracy Raiser joined About.com in 2008 as vice president of sales, western region. She was named senior vice president of sales in August 2011. As a key member of the About Group’s senior leadership team, Ms. Raiser oversees advertising sales, research, sales development, client services and marketing. Before joining About.com, Ms. Raiser was an accomplished account director at America Online (AOL) where she led a team of sales and support staff in the Midwest territory. Previously, Ms. Raiser held senior marketing positions at various internet start-ups, and spent several years in sports and event marketing roles. Ms. Raiser earned a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing from Northwestern University and holds a B.A. in Communications from Purdue University.

 

Karen Messineo

Chief Financial Officer, The About Group

After a distinguished career at the New York Times, Karen joined About.com as Chief Financial Officer for The About Group. Previously, she was Chief Financial Officer at New York Times Digital since 2003 and Vice President, Finance of NYTimes.com for four years prior. Karen held various management positions in finance at The New York Times newspaper and was named Vice President, Chief Financial Officer in 1992 after serving as controller for three years. Karen started her career at the accounting firm now known as Deloitte & Touche after receiving a B.B.A. in accounting from Adelphi University.

 

Kevin Donovan

Senior Vice President, Product Development & Guide Operations

As senior vice president of Product Development and Guide Operations, Kevin oversees the system, tools and processes that support About.com’s network of freelance expert Guides and their 3,000,000+ pieces of high quality content.  Since joining About.com in 1999 as vice president of development, Kevin has been instrumental in building out the company’s world-class product and services offering. Prior, Kevin had a successful 10-year run at Prodigy Services Company, operating across a wide range of management, marketing, development and technical capacities. Before entering the online world, Kevin enjoyed success in the financial sector where he held a variety of positions. Kevin holds degrees in History and Computer Information Systems.

 

Marc Goldberg

Senior Vice President, Business Development

Marc Goldberg is Senior Vice President, Business Development at About, Inc. where he oversees the company’s corporate development initiatives. He has facilitated the company’s acquisitions of Calorie-Count.com, Ucomparehealthcare.com and Consumersearch.com as well as strategic partnerships, third party vendor relationships and ecommerce deals that help drive revenue or provide additional functionality to the About Group. Marc joined About, Inc. in 2002. Before his post as Senior Vice President, Business Development, Marc held various sales roles within the company. Prior to joining About, Inc., Marc held Sales and Advertising managerial positions at Phase2 Media, J. Walter Thompson and Zenith Media. Marc received his BA in Communications from the University of Hartford.

 

Nick Lapko

Vice President, Human Resources, The About Group

Nick Lapko joined the About Group as vice president of human resources in November 2008. As an integral member of the About Group’s senior leadership team, he is responsible for providing ongoing counsel, guidance and support to management on a broad range of human resources and business issues including talent acquisition, compensation, employee relations, communications and organizational and operational effectiveness. Previously, Mr. Lapko served as chief human resources officer of Cardean Learning Group, a privately held online education company. Mr. Lapko’s additional experience includes a broad range of human resources positions in the technology, software, consumer products, transportation and manufacturing industries with a variety of companies including Prodigy Services Company, ITT Corp., Optum Software, Emery Air Freight, and Mattel Toys. Mr. Lapko holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Illinois.

 

Wen-Wei Wang

General Manager, About.com China

Wen-Wei is a 12-year veteran of About.com. He was one of the businesses key technical architects in the United States before locating to Beijing in 2007 to launch About.com China. As vice president, technology in China, he has developed and overseen the About.com China Web site’s editorial content, product development, technology and strategic relationships. Mr. Wang holds a B.S. in computer science from Rochester Institute of Technology and an M.S. in System and Management from New York University.