Meet the N2i Committee

Connect / Meet the N2i Committee

Marina Schwenk

Marina started her career in January 2015 at Everbrite LLC in Greenfield WI after graduating from Gateway Technical College in May of 2014 with an Associate’s degree in IT Software Development. Marina works as a Senior Programmer Analyst/IBM i admin at Everbrite and her primary development is RPG, SQL and Java. Marina earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems Software Development from Bellevue University in June of 2017. Marina is an IBM Champion, the President for the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association(WMCPA) users group, a member of COMMON’S New to IBM i (N2i) committee, a COMMON board member, a member of COMMON America Advisory Council (CAAC), the COMMON board liaison for the COMMON America Advisory Council (CAAC), a private tutor in English and Programming for students at an associates or bachelor’s degree level, a public speaker on topics ranging from RPG, SQL, personal development, standards and unit testing. Marina was named a IBM fresh face(Now raising stars) in 2019. She has also completed two open source projects the first is logging in RPG and IBMiUnit, a RPG unit testing framework.

Rochelle Petty

I am a Junior Developer at Everbrite LLC. We run our production applications on the IBMi Power Server. My Primary languages are CL, RPG, and DB2 SQL, and the UI: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Sencha.

My position is a fast-paced job and it includes Help Desk phone calls for the IBMi, UI applications, Jira tickets, and development projects. My management team gives all developers plan, design, and development opportunities and responsibilities to maintenance, maintain, and/or modernize the production applications.

I’m also heavily involved in my local user group, WMCPA, I currently hold a position as VP Board position and the Social Media Director in the committee group. And, I’m an active member of WMCPA’s Women in IT (WIT), and Student Competition Committee. My newest opportunity is being a liaison for WMCPA’s student chapter at Gateway Technical College including tutoring opportunities.

On a National level, I’m a member of COMMON user group and within this group, I am a part of the COMMON/IBM advisory team called N2i (New to IBM i). We plan and develop educational sessions for the conferences that are focused and geared toward those individuals with less than 5 years of working on the IBM i. We also have monthly video group meetings with specific topics to engage and create a networking platform for all new users or new to the user group.

I also hold a board position on the CEF – COMMON Education Foundation and am responsible for managing & creating social media marketing. I have started speaking at these sessions that we create; which is a new area for me and something that I enjoy.

Also, I volunteer as a TLC at the COMMON Spring Conferences.

Rochelle’s education includes:

• Technical Degree in SharePoint Development – 2017

• AS Web Development with a focus in SharePoint Development – 2019

• Programmer/Analyst AS400 Certificate. – 2019

• Currently Working on, Graphic Communications: Desktop Publishing Certificate – 2020

Anna Marrah

Anna has a background in marketing, communications, sales, and membership promotion. She became acquainted with the IBM i community when she began working for COMMON as their Marketing Manager in 2018. During her time at COMMON, she spearheaded the revival of the IBM i professionals’ group for newcomers to the platform – New to IBM i (N2i). She is passionate about welcoming new IT professionals to the IBM i community and helping them find the resources they need to succeed on platform. She now works for Midrange Dynamics North America as their Marketing and Sales Coordinator. Outside of work, she enjoys crafting, gardening, and spending time with her wonderful husband and three delightfully crazy children.

Steve Riedmueller

Steve has been working on the IBM i platform in a System Administration/Engineering role since 2001. He has developed an expertise in system security, performance, communications, and various IBM and 3rd-party software packages including WAS, MQ, Apache, OnDemand, LANSA, Zend, Synon, and more. Steve holds a B.S. from Rutgers University. In recent years Steve has become a COMMON and WMCPA speaker, an N2i mentor, and an N2i committee member. In the world of IBM i technology, Steve is passionate about process improvement. He enjoys leveraging IBM i SQL Services for administration/operations tasks such as security and performance, as well as automation. In his free time Steve enjoys StarCraft 2, weight lifting, and RVing.

Richie Palma

A Tech Solutions Consultant with Service Express, IBM Champion for Power (2017-2023), IBM Fresh Face of IBM i (October 2017), Member of the Common S.E.T. (Strategic Education Team), founder of the “Midrange Meetup” in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the steering committee for YIP’s (Young i Professionals), and on the board for SEMIUG (South East Michigan IBM i User Group).I spend most my professional time working with clients running IBM i on IBM Power Systems and have aligned myself with a portfolio and team focused on delivering great value to IBM i clients.

With a background and passion for lean manufacturing my mind is wired to seek the most efficient means toward producing a desired result. IBM Power Systems think the same way, and they can, due to IBM owning the whole solution stack. We believe in extreme efficiency, not sprawling server farms that require Band-Aids, duct-tape and lots of attention. Efficiency within the walls of the data center can and is driving competitive advantage across all industries. I believe it’s my duty to share my knowledge and experiences with companies, so they can make an educated decision prior to purchasing that next x86 data center brick. I also speak at conferences and local user group meetings, attend industry conferences/events, and deliver opinions, ideas, and lessons learned through social media and authoring.

Jasmine Kaczmarek

Jasmine Kaczmarek is a Software Development Manager for M.R. Williams in North Carolina. With over ten years of experience on the IBM Power System as a Full Stack Software Engineer and Technical Lead, her passions include modernization, API development, integration of gamification techniques into business applications and mentoring new developers. Jasmine is an avid promoter of adopting open-source languages into traditional RPG-only businesses to aid in the development of modern user experiences. She also has a keen interest in hobby development projects using Unity and improving outdated small business websites. In addition to being a member of the N2i Committee, Jasmine is a member of the COMMON America Advisory Council (CAAC).

LeAnn Taylor - N2i Staff Liaison

LeAnn Taylor is COMMON’s Marketing Specialist and staff liason to N2i. She helps with overall marketing efforts and is an integral part of the development and execution of COMMON’s marketing plans. LeAnn has over 10 years of experience in social media marketing, event planning and hosting, creative directing, and business development. She has had her hands in various industries such as retail, real estate, fitness, beauty, and now technology! LeAnn holds a B.S. in Communications from Old Dominion University and is currently working on continuing her education to help her advance in her career.