About Workbox

John Wallace is a Founder of Workbox. Prior to Workbox, John spent 20 years as a real estate and equities investor at Brookfield Asset Management, LaSalle Investment Management, and Legg Mason. He has led international teams and investment strategies at the Managing Director and Director level in the U.S., Amsterdam, and Hong Kong. John holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, B.S. from the University of Maryland, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Kyle O’Connor is the CFO of Workbox. Prior to Workbox, Kyle was the Vice President of Finance for Brookfield Asset Management and has held finance roles at Guggenheim Partners and Ernst & Young over the past 15 years. He has advised multinational corporations in the Real Estate, Financial Services, and the Automotive industries on financial structuring and implementation over his professional tenure. Kyle holds an MS from the University of Notre Dame, B.S. from Purdue University, and is a Registered CPA.

Kristen Benson is the EVP, General Counsel of Workbox. Prior to Workbox, Kristen served as the EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Care Capital Properties, a publicly traded healthcare REIT, and held various senior legal positions at its predecessor, Ventas, an S&P 500 company. For over 25 years, she has advised multinational clients in the areas of corporate governance, securities, mergers & acquisitions, and corporate finance, including as an associate at Sidley Austin.  Kristen holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Timothy Doman is the EVP, Head of Real Estate of Workbox. Prior to Workbox, Tim served as the EVP, Chief Operating Officer of Care Capital Properties, a publicly traded healthcare REIT, and held various senior management positions, including Chief Portfolio Officer, at its predecessor, Ventas, an S&P 500 company. He has spent over 25 years working in portfolio management for healthcare and commercial real estate firms, including GE Capital Real Estate and Kemper Corporation. He also recently served as an advisory board member to three privately held healthcare companies. Tim received his Bachelor of Business Administration in real estate and finance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a Master of Business Administration in finance from Indiana University.

Rob Cartwright is EVP, Chief Operating Officer of Workbox. Prior to joining Workbox, Rob was the Global Head of Hospitality Real Estate at Fidelity Investments, a role he held for five years. In this position, he was responsible for supporting the employee experience for over 50,000 associates globally, acting as a subject matter expert and service champion for the client experience, and leading the company’s new builds function. Rob was also an early employee and investor at WeWork, where he worked for five years as SVP and COO of Global Operations. He has held senior leadership roles at CBRE and spent almost 20 years at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Rob holds a B.S. in Economics and International Business from SUNY Oneonta, and an MMH from Cornell University.

Tawny Safieddine is Vice President of Real Estate Operations at Workbox. She is responsible for helping integrate systems, processes, and team structures to streamline the customer journey and maximize customer experience. Tawny previously led operational system procurement, implementation strategy, and the internal training programs for all community operations staff at the company. Prior to Workbox, she held positions at Kids Science Labs and Guaranteed Rate. Tawny holds a B.A. from Northwestern University.

Austin Taylor is the Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Workbox. Austin previously served as the Director of Marketing at the company. Having held roles in marketing and advertising on both the client and agency side, Austin has managed digital and traditional advertising campaigns for multiple Fortune 500 corporations. Prior to Workbox, he spent 5 years with the Global Advertising team at United Airlines. Before United, he worked at Digitas, a global marketing and technology agency, developing digital advertising and marketing initiatives for Miller Lite of the Molson Coors Beverage Company. Austin holds a Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.

Tyler Smith is the Vice President of National Sales at Workbox. Prior to Workbox, Tyler was the Regional Sales Manager for Expansive, leading their northern region with strategies, trainings, and mentoring. He is very passionate about the success of others given his previous experience in hospitality with companies such as Starwood, Marriott, and Hilton. Tyler holds a B.S. from Roosevelt University.

Ben Northrop is the Director of IT Operations at Workbox. Prior to Workbox, Ben was the Infrastructure Operations Manager at James Hardie Building Products. Ben has been in the IT industry for over 11 years, starting his career at RSM as a Help Desk Analyst, advancing his way into engineering roles and eventually management at James Hardie. Ben holds a B.S. from Western Illinois University.

Jeffrey Eschbach is the Managing General Partner of Workbox Ventures. Jeffrey is an investor, entrepreneur, and professor with over 20 years of experience developing new businesses. His founder journey includes a successful exit of Page Vault Inc., which transforms Internet content into evidence for legal cases. He also founded and leads an active investor network, Chicago Early Growth Ventures, and has invested in over 100 early-stage companies. Jeffrey built a career leading tech R&D initiatives within international corporations including Intel Japan and Motorola Research Labs. He holds an MBA, with honors, from Northwestern where he also teaches. He earned both a B.S., with distinction, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Tom Russell is the VP of Business Development for Workbox Ventures. Tom has over 25 years of experience in institutional sales, investor relations, and relationship management. His career started with Legg Mason Capital Markets, Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets, and BB&T Capital Markets leading major institutional accounts along the West Coast. Tom has also led client acquisition and relationship management efforts at 3 different venture backed startups, most recently at AltoIRA, which is a SDIRA platform focused on alternative investments. While at AltoIRA, Tom led a sales team that grew assets under custody by $300 million in a single year. His experience spans diverse industries, including fintech, commercial real estate, and institutional investments. Tom holds an MBA from Clemson University and a B.S. in Finance from George Mason University.

Brian Crump is the Investment Director  for Workbox Ventures. Brian has 15 years of investing and direct working experience within Chicago’s startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem. He is the Co-Founder of Chicago Early Growth Ventures LLC, which has been actively investing in early-stage deals since 2019. He is a partner at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP in the firm’s Venture Capital and Emerging Companies practice group. Brian has practiced law for 10 years, focusing on startup and early-stage companies, and driving corporate and strategic transactions: venture financing, exit transactions, mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, and private equity buyouts. He was also part of the founding team that opened 1871. Brian received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his B.A. from Illinois State University.