Founder & CEO

Carla Bond is the Founder and CEO of Upskill VR. She is a US Navy Veteran and Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Virtual Reality Training professional with over a decade of demonstrated experience spanning Emergency Management, Education and Training, Emergency Medicine, Security, and Law enforcement fields within military and public sectors. She has become a sought-after leader in the innovative technology for Emergency Response training. She serves as an advisor for veteran owned start-ups that focus on innovative products and services geared towards First Responders. She is currently a certified instructor with Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, FEMA, and Maryland Emergency Management Agency. She has taken her passion for public service to empower others with the skills to save lives

Senior Educational Advisor

Rick Tappan is currently a consultant for multiple companies concentrating on workplace safety, EMS & Corporate training for AHA classes and risk mitigation to include NFPA 101-Life-safety, OSHA and CDC compliance. He’s a retired Deputy Chief Firefighter/Paramedic Hazardous Material Technician. He has responded to multiple events on a national level from 911 to hurricanes. He retired from this position in 2018 after 20 years of service. He previously served as deputy director and operations chief for Safety & Emergency Management at the George Washington University Medical Center for 20 years. His career started in 1978 as a combat medic for the US Army and then a flight medic for the national Guard. He currently serves as a Pro-Board Fire Services Instructor III, teaching EMT, all AHA Courses, PHTLS, TECC as well as a myriad of safety, emergency preparedness, and EMS classes.

Video Production & Storytelling

Chris McPhee is a retired United States Army Veteran, and former Green Beret turned filmmaker and story designer specializing in emerging and interactive media. Chris is an active member of the Sundance Institute, and the Professional Photographers of American association. His work has been recognized by leading organizations, and businesses including Military.com, Semantic AI, In-Dependent.org, Badges United Foundation.org, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, BunkerLabs.org and many more.

Advisor

Tim Fitzpatrick is a US Navy veteran and long-term VA patient who co-founded IKONA after working in finance, where he served as an institutional equities trader covering the technology and media sectors for a bank in New York. Tim also serves on the Global Leadership Panel for Fight Cancer Global and as a Venture Partner at NY-based venture capital firm FundRx.

Advisor

Todd Maddox, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO at Cognitive Design and Statistical Consulting, and the Immersive Learning and Data Scientist at IKONA Health, Inc. His passion is to apply his 25 years of psychological and neuroscientific expertise, gained by managing a large human learning, memory and performance laboratory, to help build better education and training solutions in the healthcare sector. After receiving his Ph.D. in Psychology and Neuroscience, Todd embarked on a 25-year academic research career achieving status as a leader in the fields of human learning, memory and performance. Todd published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles, resulting in over 12,000 academic citations, and hundreds of speaking engagements. During his 25-year academic career he was awarded over $10 million in federal grants from the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense to support his research.

Since entering the private sector, Todd has embarked on a mission to translate the amazing body of research conducted in the “Ivory Towers” into plain English, and to help the healthcare sector provide better care for patients and better training for healthcare professionals. Todd is especially interested in applying his expertise in the psychology and neuroscience of learning, memory and performance to the use of immersive technologies healthcare.