A few hundred years ago, the “valido” was the right-hand to the king.
Their role was to carry out the king’s vision and mission.
The valido was a trusted, valued, believable confidante, advising the king and executing his plans.
Today, many small and mid sized utilities and even the providers that serve them, have the vision and
need to adapt, grow, and change their business, but need a “valido” to help them. Validos was formed
as a consultancy in 2018 out of a desire from the 3 founding partners to better serve the industry
they devoted their careers to working in. Validos consults with Utilities and Technology and
Service Providers alike and through technology advancements has developed an online platform
designed to better serve both sides. Which ultimately should better serve all of us as “rate payers”
of the commodities we take for granted.
Validos is a private, women-owned business founded to establish a business model designed to serve,
advise and drive value through inventiveness, innovation, imagination, and insight while never straying
from our key core values:
Kim Schafer is founding partner and CEO of Validos and has worked in IT and Management Consulting focused on the North American T&D Utilities Industry for nearly 25 years. She has a varied background of consulting with Utilities directly as well as working in executive positions across technology and service providers that serve the utility industry and specific to the customer and meter to cash processes, technologies and services. She is an industry advocate and advisor, always seeking “a better way to serve”. Professionally, she is most proud of staying true to her values and core beliefs and always brings those to work with her. Personally, she loves her 2 pit bull rescues, being physically, mentally and spiritually challenged and enjoying life in Fort Mill, SC with her significant other, John and her step kids Abby and Kayden. Kim holds a Bachelors degree in Finance and International Business from the Pennsylvania State University.
Shannon Glen is a partner of Validos and officially joined in January of 2020. She has worked in IT and management consulting for 10 years. Most of those years were spent working with Hosted/Managed/alternative deployment and service models. Her background is in project management, sales, and marketing. Her career began on enterprise application implementation projects providing project management, training, and testing support. Her career led her into sales and marketing to help companies connect with the right partners. She has led sales and marketing departments through a company sale and created efficiencies to reduce overall costs while increasing performance. She has spent most of her career learning, leading, and advising in the utility industry. Shannon lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband Scott and rescue dog Gypsy. She holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Connecticut.
Andre vanHonschooten is a partner of Validos and officially joined in January of 2020. He has worked in IT and management consulting for 20 years focused primarily on delivering value-driven and cost-effective technology and services for Utilities around their Customer and Meter to Cash processes. Andre is an innovator and a brilliant solution architect. He is passionate about better serving the underserved and leaving a mark on the Industry he has called home for the bulk of his career. Professionally, he is motivated by making a difference to improve the industry. Personally, he strives to always strike the balance between work and home life with his lovely wife Melinda, 2 children Harriet and Graham, and 2 rescue dogs. Andre lives in Bellevue, WA but hails from South Africa. He holds a Bachelors degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, an MBA from the University of Washington, and completed the Harvard Business School Program for leadership development.
Want to experience the expertise of Validos to drive savings and results for your
business?
Give us a call today and let’s discuss what we can do for you.
