Tanagram Partners

Joseph Juhnke, President & CEO

Joseph Juhnke is a Partner at Tanagram, Inc. (DBA Tanagram Partners), the President of the Board, and the Director of Delivery. In 1999, Joseph founded brilliant-id, LLC an interactive design agency with his Partner Marielle Schmidt. In October of 2003, brilliant-id, LLC was purchased by Tanagram, Inc. to become Tanagram Partners.

With over 12 years of experience in digital product design, Joseph has developed expertise in requirements gathering and mitigation, interface strategy and design, project management, and performance evaluation. Joseph’s vision for the future of digital product design has helped Tanagram Partners become a leader in commercial interface development and digital business transformation.

Working primarily for commercial sector fortune 1000 companies, Joseph is leading a new push into defense research and development. Joseph leads a team of Researchers, Information Architects, Visual Designers, and Software Developers to produce cutting edge, commercial applications for companies such as FTD, Nike, Orbitz, Tribune Interactive, Kohl’s, Shimano, The Nielsen Company, Nike and more.

Joseph is a licensed private pilot in the United States of America.

Jackie Ropski, PMP, Project Management Director

Jackie Ropski, Director of Project Management, has managed print and online communication projects for the last 18 years. She believes that the magic of electronic media lies in the unique relationship that can be developed between technology and visual design. Her combined background in art education, graphic design, multimedia, and educational publishing is the frame of reference for her current role at Tanagram Partners.

Fine arts and graphic design were her initial pursuits, teaching art in secondary school and designing educational media at the Medical Center at UIC. Transitioning into the management of corporate communications, she developed electronic media solutions at hup! multi-media, Arthur Andersen, marchFIRST, brilliant–id, and Harcourt Achieve. Her project management experience spans media and environments, ranging from interactive CD-ROM projects for boutique consultancies to large-scale Internet initiatives for dot-coms.

Jackie received a BFA from Mundelein College, and an MFA in graphic design from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her post-graduate achievements included participating in the Yale Summer Program in Graphic Design in Brissago, Switzerland and receiving a Polk Brothers Fellowship and Faculty Prize for Graduate Study in Graphic Design. In 2004 Jackie became a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and maintains her certification actively through continued education and training.