Joe Giammona, Chairman & CEO

Joe Giammona is the Chief Executive Officer for The Driver Training Group and the Chairman and CEO for Global Driving Solutions.  Joe’s primary responsibilities include developing and implementing high-level strategies, making strategic business development decisions to grow and expand the company, managing the overall operations and resources of a company, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and the corporate operations. In addition, Joe is responsible for all legislative initiatives for Swerve Driving School and 911 Driving School. Joe arrived at The Driver Training Group in January 2006 and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2012. Joe hold a Bachelors of Science in Finance from Kennedy University and Multiple certificate’s in business development and organizational development from the University of Washington.

Before joining The Driver Training Group, Joe was a Vice President of Supply Chain for Omni Fitness; a division of Brunswick Corp. Omni Fitness was a specialty retail fitness company who had 70 retail locations nationwide and a commercial sales group with combined revenue of 100 million. Joe’s responsibilities included managing Omni’s national supply chain and distribution network which included purchasing, inventory control, customer service and information technology departments. Joe was also the Executive sponsor for Omni’s Sarbane-Oxley program compliance program.

Joe is a member of the the Teen Driving Task Force for the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission’s Target Zero Committee and is a member of the Autonomous Vehicle Safety Sub-Committee for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. Joe is also a founding board member of the Professional Driving School Association of Washington.

Linda Erickson, President

Linda Erickson is President of Global Driving Solutions and Vice President of Operations and IT with The Driver Training Group.

Linda believes in changing and evolving with system functionalities and business processes driven by six sigma process excellence to provide optimal efficiency, profitability and high quality  with measurable results.

Linda has done domestic and international business operations, SOX compliance for a publicly traded company, IT system strategy, implementation and maintenance, Process Excellence (Six Sigma), Call Center and Help Desk Management, Employee and Change Management, Vendor Management and Budgeting & Forecasting. Linda is trained in Process Excellence (Six Sigma) with 20 years of business operations experience. Linda holds a Bachelors of Arts in Speech Communications and Cultural Studies from The University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Sheryl Vanderwalker, Vice President of Operations

Sheryl Vanderwalker, Vice President of Operations, has over 10 years' experience in driver training curriculum development and design. She also has 30 years of instructor development and training. Sheryl’s expertise in business start-ups, education, training and motivation together with instructor training, trainer of trainer qualifications in multiple vehicle types, uniquely qualifies her to develop the behavior-based GDS driving curriculums.  As the founder/owner and operator of her own driving school, Sheryl has operational and management experience in the commercial driving school arena.

Ms Vanderwalker spent 25 years in law enforcement and hands on field training.  She began her career training police officers in all aspects of law enforcement and driving from basic patrol to high-speed pursuit driving. 

Sheryl has over 9 years of experience as a Traffic Safety Education (TSE) Trainer of Trainer in the states of Washington and Oregon.  She has worked as an adjunct professor at Western Oregon University and currently at Central Washington University, training hundreds of TSE instructors. Sheryl is a Washington State Department of Licensing Certified and Master License Examiner.  She presents at Traffic Safety Conferences at the national, regional and local levels.

Sheryl believes in creating a driving, safety culture utilizing her experience in law enforcement and higher education to create quality training programs in her local community and the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

Sheryl holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Washington State University and is a graduate of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Academy.

Jessica Kraft, Operations Manager

Jessica Kraft is Operations and Client Services Manager for the Driver Training Group. Jessica has experience in IT & helpdesk support, IT system integration, implementation & troubleshooting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, sales order entry, inventory, shipping & receiving, employee management, change management, process documentation, payroll, vendor management and domestic & international customer service. Jessica has over 25 years of back end business operations and client services experience.

Jessica believes in providing exceptional customer service and empowering employees and clients with all available resources to grow their skill sets and businesses. 

Jessica has her certification in Sage Accounting Software Systems (Mas90 & Mas200).

Chris Johnson, CDL & Motorcycle Training Business Partner

Chris is the Founder & CEO of WMST Driver Training. Chris has received several advanced driving certifications in England prior to becoming a US Citizen. He is a graduate of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Instructor, and a Washington State Driver Trainer, Examiner & Trainer of Trainers.  Chris has authored multiple national training curriculums in addition to being published in multiple traffic safety publications. He was an Authorized Heavy Vehicle Driving Assessor for TNT Express in the UK and was a hazmat certified operator for the British Armed Forces. As a former BEMSEE and WMRRA Sport Bike Racer, Chris understands the passion for speed, but more importantly the need for quality training. Chris has trained racers, professional riders and drivers as well as having trained our own Washington State Motor officers. WMST (Washington Motorcycle Safety Training was founded in 2009 by Chris and has since become one of the largest driver training & safety education centers in the State. Go WMST Drive (Go Washington Motorist Safety Training) was started a few years later with the goal of improving our communities through quality new driver training education in Washington State. Chris is the developer of serval motorcycle curriculums which include the successful ON Street Course, More Cornering and the Kickstart course.

Chris spent over 15 years driving CDL/HGV trucks/lorries in mainland Europe, the UK and the USA. This led him to become a driver trainer and curriculum developer for Heavy Goods Trucks. After moving to the USA, Chris became a CDL driver for Hertz Heavy Equipment and spent 3 years moving large heavy equipment around the Pacific Northwest before starting WMST.

Chris is an accomplished speaker at various conferences related to driver education and traffic safety.