The Company

Founded by Rick Camara in October of 2000, Windward Software Training & Consulting specializes in end-user training for Microsoft products. Our focus is helping to close the technology gap and reducing personnel costs for our clients. We understand that no one type of learning works for every situation, and integrate instructor-led training with e-learning.

The Man

 Native of the San Francisco Bay Area and graduate of the University of San Francisco, Rick has spent many years working in professional environments and understands the need for a flexible approach to training. He has trained thousands of individuals in public classrooms and on-site at major corporations throughout the United States and is a certified expert in Microsoft Office products.

The Origin

Rick attributes his professional success to opportunities that he first began developing when he joined Toastmasters International in 1982. In Toastmasters, Rick developed his communication and leadership skills and, with encouragement from club members, pursued his college degree. This led his employer, Ford Aerospace, to ask him to provide supply training for their customer, the U.S. Air Force.

Rick was laid off when Ford ended the Air Force contract, but was grateful for the new opportunities that it presented to him. He quickly became a training manager for The Training Center in Sunnyvale, where he broadened his skill set by developing curriculum, providing customer service, delivering presentations, and even providing sales and marketing services for their management and technical training courses.

Deciding to further pursue his passion for training, Rick began working as an evening instructor for Computer Learning Center in San Jose. It was at this point that he dedicated his career towards being actively involved in the classroom. This drive eventually led him to Catapult Software Training, where he became a certified expert in Microsoft’s line of Office products. During his time at Catapult, he became proficient at learning proprietary software from large corporate vendors such as Ericsson, Genentech, IBM, and Quantum and then delivering custom training to their clients.

As the new millennium approached, IBM began dissolving Catapult, closing all nationwide operations. With his passion for teaching and years of experience in the software training industry, Rick decided that the time was right to start his own training company, and thus, Windward Software Training & Consulting was born.