INCOMPAS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director, Government Relations
Brian Worthen graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor's degree in Small Business Management, with an emphasis on Finance. He purchased ownership in Visionary Communications in 2001 and worked to develop the company's broadband portfolio in the Rocky Mountain region. Seeing an opportunity in the telecom marketplace, Worthen and his management team formed Mammoth Networks in 2005 to provide wholesale telecommunications services to ISPs and regional carriers. Mammoth quickly evolved into a Layer 2 Aggregator of disparate technologies and services onto a single, managed platform. Today, Worthen oversees strategic direction for the company's operations from Seattle, Wash., to Minneapolis, Minn., to Albuquerque, N.M.
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Vice President, Government Relations
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- EVP & COO, Towers and Fiber
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Public Policy
Chris was named Executive Director of Public Policy in 2023, and will lead the association's efforts to expand its advocacy on behalf of members. He joined INCOMPAS in 2015, serving as attorney and policy advisor responsible for representing INCOMPAS on wireless, universal service, disabilities access, media, and competition issues. Before joining INCOMPAS, Chris was an associate with LMI Advisors, advising clients in the satellite and wireless industries on regulatory issues related to experimental licensing and international market access.
Job Titles:
- Managing Member
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Managing Member & Innovation Officer
Daniel P. Friesen formed IdeaTek Systems Inc. in 1999 with only $250. He initially built the company by working as its sole employee while earning an A.A. in Computer Systems Support and a B.A. in Business Administration with a major in Management Information Systems from Wichita State University. By 2014, Friesen had grown the company to over 65 employees in rural Buhler, Kansas, with a population of only 1,250 residents (Buhler), at which time it focused on rural fiber optic transport services consisting of over 2,200 miles of fiber optic routes and mobile wireless small cells. He led the company as its CEO and President for nearly 15 years and personally managed most of the fiber optic deployments. He also managed the sales and engineering relationships for IdeaTek's biggest customer, Verizon Wireless. Through IdeaTek's ever-changing technology business, Friesen has gained unique experiences in rural markets, emerging technology, government policy, telecommunications law, business strategy, and business acquisitions. Friesen was instrumental in the negotiation of some of the first agreements in the nation with municipalities and electric utilities to utilize public right of way for the installation of small cell towers and poles for a Fortune 100 wireless carrier. Friesen also led the engineering and design processes associated with the small cell deployments. Simultaneous to these projects, Friesen garnered significant experience in telecommunications M&A by leading one of his companies through a complex stock purchase agreement with Zayo Group, LLC. Friesen currently holds the position of Chief Innovation Officer at IdeaTek Telcom and IdeaTek Equity Group, IdeaTek's private investment arm. Friesen continues to be actively involved in his local and regional community: mayor of the City of Buhler, Kansas, serving a third four-year term; he serves on the boards of the Hutchinson/ Reno County Community Foundation, Buhler Community Foundation, Trustees of Buhler MB Church, Quest Center For Entrepreneurs, and FISPA, a national internet service provider consortium (board chair). Friesen also was a recipient of the Hutchinson 20 under 40 award in 2012. He also serves on the FCC's Broadband Deployment Advisory Commission (BDAC) Competitive Infrastructure Working Group and the Kansas Broadband Expansion Taskforce recently formed by the Kansas legislature.
Job Titles:
- Head, U.S. Federal Affairs / Netflix, Inc
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
Job Titles:
- Marketing & Public Relations
- Member & Public Relations
- Member Relations
Gail brings more than 25 years of journalism, marketing communications, public relations and public policy advocacy experience to her role at INCOMPAS. For the past 13 years, Gail has provided writing and public relations services to clients in a wide variety of industries, including wireless and landline telecommunications, cloud, semiconductor, network security, healthcare IT, virtual reality and venture funding.
Early in her career, Gail spent more than 10 years in editorial positions at telecommunications trade magazines and business publications, serving as editor in chief and executive editor of xchange magazine, and editor/reporter roles at tele.com, Local Competition Report and the Washington Business Journal. During her time at tele.com, Gail won a Jesse H. Neal 1999 Editorial Achievement Award for coverage of rural telecom and Internet issues in the August 1998 issue of the magazine. Gail earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Marymount University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Vice President of Gov. / Ed. & Wholesale
- Vice President of Government / Education & Wholesale
Garner Duncan's career in telecommunications has spanned over 20 years. Currently, he is the Vice President of Gov./Ed. & Wholesale for Ezee Fiber, managing all aspects of the Wholesale & Gov./Ed. Team including creating and developing strategic partnerships within the Education & Municipal market segments and collaboration with fellow wholesale carriers. As one of the founding members of the Ezee Fiber leadership team, he is involved in the overall strategy and execution of Ezee Fiber, including new market selection for our strategic expansion plans. His previous experience includes a Regional Director position with Windstream running the Enterprise team for South Texas. Prior to Windstream, Garner was the VP/GM at Alpheus Communications managing all day-to-day operations of the South Texas enterprise sales team. Garner earned a BS in Political Science at Texas A&M University.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Founder
- Member of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
- Founder and CEO of Fuse.Cloud
Gary Watts is the founder and CEO of Fuse.Cloud, a Jackson, Miss.-based business passionate about helping other businesses regain their focus. Over the last three decades, Watts has led a number of organizations through periods of significant growth. He founded Fuse.Cloud under the name Broadband Voice in 2006. The company soon gained recognition as one of the fastest growing Voice over IP (VoIP) technology companies in the Southeast. Today, Fuse.Cloud serves over 2,000 business customers in 40 states throughout the country.
For the first decade of his career, Watts established a dedication to hard work and honed his business skills by owning and operating a popular restaurant franchise. Then, in 1995, he started a concert promotion business. This business grew to national recognition and, within its first few years, Watts promoted over 100 performances nationally while still running the restaurant. In 1997, Watts began in the sales division for startup technology company Unity Communications, based in Jackson. He was rapidly promoted to VP, Sales in 2000. After nearly a decade here, Watts recognized that the next generation of telephony would be rooted in hosted VoIP solutions. This vision for advanced business technology solutions was catalyst for him starting Broadband Voice in 2006.
In addition to his business endeavors, Watts serves on the INCOMPAS Board of Directors and the 2020 Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Council at Mississippi State University. Watts also founded Jackson-based concert series, Covered, a non profit that benefits various causes throughout the world. These concerts have helped raise money for local adoption, prevention of human trafficking in Cambodia, local arts organizations, Young Life and medical bills to support a local family.
Watts is a graduate of McCluer Academy (now Hillcrest Christian School), and he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi College. He currently lives in the Jackson area with Gay, his wife of 31 years. They have one daughter, Olivia.
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Head of Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs
- Head of Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs / Bandwidth Inc.
Greg Rogers is head of Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Bandwidth Inc., where he leads Bandwidth's regulatory and public policy matters. Bandwidth's software-enabled communications platform (CPaaS) powers a wide-range of innovative VoIP and Messaging services. Bandwidth is also a leading industry provider of VoIP 9-1-1 routing services across the country. Bandwidth's nationwide Internet Protocol-based network incorporates its wholly owned facilities-based CLEC with an interconnection footprint that spans the 48 continental states. Greg has been leading Bandwidth's regulatory and public policy efforts since 2010. Prior to joining Bandwidth, he managed state and federal regulatory matters at Level 3 Communications. Greg is an alumnus of The Colorado College and the University of Colorado School of Law.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- CEO of FiberComm
Prior to FiberComm, Al was the general manager and chief officer of Element Mobile, a rural cellular carrier serving an eight-county market in central Wisconsin. Initially recruited to manage Element Mobile's brand offerings and product development, his role expanded and in 2012 the Element Board of Directors asked Al to lead the company. Eventually, his leadership was key to the successful merger of Element Mobile and AT&T Mobility in 2015.
Al began his telecommunications career in 1999 in Mitchell, S.D., at Martin & Associates (later Martin Group, now CHR) specializing in revenue assurance for rural cellular operators. During eight years at Martin Group, he was promoted into a quality assurance position and often served as a sales engineer. In 2007, Al was recruited by United Wireless, a rural wireless carrier in Dodge City, Kan., to preform revenue assurance, maintain roaming agreements, and manage vendors. During his years with United, there were several notable accomplishments that led to his recruitment by Element Mobile in 2010.
Al earned a Bachelor's Degree from South Dakota State University and an M.B.A. from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa. In addition to telecommunications, he has served in two branches of the military, has experience in advertisement, production,and banking, and has been a performing musician for over 25 years. Al avidly supports children's programs, contributes to and participates in charitable functions, sits on several non-profit boards, and has enjoyed coaching youth soccer and basketball throughout the years.
Al lives in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, with his wife Elizabeth and their children Katherine and Gannon. In spare time, he loves participating in outdoor sports, helping his neighbors, and can usually be found with his family or making himself busy with something in his garage.
Gregory "Al" Aymar is the CEO of FiberComm and has served in this capacity since 2015. FiberComm is a full-service, competitive telecommunications firm and the premier provider of metro Ethernet for businesses and enterprises in the greater Sioux City, Iowa; South Sioux City, Neb.
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- President of Northeast Business
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs / DISH
- Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs for DISH Network L.L.C
Jeffrey H. Blum is the senior vice president, Public Policy and Government Affairs for DISH Network L.L.C., overseeing litigation and government affairs in Washington, DC. He has been with DISH for over 11 years.
Before coming to DISH, Jeff was a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, where his practice focused on copyright, First Amendment and anti-piracy litigation. At Davis Wright Tremaine, Jeff co-represented a class of songwriters and music publishers in the Grokster P2P file sharing case, which was decided by the United States Supreme Court in favor of Jeff's clients. The Grokster decision established a new basis for secondary copyright liability, called "inducement liability." Jeff was a part-time lecturer at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Journalism from 2003-2005, where he taught "Media Law". He currently serves as Chairman of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA), and was Co-Chairman of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG) from 2013-2015. Jeff also serves on the boards of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and BUILD Metro DC.
Jeff graduated summa cum laude and first in his class at Boston University School of Law, where he was a Note Editor of the Boston University Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from McGill University, with a B.A. in History and Classics. After law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Joseph Tauro of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.
Job Titles:
- Chief Legal Officer
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
Jill Sandford joined FirstLight Fiber in June of 2015 and currently serves as its Chief Legal Officer. She manages all aspects of legal, regulatory, compliance, safety and human resources. Jill has more than 25 years' experience in the telecommunications sector. From 1995-2001, she served as a Section Chief in the New York State Attorney General's Office Bureau of Telecommunications and Energy. From 2001-2014, Jill held legal roles at Metromedia Fiber Network, AboveNet and Zayo, each with increasing and broad responsibilities. Jill earned a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Network Cost, Planning and Carrier Relations
Jon joined Sinch (formerly Inteliquent) in 2004 and serves as vice president of Network Cost, Planning and Carrier. Relations. Prior to 2004, Jon held similar management positions with both Allegiance Telecom and MFS Telecom. He has been instrumental in growing one of the most reliable networks in the industry. Jon has more than 20 years of telecommunications experience and holds a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the University of Illinois. Jon also has his C.P.A.
Job Titles:
- Chief of Staff
- Finance and Administration
- Membership
Job Titles:
- Digital Media Manager
- in 2024 As Digital Media Manager
Keith Matthews joined INCOMPAS in 2024 as Digital Media Manager and is responsible for amplifying the association's digital brand, profile and influence within the industry.
Prior to joining the INCOMPAS team, Keith worked for both the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Auto Care Association, as the digital lead directly responsible for the development and execution of their digital campaigns and strategies. A graduate of Bowie State University, Keith earned his B.S in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing.
Job Titles:
- Administrative and Policy Support Manager
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Attorney and Policy Advisor )
- Attorney and Policy Manager
Lindsay Stern is an attorney and policy manager at INCOMPAS. Prior to joining INCOMPAS, Lindsay was a policy fellow at Public Knowledge, where she focused on issues of broadband deployment, affordability and net neutrality, and advocated for consumers at the FCC, FTC and Congress. During law school, Lindsay was a legal intern at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in the office of Sen. Richard Durbin, as well as at the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and Street Law, Inc.
Lindsay graduated with Honors from The George Washington University Law School, where she was a member and published author of the Federal Circuit Bar Journal. Lindsay graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Franklin & Marshall College, where she received her B.A. in Government. She also spent a semester studying at the University of Edinburgh. Lindsay is a member of the New York State and Washington D.C. Bars.
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer / Granite Telecommunications, LLC
Mike leads Granite's strategic and tactical legal initiatives, initiating the development of corporate policies and assists with major sales, large vendor relations, employment matters, public relations and marketing and is responsible for the work of in-house and outside counsel. Before Granite, Mike was a partner at a prominent, Boston-based law firm that specialized in business and commercial disputes, and also worked as a state prosecutor. He is active in several bar and civic organizations, including the Federal Communications Bar Association and the YMCA. He also is a multiple time Ironman finisher. He lives near Boston with his wife and three children.
Job Titles:
- Vice President / Tristar License Group
- Vice President / Tristar Technologies, LLC
- Vice President With Tristar Technologies
Owen R. Mayfield serves as a Vice President with Tristar Technologies, LLC, where he focuses on capital fund raising efforts as well as financial and investment strategies, market analysis, and auction coordination for the various spectrum owned companies and other private investment company opportunities. In October 2020, Owen joined Tristar Technologies, LLC in this role to support in the planning and participation in the C-Band Auction. Owen is also a managing member of Spectre Capital, LLC, a private investment entity focused on public markets, private equity, and wireless investments. Prior these roles, Owen
was an investment banking Associate with Matheson Financial Advisors, Inc, where he focused on engagements involving mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, and internal management and ESOP buy-outs for companies in the engineering, construction, environmental, and architecture sectors. He was located in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. Owen began his career as an Audit Associate at Argy, Wiltse, & Robinson, P.A. (now BDO) in Mclean, VA. He graduated from the University of Mississippi with Bachelor of Accountancy and a Master's in Taxation and is obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He was Certified Public Accountant from 2011-2022.
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Senior Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Microsoft Corporation
- Senior Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs / Microsoft
Paula H. Boyd is currently senior director of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Microsoft Corporation, where she partners with colleagues to develop Microsoft's communications policy positions and advocates those positions before the FCC, Congress and the Administration. On behalf of Microsoft, Paula champions a variety of voice, video and text communications issues such as those related to spectrum, accessibility, broadband, universal service, next generation 911 and Internet governance.
Prior to joining Microsoft in 2002, Paula was senior counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Communications. She joined the Subcommittee in April of 1997 and while there, she drafted legislation, developed legislative strategy, organized hearings and briefings, managed consideration of bills on the Senate Floor, and advocated the Senate position in House and Senate Conferences. She handled issues such as broadband deployment, spectrum management, digital television transition, and competition in the local telecommunications marketplace.
Paula joined the Office of the General Counsel of the FCC in February 1994, where she reviewed draft orders involving broadcast issues and worked on issues involving tax certificates and preferences for designated entities in PCS. In September 1994, Paula began working with the International Bureau on satellite policy issues. Paula began her legal career at Verner, Liipfert, McPherson and Hand in 1997, where she worked on a variety of litigation, transportation and other issues.
Robin Dunson manages all legal and regulatory affairs of the company. Previously, she was the Assistant Vice President, Associate General Counsel - Commercial at Cox Enterprises, Inc. Prior positions include Counsel at SBC/Ameritech (now, AT&T) and Attorney at AT&T Corporation, with a focus on marketing law. She began her legal career as an Associate at the law firm of Jones, Day in their Corporate and Finance Group.
Job Titles:
- Member of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
- Senior Vice President
- Chief Revenue Officer of Uniti Group Inc
- Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer / Uniti Group Inc.
Ron is chief revenue officer of Uniti Group Inc., where he isresponsible for Uniti's holistic growth opportunities across its fiber and wireless infrastructure segments from edge to enterprise. He previously served as president of Sales and Business Development at Uniti Fiber.
Mudry has more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and was the founder of two start-up fiber operating companies that grew to become leaders in their industry segment. He leads Uniti Fiber's sales and business development initiatives which include providing fiber based services to wireless carriers, wireline carriers, government, education and enterprise customers. He joined Uniti Fiber in 2016 following the acquisition of Tower Cloud, a company he founded in 2006, that was a leader in fiber, small cell and cell site backhaul services in the Southeast, U.S. Earlier in his career, he founded Progress Telecom (formed in 1998) and before that spent 15 years with GTE Corporation (now Verizon) where he held key management positions in finance, sales and marketing, international operations, treasury, strategic planning, and mergers and acquisitions.
Ron earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Tampa.
Job Titles:
- Member of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
- Vice President
- Vice President of Product Management and Regulatory Affairs
- Vice President of Product Management and Regulatory Affairs at MetTel
Sean Sullivan is vice president of Product Management and Regulatory Affairs at MetTel, a leading global provider of integrated digital communications solutions for enterprise customers. Prior to joining MetTel, Sean spent more than 20 years in executive positions at Verizon in product marketing, sales, operations and channel strategy. At Verizon, he helped drive strong business results while managing product development for the company's $4 billion wholesale data services portfolio. He previously served as director of Systems & Infrastructure at Bell Atlantic and director of Resale Services with NYNEX. Sean earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from Providence College and a Master of Science degree from Lesley University. Sean and his family live in the greater New York City area.
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Lead, Economic and Competition Policy
- Lead, Economic and Competition Policy, NORAM
Tom works on Economic and Competition policy issues for Meta covering North-America. Previously, he was the global head of OTT communication policy, and the Asia-Pacific Head of Connectivity and Access policy for Meta. He has also been the Director of Public and Regulatory Affairs for Telenor Group. Tom holds a Masters in law and has been a visiting policy fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute.