LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP
DAVID HARTSHORN
David serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Geeks. He has extensive experience of the satellite, communications and NGO sectors having helped to build and lead the Global VSAT Forum. David has worked in communications for over 30 years in Asia, Europe and North America.
KEVIN SCHWARTZ
Kevin serves as Executive Director for CommunityConnect! at Geeks. He has dedicated 30+ years to education and technology with a passion to solve issues of equity and empower communities. Kevin’s work has been recognized with multiple awards at the local, state, national, and global levels from both the technology and education industries.
ANGIE MAR
Angie serves as the Director of International Programs at Geeks. She joins Geeks with broad experience in the satellite industry having managed the global promotion of key industry platforms, satellite regulatory campaigns, and fundraising. With an MBA & MS in Marketing from Maryland, Angie gained her telecommunications experience at Intelsat and Global VSAT Forum.
ERIN BOWN-ANDERSON
Erin Bown-Anderson, PhD serves as Director of Community Innovation at Geeks. She has 20+ years of service in public education in both urban and suburban communities. She has been a classroom teacher, curriculum designer, professional learning supervisor, technology integration director and assistant superintendent for academics. She has her doctorate in School Improvement and uses design thinking and coaching to promote thoughtful and technical solutions for flexible, resilient systems.
TRAVIS HENEVELD
Travis Heneveld serves as Geeks’ Director of Connectivity Solutions. Travis has extensive experience in the telecommunications sector, including 13 years as the sales lead for multilateral donors and international financial institutions at Motorola Solutions, and 11 years as a strategy consultant with a focus on consortium-building and business planning for wireless technology projects.
SCOTT GOSTISHA
Scott Gostisha serves as Geeks’ Senior Network Engineer. Scott has about 20 years of experience in hands-on background network engineering and security assessments and remediation within information technology industry. He has solid expertise in wireless, satellite, video, and voice communication technologies supporting rural and commercial communities.
LEONARD MABELE
Leonard Mabele is a seasoned technology leader on various digital access projects in Kenya and Africa. He presently serves as a representative of select partners to the N50 Project as the Tech Lead in Africa and a Researcher at the African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (AFRALTI) and Wireless Planet looking at the emerging technologies. Leonard holds a B.Eng degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and an MSc. In Telecommunications and Innovation. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Computer Science.
PAUL CRILLEY
Paul Crilley serves as a partner to N50 Project and supports the initiative as Head of Global Tech. Paul is a Chartered Telecomm Engineer (C.Eng) and Member of the Institute Engineering & Technology (MIET). Experienced in Telecom and ICT Consultancy, Solutions Design, Project Management, Site Implementation and Operations, as well as Business Strategy and Development. In recent years Paul's focus and passion has been on Rural Broadband solutions and implementing sustainability models.
JOE SIMMONS
Joe serves as Director of Tech Innovation at Geeks and has extensive experience addressing global connectivity challenges. He formerly managed critical humanitarian response initiatives, including Haiti and Dadaab as the Global Connectivity Director for NetHope, a consortium of over 50 international NGOs. Prior to that, Joe worked in communications for 20+ years at Bell Labs and Cisco Systems.
TANYA MURPHY
Tanya serves as Director of Research and Impact at Geeks. With a doctorate in social anthropology, she brings her extensive experience of research amongst marginalized communities and impact management in the social sector. She founded and runs a small education charity, the Zoe Sarojini Education Trust.
DR. MICHAEL POTTER
Michael is a Co-founder and Executive Board Director of Geeks and is a business and social entrepreneur. He co-founded NASDAQ quoted pan-European ‘Esprit Telecom’ which was sold to GTS. He is an active business and social investor and was a strategic investor and board member of GlobalConnect AS, Denmark’s leading provider of B2B communications services. Michael was appointed to the team advising the U.S. FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee regarding strategies for helping to close the Digital Divide in the U.S.
JOHN MORRIS
John, a UK based Co-founder & Executive Board Director of Geeks, was a barrister and investment banker before founding the communications services provider ‘Telecom Europa’. John, an active business and social investor, is also the architect and main author of Geeks’ Model Law on DigOnce! and SatelliteConnect! initiatives. He was appointed to the team advising the U.S. FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee regarding strategies for helping to close the Digital Divide in the U.S.
NIELS ZIBRANDTSEN
Niels, a Denmark based Executive Board Director of Geeks, is business and social entrepreneur, founded and built GlobalConnect AS, Denmark’s leading provider of B2B communications services which laid 12,500 km of fiber in Denmark and Germany, which was sold to Swedish investor EQT in 2018. Niels also founded inQvation, one of Denmark’s largest incubators for tech start-ups and is an active business and social investor.