Leadership

Management Team

Patrick Shutt

Chief Executive Officer

Patrick has over 25 years of leadership experience in the technology industry. Previously, Patrick co-founded and served as CEO for Universal Access, growing the company from a startup to a $144 million run rate, and eventually taking the company public in 2000. He then founded 20/20 Technologies, which after multiple acquisitions became Global Capacity. Patrick holds a BA and an MBA from Wagner College.

Grant Kirkwood

Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder

A serial entrepreneur by trade with over 21 years of experience, Grant is a technologist at heart. He most recently served as the CTO at PacketExchange, a London-based global telecommunications firm. Grant was previously the founder and CEO of Mzima Networks, an Internet service provider that grew to over 40 points of presence around the world, and the CTO of Netixs, a managed hosting service provider.

Bob Pollan

Chief Strategy Officer

Bob has over 30 years of global investing and operating experience. He has held senior executive and board positions at GE Capital, Internet Capital Group, Universal Access, ICG Commerce, Mobility Technologies, and Global Capacity. His early career included technical and marketing positions at Texas Instruments and GE. Bob earned his MBA at Harvard, and engineering and finance degrees at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mary Stanhope

Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer

Mary has over 25 years of experience in go-to market, customer acquisition, and product strategies. She has held leadership positions at Global Capacity, Sidera Networks, Atos Origin and SchlumbergerSema. Mary is recognized by CRN Top Women in the Channel and named to the 2021 Power 50 list. She holds a BFA from Syracuse University and post graduate certificates from Harvard and MIT.

Andrea Hopkins

SVP, Corporate Controller

Andrea has 15+ years of experience in the telecom industry, and has held roles of increasing responsibility in such areas as accounting leadership, systems implementation, tax compliance, and treasury. She previously served as Controller at Lincoln Clean Energy, and assisted with their sale to Orsted, a multi-national energy company. Andrea is a certified public accountant. She graduated from The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.

Julie Dillenbeck

SVP Connectivity Solutions

Julie has 20 years experience in pricing, management, and carrier relations in the telecommunications industry. Julie started her career at TCG, later acquired by AT&T. She then held senior management positions at Universal Access and Global Capacity where she managed carrier relations and was instrumental in automating a broad range of competitive pricing and design solutions in one of the first marketplaces. Julie holds a BA from Marquette University and MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management.

Mary Ann Rose

SVP Strategic Partnerships

Mary Ann has 15+ years of experience in sales and sales leadership positions in the telecommunications industry. With passion and drive, Mary Ann propels the business development activity at Unitas for clients seeking network connectivity and customer software applications. She received her BA from Missouri State University. In 2021, Mary Ann was recognized as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology.

Farrah Kashef

VP of Business Development and Co-founder

Farrah has nearly two decades of IT experience, primarily in the telecommunications industry. Prior to Unitas Global, Farrah held senior level roles in business development and management at several startups, such as Mzima Networks, and Fortune 500 and multinational corporations such as PacketExchange, GTT, Arbinet, and NTT/VERIO. Farrah holds a BA in MIS from California State University, Fullerton.

Nigel Meacham

Managing Director, Europe

Nigel Meacham has spent his career in network optimization, focusing on local access pricing. Nigel co-founded SNI, a network optimization business, before co-founding Magenta netLogic in 1998. At Magenta, he led sales, winning two UK Government export achievement awards for supplying global access pricing tools to more than 30 telecoms operators. Nigel has a BA in Business Studies and resides in North West England.

Chris Tabor

VP Operations

Chris has more than 25 years of leadership experience in Project Management, Operations and Program Management roles within in managed services, cyber-security and disaster recovery companies, including Sprint, Sungard Availability Services and Alert Logic. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Chris holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Kathleen Lockie

VP Connectivity Operations

Kathleen has 20+ years of diversified telecommunications experience in global project management, implementation, process development, and service management with an emphasis on operational excellence. Prior to Unitas, she held senior leadership positions at numerous organizations, including Universal Access, Vanco, Global Capacity, and most recently, GTT. Kathleen holds an MBA in management information systems from Saint Xavier University and a BA from Eastern Illinois University.

Sharon Benor

VP Human Resources

Sharon has worked in human resources for over 20 years in a variety of industries. She is passionate about collaborating to find unique and creative solutions to drive strong company cultures and meet company goals. Sharon received her BS in Public Policy from Indiana University and Master of Public Administration from University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a Senior Certified Human Resources Professional and a Certified Executive Coach.

Joss Wynne Evans

Head of Legal Affairs

Joss is an entrepreneur with wide commercial experience, and a company lawyer of fifteen years experience. He was formerly general counsel to Global Capacity Inc. Joss holds an MA (Hons) from Cambridge University. He currently lives and works out of the Highlands of Scotland.

Digital Alpha Advisors, LLC is an investment firm focused on digital infrastructure and services required by the digital economy with total assets under management of over $1.5B. The firm has a strategic collaboration agreement with Cisco Systems, Inc. As part of this agreement, Digital Alpha has preferred access to Cisco’s pipeline of commercial opportunities requiring equity financing. In addition, Digital Alpha has cultivated strategic partnerships with other Silicon Valley technology leaders, with whom it has already executed deals. Digital Alpha believes that it is the first firm focused on making private equity investments in the significant growth opportunities required to underpin the Digital Economy, including smart cities, next generation broadband networks, and enterprise data management and communication solutions. Digital Alpha was founded in 2017 by Rick Shrotri, former Head of the Global Infrastructure Funds (GIF) team at Cisco, and closed its latest Fund – Digital Alpha Fund II, LP – in early 2021.