Leadership - Unitas Global

Leadership

Executive Team

Patrick Shutt

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Patrick has over 20 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, Co-Founder and Director

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.

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 management information systems from California State University, Fullerton.

Bob Pollan

Chief Financial Officer

Bob has over 25 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 Officer

Mary has over 25 years of experience developing and executing multi-channel go-to market, customer acquisition, and product strategies. She has held product and marketing positions at Global Capacity, Sidera Networks, Atos Origin and SchlumbergerSema. Mary is recognized as a CRN Top Women in the Channel and GTB 50 Women to Watch in Communications. She holds a BA from Syracuse University and professional graduate certificates from Harvard and MIT.

Steve Neiger

Chief Revenue Officer

Steve has been a sales leader in managed hosting and cloud computing for over a decade. At Terremark, Steve served as Vice President of Sales for The Americas and then as Senior Vice President of Global Sales. Most recently, he was Vice President of Enterprise Sales for VMware’s vCloud Hybrid Service. Steve earned his degree in communication from UC Santa Barbara.

Mary Ann Rose

VP 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.

Greg Hough

SVP of Network Strategy

Greg brings over 20 years of network architecture and managed services experience, combined with extensive business development knowledge to his network strategy role. Previously, Greg served as CEO of Zthernet and held executive network and technology leadership positions at Global Capacity, Enron Broadband Services, Bloomberg, and CSC. A veteran, Greg began his technical career in the US Navy as an Avionics Technician. Greg holds a BA in Business from Sam Houston State University.

Scott Walker

Chief Strategy Officer

Scott has over 20 years of global leadership experience in alliances, indirect channels, sales and marketing at leading technology firms including Equinix, Masergy Communications, Ericsson, and AT&T. As the head of Cloud Infrastructure & Tech Alliances at Ericsson, he launched 5G and edge computing solutions. Scott earned his BA in marketing at Cal Poly State University and his executive education at the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame.

+ Leadership Team

Janet Kim

SVP, Finance

Janet, CPA, has 13+ years of experience across corporate finance, financial planning & analysis, investment banking, and public accounting. Previously, Janet led the FP&A team at Fullscreen, assisting in equity capital transactions and sale of the company. She also provided finance leadership at Pandora Media before and after their IPO. Janet holds an MBA from MIT, MA in economics from NYU, and BS in business administration from UC Berkeley.

Saam Dowlatshahi

SVP Global Operations & Integration Procurement

Saam's areas of remit include Operations, Procurement, Project Management, Deal Analysis, and Client Services teams and processes. Saam puts the client first. He is responsible for business operations including: development of objectives, leading project initiatives, coordinating resources and staff involvement, providing direction, and ensuring project completion. Saam draws on his comprehensive skills in managing complex projects, establishing priorities, and leveraging technology to meet clients’ tactical and strategic business needs.

Julie Dillenbeck

VP Carrier Relations

Julie has 20 years experience in pricing, management, and carrier relations in the telecommunications industry. At Teleport Communications Group (acquired by AT&T), Julie served as Midwest Regional Marketing Manager. She held senior management positions at Universal Access and Global Capacity where she streamlined the pricing process while establishing strong relationships with vendor partners. Julie holds a BA from Marquette University and MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management.

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.

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.

Paco Diaz

Chief Compliance Officer

Paco has worked in IT for 19+ years. Starting out as an IT generalist then serving as an information security officer for a Midwest region commercial bank, he went on to serve as director of IT compliance for Texas Tech University and University of Alabama. He then worked as a senior consultant with BKD. Paco earned his MBA from Baker University and is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA).

Kelvin Lai

Chief Administrative Officer

Kelvin is a CPA with 25+ years of experience managing finance and accounting of public and privately held companies. Previously, Kelvin served as Corporate Controller for a national rental car company and CFO for a regional healthcare provider. He spent eight years as Regional Controller then Director of Finance for Westfield Group. He earned his MBA at Indiana University and BSc in industrial engineering at University of Hong Kong.

Erik Salazar

Member Advisory Board

Erik has 10+ years of management experience in finance, technology, operations, and sales. Prior to Unitas, Erik held the position of VP of Sales at CoreSite, a publicly traded data center REIT, and served as a senior financial analyst for The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm. Erik holds a BS in business administration with an emphasis in global management from the University of Southern California.

+ Board of Directors

Bret Maxwell

Board Member

Bret Maxwell, CFA, is Managing General Partner at MK Capital and Managing General Partner on three of the Productivity Funds. Bret has been a decision-making partner in six fully invested funds, representing $300M+ in committed capital. Bret holds a BSIE from Northwestern University and an MBA from Kellogg. He was Chairman of the Illinois Venture Capital Association and is a committee board director for the Jewish United Fund.

Paul Weinstein

Chairman

Paul Weinstein is a founding General Partner at Azure Capital Partners, a venture capital firm with $750M+ under management. With 25+ years of investment experience, Paul’s primary focus is on communications technology, data center, cloud infrastructure, and applications & mobility solutions. Paul is Chairman of Unitas and represents Azure Capital on four boards. He earned a finance degree from Babson College and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Andrew Olsen

Board Member

Andrew Olsen, CFA, is a principal at Boathouse Capital, which manages $350+ million of committed capital. He completed 20+ industry investments, and serves on boards of seven organizations. Prior to Boathouse Capital, Andrew served as a Research Associate for Morgan Stanley & Co. Andrew earned his BS in economics from Wharton. In a college competition with multiple universities, Andrew drove a solar-powered car from Chicago to Los Angeles. He finished last.

Jarrett Appleby

Board Member

As an independent board member, Jarrett works alongside fellow board members and Unitas leadership staff to establish policies for corporate management and strategic planning. In his previous experience, Jarrett has served as COO of Digital Realty, COO of CoreSite, CMO of Equinix, and most recently CEO of Appleby Strategy Group, LLC. Jarrett received his BA and MBA from Lehigh University.

Grant Kirkwood

Chief Technology Officer, Co-Founder and Director

Patrick Shutt

Chief Executive Officer and Director