Tilson Leadership

Joshua Broder serves as CEO of Tilson, which under his leadership, has grown from less than 10 employees to over 550, earning a top spot on the Inc. 5000 list for the past ten years. He is also the founder of Tilson’s public utility affiliate, which develops, owns, and leases back 5G infrastructure including poles, towers, dark fiber and neutral host indoor and outdoor wireless networks nationwide. Josh cut his teeth in leadership as an Army Signal Officer on missions in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan designing, building and operating the communications network for US forces. Josh holds a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and is a graduate of AT&T’s Operation Hand Salute at JFK University with a certificate in entrepreneurial studies. Josh is currently serving a gubernatorial appointment as the co-chair of Maine’s economic recovery committee, is on the board of Versant Power, VETRO Fibermap, Kleinschmidt associates, and Skowhegan Savings Bank.

Mike Dow is Founder, Chief Information Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Tilson. Prior to Tilson, he was the Senior Vice President-Operations at Theodor Wille Intertrade, a global supply chain company serving US interests abroad. After founding Tilson and successfully transitioning ownership to Joshua Broder, its current CEO, Mike joined TWI in 2009 as the Chief Information Officer. He oversaw the strategy and execution of TWI’s business systems; ensuring that world-class technology supports the execution of world-wide logistics operations. Mike has over two decades of experience in various roles including internal audit with American Express, IT Director for Cianbro Construction, a large civil and industrial contractor, as an entrepreneur and business owner, and technology thought leader. Mike has worked in a variety of challenging international assignments over the years, ranging from Asia to South America, Europe and the Middle East – bringing language and cultural skills to his technology leadership role. Mike has a BA from Middlebury College with study at Beijing University.

Kelly Brewer serves as Chief Operating Officer for Tilson, leading a world-class team of more than 500 professionals who are designing, building and maintaining the most advanced network infrastructure for private, public, utility and government clients across the country. Prior to COO, Kelly led Tilson’s Telecom division, an industry leader in innovation and technologically advanced deployment methods. Brewer joined Tilson in 2011, where she established and led Tilson’s self-performing tower construction and engineering divisions serving wireline, wireless and utility customers. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Construction Management from USM and an MBA from Mississippi State University.

As Tilson's Chief Financial Officer, Shaun McCarthy leads Tilson’s finance team and stewards the company’s financial health as it continues to expand its network infrastructure design build services during a period of rapid expansion for clients across the country deploying 5G, fiber and other network technologies. Shaun has over 20 years of experience in senior financial positions including his most recent roles as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller at Casa Systems, a broadband infrastructure technology solutions provider. Previously he worked with Dynamics Research Corporation as Vice President of Finance, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. He has also held numerous roles at Axcelis Technologies, Inc., including as Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller. Shaun received a B.S. in Finance and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Accounting from Bentley University.

Tim Schneider is General Counsel and Principal Consultant for Tilson. As General Counsel, Tim oversees and provides guidance to the management team on all legal matters related to Tilson’s activities including contracting, licensing, and regulation. As a Principal Consultant, Tim supports Tilson customers with expert consulting and advisory services in the areas of telecommunications and energy policy. Prior to joining Tilson, Tim led the Maine Office of the Public Advocate, the independent state agency that represents Maine utility customers. As Public Advocate, Tim served on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Utility Consumer Advocates, and played a central role in setting Maine’s energy and telecommunications policy, with particular focus on ensuring that electricity bills were affordable for low income electricity customers, expanding access to broadband, and developing forward-looking distributed generation policy. He is a graduate of Harvard University and New York University School of Law.

As Tilson’s Executive Vice President of Workforce, Adria leads Tilson’s global workforce strategy by deepening Tilson’s internal training and career pathing, and partnering with educational institutions, industry, and the military in building Tilson’s world class team of technical professionals. Prior to joining Tilson, Adria served as Director of Maine’s Bureau of Veterans Services for three years, where she led local and national veteran outreach and legislative initiatives. A graduate of West Point, she received her MBA from Northeastern University. After 11 years on Active Duty and multiple deployments, she worked on behalf of United States Senator Susan Collins in her Portland Field Office. Horn is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve with United States Pacific Command.

Alda Licis serves as Vice President of Infrastructure, leading Tilson’s infrastructure affiliate. Prior to joining Tilson, Alda was Principal/Owner of Front Range Infrastructure Consulting, LLC advising clients in the fiber and wireless industry. Previously, she worked for the Zayo Group holding several roles over her five-year tenure including managing the P&L for the data center business unit, developing Zayo’s first Small Cell Implementation team, managing large-scale fiber projects, and managing multiple Product teams responsible for strategic pricing of all dark fiber-based products (metro, long haul and FTT/Small Cell). Prior to Zayo, Alda managed the Chicago and Federal engineering offices for EYP Mission Critical Facilities, a data center design and consulting company which was acquired by Hewlett Packard. Alda began her career as a licensed Electrical Engineer designing power systems for commercial buildings.

Alda serves as the Chair of University of Colorado’s BOLD Advisory Council in the College of Engineering. She holds an Engineering degree from the University of Colorado and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

Andy Spurgeon is responsible for Tilson’s revenue generation strategy and business development activities. Previously, Andy served as Chief of Operations for broadband programs at the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), with responsibilities spanning grant evaluation and oversight, data analytics, broadband technical assistance, and the implementation of the National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM). Andy has held several leadership roles with start-up technology companies in the telecommunications and cloud computing industries. Andy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Kate Rush is Vice President of Corporate Development, leading Tilson’s M&A effort and innovation practice. Prior to joining Tilson, Kate was Senior Vice President at Bangor Savings Bank with responsibility for several areas during her tenure including technology, M&A, strategic planning, project management, customer experience and community relations. Additionally, Kate’s experience includes positions in global supply chain and commodity management in the aerospace industry and nearly a decade as an entrepreneur in the residential construction, real-estate development, and the renewable energy sector. She earned her undergraduate engineering degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the University of Hartford. She has studied innovation at Stanford’s d.school and MIT. Kate currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Good Shephard Food Bank, Maine’s Working Community Challenge Steering Committee, and is a mentor to high school girls through the Olympia Snow Leadership Institute.  

Elin Swanson Katz is the Vice President of Utilities at Tilson.  She leads the Tilson’s Utilities practice focused on the telecommunication needs of utility companies and developing models for utility deployment of fiber collocated on utility infrastructure to provide middle-mile and last-mile broadband service to underserved areas.  Elin previously served as Consumer Counsel for the State of Connecticut, as well as President of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and brings her consumer-oriented perspective to her work. Prior to becoming Consumer Counsel, Elin practiced law in Hartford, Boston and Washington, D.C. and previously served as Assistant Counsel at the former state Department of Environmental Protection (now the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection). She was formerly Vice-Chair of the West Hartford Board of Education. Elin holds a law degree from Boston University, a B.S. from Cornell University and a master’s from Trinity College.

Drew Colbow serves as Vice President of Network Delivery and leads our Outside Plant, Site Development, and Network Services business units. Tilson’s Network Delivery teams design, build, and maintain network infrastructure for various nationwide network deployment initiatives. Drew joined Tilson in 2019 where he led Tilson’s Small Cell division establishing standardized business processes enabling record growth and profitability. He brings more than 20 years of multifaceted experience in the wireless infrastructure industry. His experience and leadership focus on national network deployment, program management, business operations, enterprise system management, and operational process implementation. Prior to joining Tilson, Drew spent 20 years at American Tower Corporation in various roles of increasing responsibility where he helped centralize and scale their national turnkey services unit. Drew holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Wittenberg University, a Master of City Planning Degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Ken Monblatt serves as Vice President of Consulting at Tilson. Ken is responsible for leading the strategy, expansion, and operations of Tilson’s growing consulting division which is made up of over 70 business, technology, process and strategy consultants. He has over 25 years of executive experience with a passion for bringing together people, process and technology.  Prior to Tilson, Ken served as Chief Operating Officer at CIMATRI, focusing on creating core operational processes and new go-to-market services to support the fundamental scaling structure of the business. Prior to CIMATRI, he was CEO and Founder of Rezolute Business Advisory, a consulting firm focused on helping entrepreneurs launch new and emerging businesses. Before Rezolute, Ken served as CEO and General Manager at Iron Mountain and Chief Information Officer at several ISP, CLEC and wireless carriers. 

As Associate Vice President of the Outside Plant division, Rob leads Tilson’s growing OSP team nationally who design, build, and maintain NextGen 5G, FTTx, and Broadband infrastructure networks for clients across the industry in both the wireless and wireline space. Rob brings comprehensive leadership experience specializing in customer relationships, business operations, strategic planning, execution, and service delivery with a focus on driving growth in a highly competitive environment.  He has over 29 years of experience in telecom deployment including building highly successful teams that incorporate safety, engineering, construction, installation & maintenance, project management, results execution, vendor management, and dispatch.  As an industry leader with 29 years of experience Rob has built and scaled national OSP divisions with P&L responsibility.  Prior to joining Tilson, Rob held roles of increasing responsibility at Verizon, Frontier Communications, and KGPCo.

As Director of Construction Technology Consulting, Tracy manages the Construction Technology Consulting division at Tilson and leads a team of over 40 construction technology and business process experts. Prior to joining Tilson, Tracy served as the top technology leader in a billion-dollar construction company, where she managed multimillion-dollar budgets, organized complex projects, and rebuilt the department and processes to scale with the company’s growth. Although her passion is technology strategy, during Tracy’s 16 years of construction industry experience she has also served in a variety of functions from real estate to fleet management to risk management.  A CFMA member, member and former chair of the AGC Missouri Design and Construction Technology Conference Committee, and active St. Louis Viewpoint User Group Member, Tracy holds a B.A. and M.A. from Northland International University.

John Patridge is an innovative executive with decades of experience in the engineering, construction and software industries. He is a high-performing, driven professional with expertise in implementation, consulting, product management and construction IT. John has written articles on software implementation topics for industry newsletters and has been a contributing author of construction technology articles for trade publications. John's favorite part of his job is sharing knowledge and experience with clients and helping them connect the dots on complex processes in their technology or data projects. John holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alabama and is a member of the Construction Financial Management Association.

Jay Ford is the Director of Telecom Consulting at Tilson. He is responsible for providing software development, consulting, and IT project leadership services to Government and select private industry clients. Jay started his career with Tilson 10 years ago as a member of the software development team and has held various consultant and management positions before taking on his current leadership role. Jay proudly serves as a member of the Advisory Committee for Organ and Tissue Donation in his home state of Maine and frequently volunteers with New England Donor Services.

Drew Ludwick is the Director of Network Services at Tilson and leads a division that focuses on the design, engineering, installation, and maintenance of wired and wireless networks that support Smart Cities, Broadband deployments, In-Building, Utility and Grid Distribution Networks, as well as efforts to modernize and upgrade public and commercial networks. Drew's team comprised of talented engineers and technicians has designed, installed, and maintained thousands of nodes across multiple utility Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Distributed Automation (DA) networks; state highway Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) networks; and cutting edge 5G network deployments.

Prior to joining Tilson in February 2017, Drew served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army, in telecommunications positions of increasing rank and responsibility. He retired with a rank of Command Chief Warrant Officer, the highest rank achievable for a Warrant Officer. Over his military career, Drew worked with a variety of network systems and technologies in providing secure and robust communications facilities in places as diverse as Afghanistan to the Pacific Rim, and culminating in a position developing next-generation communications networks for the Joint Communications Support Element providing telecommunications needs for U.S. forces worldwide.

Bill is the General Manager of the Network Operation Center at Tilson and leads the “NOC as a Service” business in support of smart city, internet service provider, utility, communications infrastructure, autonomous vehicle systems and enterprise customers and initiatives.  Bill brings over twenty-five years of experience in engineering leadership in the internet service provider, enterprise, and utility markets.  His experience includes the design, deployment and operations of broadband products and services for Cox Communications, Charter, America Online and WildBlue Communications.

As Director of Engineering, Tony Wedell leads Tilson's growing engineering team who design and deploy 5G telecommunications infrastructure for clients across the country, including both wireless and wireline technologies. He is responsible for the development and implementation of short-term and long-term strategies for Tilson's engineering department to support the company's growth and world-class customer delivery service. Tony has over 27 years of experience leading high-growth teams across diverse markets, geographies, execution methods (E, EPC, EPCM, EPCMa), and project sizes, including his most recent role as Senior Vice President of Operations at Wood, a global engineering consulting, and construction firm, and previously as Director of Operations, Department Manager, Engineering and EPC Project Manager. Prior to Wood, Tony worked with Henning Metz Hartford, Inc. as a Mechanical Division Manager and as Project Engineer for Black and Veatch. Tony received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Project Management from Pennsylvania State University.

Richard Evans serves as Director of Construction for the Northeast Region, leading the Tilson construction and maintenance staff offices in New England and Upstate New York. With a passion for building, Richard directs his team as they work with utilities, municipalities, and cellular communications companies to grow and maintain the wireless networks that keep the country moving.   Prior to his arrival at Tilson, Richard had 25 years of leadership experience in the Construction and Building Services industries, driving customer satisfaction and operational excellence for ES Boulos Electrical Contractors, Simplex Grinnell, and Otis Elevator Company. Richard received his Bachelors of Science Degree from Texas A&M University and Masters of Science in Business from the Krannert School of Business at Purdue University.

Stephen Hand is the Director of IT and Cybersecurity at Tilson, leading a team focused on delivering comprehensive cybersecurity solutions to mid-market and enterprise clients on a national basis. Steve was introduced to the IT world back in the 80’s with Retail Inventory Control and Point of Sale solutions and worked with many large national and niche retailers before founding Know Technology in 1998. Know Technology grew to be a well-known Systems Integrator in New England, servicing primarily financial services, healthcare and retail organizations. As an early provider of Managed IT & Security Services, Steve and Know Technology were also a leading Microsoft partner, winning Microsoft’s Global Partner of the Year Award in 2009. Steve sold Know Technology in 2013 and most recently provided independent consulting services to help organizations think critically about their operational issues, with a focus on technology and security, often utilizing Microsoft Office 365 and Azure solutions. Steve has BS in Business Management & Marketing from the University of Maine and has served on the boards of many tech and business development organizations including MTI, MTUG, ConnectME and MESDA.