Darrell Ingram serves as CEO of Tilson, leading a national team of telecom consulting, design, and build experts on a mission to build America’s information infrastructure. In 2022, Darrell joined Tilson as COO and President, leading the company’s rapid expansion of its engineering and construction self-performance capabilities. During his tenure as COO, Tilson’s workforce doubled in size from around 600 employees to more than 1,400 across the country. Darrell brings over a decade of industry experience centered on customer-centric initiatives and driving business transformation through strategic prioritization and technological scalability. Prior to joining Tilson, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Nexius, a national deployment services company. In this role, Darrell managed a team of 2500+ professionals and successfully led the overall strategy and execution growing revenues 2-3X year over year. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Valdosta State University, along with a Bachelor of Science in political science from the North Georgia College & State University.
Ben Howard serves as Executive Vice President of Delivery and Chief Operating Officer at Tilson, where he oversees daily operations across various divisions, including engineering, site development, wireless and OSP construction, NOC, consulting, and business development. With over 20 years of expertise in operational leadership and strategic management, Ben has a proven track record of success. In his previous role as CEO of Bilinger, Inc. and COO of Bilfinger North America, a major construction and maintenance provider, he successfully led several key initiatives around safety, optimization, and operational excellence. At Tilson, Howard will oversee daily operations, drive improvements in efficiency, and support the company’s strategic objectives, leveraging his extensive background in managing complex operations and successful growth strategies. Ben earned a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Georgia Southern University.
LaTavia Bowens is Tilson’s Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, where she leads employee-focused initiatives to ensure the workforce has the support and resources necessary to drive Tilson’s continued success. With over 15 years of experience in business operations, LaTavia has built a strong track record of collaborating with human resources teams across the telecommunications and technology sectors. Her expertise spans both strategic leadership and hands-on operational management, enabling her to effectively align organizational goals with employee development. Before joining Tilson, LaTavia served as Vice President of Operations at Nexius, where she led customer operations and employee engagement initiatives. LaTavia holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics and Finance and a Master of Public Administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Jason Burns serves as Chief Information Officer of Tilson, leading both its traditional internal technology and security services as well as Tilson’s client-focused Construction Technology Consulting (CIT) and Network Operations Center (NOC) divisions. Under his leadership, the CIT division has grown to become an industry-leading, full construction systems technology advisor. In addition, he has driven the improvements and automation of Tilson’s internal systems to support and enable the company to grow from 300 to more than 1,400 employees during his tenure. Jason has served in various executive technology leadership positions spanning more than two decades across numerous construction companies in the technology and cloud computing industries, including as CIO of SphereNY and as VP, CIO of Hunter Roberts Construction Group. Jason is a graduate of the University of Maryland where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Business Management and Finance.
Tim Schneider serves as Chief Legal Officer at Tilson, overseeing and providing guidance on all legal matters, including contracting, licensing, and regulation. Tim supports Tilson’s 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 a particular focus on ensuring that electricity bills were affordable for low-income customers, expanding broadband access, and developing forward-looking distributed generation policy. He is a graduate of Harvard University and New York University School of Law.
As Chief Financial Officer, Erin Sharpe leads Tilson’s Finance team and oversees the company’s financial health as it continues to expand its network infrastructure design build services for clients nationwide. With over 30 years of experience in financial leadership across various industries, Erin most recently served as CFO at Cirba Solutions, LLC, where she successfully raised more than $300M to support large-scale expansion projects. Erin has also held senior roles at Honeywell, Albemarle Corporation, and Superior Industrial Maintenance, where she drove financial operations and strategic initiatives that fueled business growth and operational improvements. Earlier in her career, she held leadership positions in both finance and project management at General Electric and Fifth Third Bank. Erin earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, and participated in GE’s Experienced Financial Leadership Program.
Joshua Broder serves as CEO and founder of Tilson Infrastructure, a national leader in utility pole, tower, and fiber infrastructure for carrier networks and other entities. Josh is the Executive Chairman and previous CEO of Tilson, a national leader in telecom consulting, design, and build services. Under his leadership from 2012 to 2024, Tilson grew from ten employees to more than 1,400, earning a top spot on the Inc. 5000 list for 13 consecutive years. 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 U.S. 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 on the boards of Versant Power, an investor-owned T&D electric utility, VETRO FiberMap, a fiber network mapping software tool, Kleinschmidt Associates, a multi-national engineering firm, The Jackson Laboratory, a global biotech firm, and Skowhegan Savings Bank.
Catherine Smith serves as General Counsel, Chief Administrative Officer, and Corporate Secretary of Centersquare, formerly Evoque Data Center Solutions™. Centersquare, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, offers enterprises a full range of services, ranging from local, regional and global connectivity to secure space in highly available and redundant environments across four continents. Previously, Smith served as Executive Vice President of Brightstar Corp, the world’s leading provider of end-to-end solutions that better manage the world’s mobile device needs, brings over two decades of transformational leadership experience within the telecommunications and wireless industries and as Vice President and Lead Counsel for Motorola, Inc. and Motorola Mobility. For over a decade, she managed the largest portfolio of global strategic partners and distributors worldwide, including customer relationships, go-to-market strategies, financings, and global sales in more than 20 foreign markets.
In 2015, Smith was named in FierceWireless’ “Most Influential Women in Wireless” List and has been featured in Modern Counsel, Leaders Magazine and Profile Magazine. More recently, she received the 2018 National Association of Women in Law (NAWL) Diversity “Challenge” Award recognizing Brightstar’s adoption of hiring practices to increase representation of women to one-third of leadership positions. Smith is a graduate of Georgetown Law Center and holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Virginia.
Currently CEO of The Governance Project and a Partner at Four Points Funding, Stephanie Copeland brings over 30 years of experience in the IT and telecommunications sector, holding a broad range of leadership positions domestically and internationally. She previously served as Executive Director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade under John Hickenlooper, former Governor of Colorado. Prior to her appointment in 2017, Ms. Copeland’s positions included President of The Zayo Group, a communications infrastructure services firm, and former COO at WildBlue, where she was responsible for the operations of the $500 million rural broadband business.
Ms. Copeland resides in Denver, Colorado and currently serves on several for profit and not for profit boards. In addition she served as a board member for the Colorado Broadband Deployment Board and the Colorado Workforce Development Council while on Governor Hickenlooper’s cabinet. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois in German and Commercial studies and has completed post graduate courses at the University of Paderborn in Paderborn, Germany. Ms. Copeland is also an advisor to early stage companies across the region as a member of the Steering Committee for Blackstone Entrepreneur Network in Colorado.
Paul Anderson was formerly CEO at BHP Billiton and Duke Energy, where he also served as chairman of the board. Having previously been CEO and managing director of BHP Limited and then BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc, he rejoined these latter two boards in 2006 as a non-executive director, retiring on 31 January 2010. He also served as a non-executive director on a number of boards in the US and Australia and as chief executive officer of Pan Energy Corp.
Paul Anderson became a board member of BP in early 2010, joining the President’s Sustainability Committee (PSC). He was a member of the Gulf of Mexico committee from its formation in August 2010. He took the chair of the PSC in December 2012. As chair he has continued the committee’s focus on safety matters. His broad experience of the global oil and gas industry and of the US business environment has benefited the board, the SEEAC and the Gulf of Mexico committee. He has actively supported the work of the BP Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) academy. He has led the PSC on several visits to the company’s operations and has commenced a dialogue with the company’s socially responsible investors.
Alexander is a Senior Advisor at SDC. Alexander most recently served as Global Joint Head of the Media, Communications & Information Services investment banking group at Jefferies. Alexander spent 14 years as an investment banker at Jefferies focused on the telecom and technology sectors, with a particular focus on IT and communications infrastructure. He sourced and executed over $20 billion of M&A, debt and equity transactions globally within the last six years.
Prior to Jefferies, Alexander spent four years with Booz Allen Hamilton advising telecom and technology companies globally on strategic and operational issues, as well as conducting due diligence on behalf of Innovate@, a joint venture between Lehman Brothers and Booz Allen Hamilton. Prior to Booz Allen Hamilton, Alexander spent two years at Coopers & Lybrand Consulting where he designed, implemented and managed all aspects of various data centers and networks for U.S. federal government and military clients. Previously, Alexander held a Top Secret SSBI security clearance.
Alexander has an MBA from INSEAD, an MS in IT/Telecommunications from Johns Hopkins University and a BBA from James Madison University.
Scott is a Principal at SDC Capital Partners, a global digital infrastructure investment firm, and has over 10 years of experience in the private equity and M&A space.
Prior to joining SDC in 2018, Scott worked in the investment banking division of RBC Capital Markets where he focused on M&A transactions. During his time at RBC, Scott executed over $20 billion in transactions across a variety of sectors with a focus on the data center space.
Scott has a B.B.A. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with concentrations in Finance and Accounting.
Gary Merrill was formerly the CEO of Hussey Seating. Prior to that he had worked at Hussey Seating in a variety of positions in Finance, Operations, and International Sourcing. He began his career working for the international accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand, now PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Gary graduated from the University of Maine Orono in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and received his masters in business administration, with a concentration in finance, from Babson College in 1981. He also received his CPA in 1981. Gary currently servers on Board of Directors of the American Red Cross of Southern Maine. He was also past Board Chair and Board member of Junior Achievement, a program that teaches students about entrepreneurship and financial literacy. He and his wife Tina live in Portland and have two adult children.
Sheryl Tullis was formerly Partner at Direct Technology, a veteran-owned software and services company, and Head of Strategic Communications for TA Group Holdings, a private equity firm where she served as a strategic advisor and shared services leader across the TA Group portfolio of companies. She now serves as Board Advisor and Co-founder of The Line, an outdoor bike adventure company.
Ms. Tullis brings over 30 years of experience in the mobile and technology sectors across a broad range of leadership positions including Senior Vice President for Mobile and Technology at Iconmobile, Vice President of Client Services at Essence Mobile, Chief of Staff at Microsoft, and New Ventures Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble. Commissioned from West Point as an Army Signal Corps officer, she served as Deputy Director of Information Management, leading a multinational unit that provided mission-critical telecommunications services across EMEA.
Tullis resides in Redmond, Washington where she founded several mobile industry organizations and serves as an advisor to early stage companies and non-profits. As the Global President Emeritus of mBolden, an organization to advance women in mobile and digital, she was selected for the People’s Choice Award at the 2019 Mobile Growth Summit. An advocate for veteran hiring, Tullis co-created the Microsoft Software & Systems Academy to help military members transition to high tech, high trajectory roles. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Master of Science in Information Systems Management from the University of Southern California.
Currently the CEO of FinTech āxil, Nerissa Naidu brings over two decades of executive leadership experience driving corporate growth and revenue generation strategies for organizations across 70 countries. Prior to āxil, Ms. Naidu has filled numerous senior executive roles managing and growing global businesses including Accenture and AIG, providing board oversight, managing a 5000+ global workforce, and leading multinational strategy for fortune 100 companies. She has been a proponent of equality and strives to break the mold of stereotypes in gender, race, and professional norms. Ms. Naidu has been a keynote speaker on diversity and inclusion, and chaired discussions on systemic inequality and racial injustice. She was selected as a Young Global Leader in the World Economic Forum in 2019 and was recently featured in the Financial Times as a leader to watch.
Alan Anthony serves as Senior Vice President of Engineering at Tilson, leading engineering teams that deploy outside plant (OSP) and wireless projects nationwide. Alan joins Tilson with over 15 years of engineering experience in the telecommunications industry. He has a history of successfully managing OSP design services across the country as well as developing new fiber-to-the-home city overbuilds in over 25 states for multiple telecom companies. Prior to Tilson, Alan served as a Vice President for Byers Engineering, a MasTec Company, where he led over 300 people to expand operations more than three times its original size in a few years’ time. Alan also has extensive experience as an OSP design engineer with multiple telecommunications engineering firms.
As Tilson’s Senior Vice President of Outside Plant, Colin leads the nationwide development and execution of the design, building, and maintenance of 5G, FTTx, and broadband infrastructure networks. Previously, Colin led a nationwide self-perform construction team as Tilson’s VP of Special Operations in addition to a prior role as Tilson’s Associate Vice President of Central Operations. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Colin has held director level or above roles in OSP, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), and technical operations capacity at industry leaders such as Shaw Communications, AFL Global, and Alpha Technologies. Colin graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts with a specialization in Organizational Leadership from the University of Alabama.
Conor Hobbs serves as Senior Vice President of Operations. Conor brings experience running large scale telecom deployments with focus on field operations, project execution, customer satisfaction, employee development, and strategic partnerships. With over 10 years of experience building and leading high performing teams in telecom operations, business development, contracts and proposals, and project management. Prior to joining Tilson, Conor held leadership roles with major network deployment and construction organizations and successfully delivered on operational and financial objectives year over year.
Natalee Cross is Tilson’s Vice Present of Engineering, East, and oversees our nationwide engineering teams focused on deploying outside plant (OSP) projects. With a decade of experience in the telecommunications industry, she boasts a track record of successfully managing OSP design services and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) operations across the country. Before Tilson, Natalee served as Director of Engineering for Byers Engineering, a MasTec Company. She oversaw 225 people, both on-shore and off-shore, tripling the region’s operations in just a few years. Her background also includes extensive experience as an OSP design engineer, working for leading providers in the telecommunications industry.
Justin Mott is Tilson’s Vice President of Engineering, West, and leads OSP engineering and permitting processes to facilitate network construction across the country. With over a decade of experience in telecom, Justin has led and managed fiber-to-the-home programs across a dozen states. His focus has been on integrating tools, surveying techniques and scripting, and improving engineering processes. Prior to joining Tilson, Justin worked as Director of Engineering for Byers Engineering, a MasTec company, where he helped grow a team from five to 103 employees, while engineering and permitting 6,000 miles of cable path per year. Justin holds a Bachelor of Science in Surveying and Geomatics Sciences from Troy University.
Jay Ford is the VP 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.
Trudi Fenster serves as Vice President of Construction Technology Consulting and leads the operations, strategy, and expansion of Tilson’s Construction Technology Consulting practice. With over 15 years of experience in technology and digital consulting, Trudi skillfully finds solutions to her clients’ software and technology challenges. Prior to joining Tilson, Trudi served as Head of Client Services and Customer Success at DigiSure Inc., a global provider of technology and risk management services, leading the development and implementation of their strategic global customer onboarding program. Trudi also held executive leadership positions at both Bentley and Payapps, leading construction software services teams. In addition, Trudi served for a decade as VP of Professional Services at the construction technology firm Viewpoint.
Matthew Trickey joined Tilson in 2024 and serves as Vice President of Outside Plant Strategy and Business Development. Matthew draws on over 25 years of telecom experience to sustain existing engagements and drive new business for Tilson’s nationwide OSP division. Matthew has a proven history of fostering strong client partnerships while reaching strategic business development goals, including as Senior Account Director at Goodman Networks, Inc. and Assistant Vice President of Sales at KGPCo. While at KGPCo, Matthew led the initial discussions with the AT&T team that would eventually become Gigapower, bringing state-of-the-art fiber networks throughout the US. Prior to joining Tilson, Matthew served as the Sales Director with Amdocs, leading efforts to expand wireless and systems integration engagements.
Stephen Hand is the VP of Technology at Tilson, leading a team that delivers comprehensive technology solutions throughout the organization. Steve was introduced to the IT world in the 80s 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, before joining Tilson in 2018, provided independent consulting services to help organizations think critically about their operational issues, focusing 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.
Tom Vassillion serves as Tilson’s Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller. Tom’s team encompasses Tilson’s financial planning and analysis, project controls, accounting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, tax, internal audit, and treasury functions. Tom has over a decade of finance experience with dynamic companies experiencing transformational initiatives such as mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, and accelerated growth. Prior to Tilson, Tom held senior financial leadership and controllership positions at publicly traded companies and worked in public accounting at PwC. Tom graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Business Administration and a M.S. in Accounting from the University of New Hampshire, Whittemore School of Business and Economics. Tom is a certified public accountant (CPA).
Adam Quinlan serves as the Associate Vice President of Broadband Consulting at Tilson, leading a team of professionals providing telecom consulting to private and public sector clients across the U.S. In addition to his leadership role, he has extensive experience in software development, legal consulting, and digital forensics, making him a versatile and accomplished professional in the telecom and technology sectors. Adam began his career with Tilson as a software developer in 2016 and later launched our broadband consulting team, contributing to the growth and success of Tilson’s telecom consulting division.
Matthew Cyr serves as Assistant Vice President leading Tilson’s Strategic Planning and Execution Office, providing leadership and overall accountability for project management teams who design, build, and operate network deployment projects across the country. Matthew is an accomplished leader with more than two decades of experience in the construction industry, having served various positions across construction companies in the commercial and telecom construction industries. Since joining Tilson in 2019, Matthew has successfully led various teams beginning with estimating and bidding achieving significant revenue growth and most recently, leading the Project Management Office. Matthew is highly skilled in developing relationships and teams that meet strategic goals by leading practices and procedures that drive improvements through strategic planning and accountability and a focus on increasing profitability by leading through defined objectives and purpose.
Dinusha Wickramatunga serves as Director of Business Development for Tilson’s Construction Technology Consulting practice, building client relationships and expanding Tilson’s growing consulting business. Dinusha is an accomplished business development professional with a proven track record of advising high-growth construction and technology companies like Tilson to improve business operations. Before joining Tilson, Dinusha was both the Senior Director of Business Development and the Head of Sustainability Product Sales at JLL Technologies, where he was instrumental in the development and launch of several new products while cultivating a vast partner network. He has also served as the Director of Business Development at both Computer Methods International and Crystalline Consulting. Dinusha earned his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Development Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada.
Gabriella Tanga serves as Director of Business Development for Tilson’s Wireless Division, leading the development of new business opportunities nationwide for Tilson’s Wireless and EV teams while ensuring quality work and service for existing customers. With a decade of experience managing accounts and client relationships in the telecom industry, Gabriella brings a successful record driving strategic business growth and maintaining the highest customer satisfaction to Tilson. Prior to joining Tilson, Gabriella served in multiple leadership roles at Nexius Solutions, including Senior Director of Business Development and Assistant Vice President.
