Speakers

Panelist:
Workforce Development

Stephanie Brewer is the Director of Telecommunications Safety & Compliance at USA Telecom Insurance Services/Insurance Office of America, supporting clients in risk and safety, compliance coaching, training, and operational efficiencies. Stephanie spent 14 years as Compliance Coordinator for Sabre Industries and has an in-depth knowledge of client contract management, subcontractor management, licensing, as well as insurance and continuous improvement processes for organizational policies, procedures, and systems. Stephanie participates in the National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) initiatives by serving on the Board of Governors and the Written Exam Management committee. She is also a member of NATE participating on the Women of Nate (WON) committee, Member Services committee, and the ANSI/ASSP A10.48 editing committee. Stephanie serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board for the Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP), on Avetta’s APEX board and Telecommunications Subcommittee, and is a member of Women’s Wireless Leadership Forum (WWLF) as well as the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP). 

Speaker:
FCC Changes and Development

Commissioner Brendan Carr is the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, and he served previously as the agency’s General Counsel. 

Described by Axios as “the FCC’s 5G crusader,” Carr has led the FCC’s work to modernize its infrastructure rules and accelerate the buildout of high-speed networks. His reforms cut billions of dollars in red tape, enabled the private sector to construct high-speed networks in communities across the country, and extended America’s global leadership in 5G. 

Commissioner Carr is also focused on expanding America’s skilled workforce—the tower climbers and construction crews needed to build next-gen networks. His jobs initiative promotes community colleges and apprenticeships as a pipeline for good-paying 5G jobs. And he is recognizing America’s talented and hardworking tower crews through a series of “5G Ready” Hard Hat presentations. 

Commissioner Carr leads a groundbreaking telehealth initiative at the FCC. The Connected Care Pilot Program supports the delivery of high-quality care to low-income Americans and veterans over their smartphones, tablets, or other connected devices. The Program is helping to drive down health care costs while improving patient outcomes. 

Commissioner Carr’s time outside of Washington helps inform his approach to the job. He regularly hits the road to hear directly from the community members, local leaders, and small business owners that are impacted by the FCC’s policies at town halls and other events across the country. 

Commissioner Carr brings over a dozen years of private and public sector experience in communications and tech policy to his position. Before joining the agency as a staffer back in 2012, he worked as an attorney at Wiley Rein LLP in the firm’s appellate, litigation, and telecom practices. He litigated cases involving the First Amendment and the Communications Act. Previously, Commissioner Carr clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for Judge Dennis Shedd. And after attending Georgetown University for his undergrad, Commissioner Carr earned his J.D. magna cum laude from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law where he served as an editor of the Catholic University Law Review. 

Commissioner Carr was nominated to the FCC by President Trump and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate. 

Commissioner Carr grew up in Virginia and now lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and three children. 

Speaker:
FCC Changes and Development

Jessica Cobb is CEO of MDTS, a WBENC communications contractor in Michigan providing equipment installation services to wireless carriers. Jessica manages client relations, estimating, company compliance, and talent development, but has worked in all areas of the company, including field operations. Jessica understands developing a company from the ground up and has comprehensive insight on contractor-focused current affairs due to communication with a large network of industry stakeholders nationwide.  

Jessica’s passion for the continuous improvement of people, processes, and production led to involvement in industry associations and groups. Currently, she is the only woman on the NATE Board of Directors and serves on the Michigan Wireless Association Board of Directors. Important issues to Jessica include creating a sustainable industry ecosystem, inclusion of women in skilled trades, and workforce development through veteran employment. To support these issues, Jessica is active in Women of NATE (WON) and Military of NATE, is the Chairwoman of the Industry Affairs Council and WON newsletter, and was previously Board Oversight for the NATE Member Services Committee. Additionally, Jessica participates as a representative for small business advocacy in the NATE Congressional Fly-In, Avetta Telecom Advisory committee, WBENC programs, and Goldman Sachs 10KSB initiatives. Her ability for collaborative strategy and desire to add value to others makes Jessica an excellent contributor to industry ecosystem discussions.

Moderator:
Workforce Development

Gemma Frock has been engaged in the telecommunications industry since 2012 when she was the Vice President of Education and Training at Aiken Technical College. Gemma led efforts to develop and implement a series of certificates for tower technicians at the technical community college to help lead students toward an Associate of Applied Science in Telecommunications Technologies.

Panelist:
Workforce Development

Kevin Kennedy joined Warrior4Wireless (W4W) as an advisor in 2017 and transitioned to President and CEO in May. Kevin continues to shape W4W for strategic growth and increase the volume of veterans coached, trained, and placed in the telecommunications market. Prior,

Kevin served six years at Textron Systems, a global company comprised of aircraft, defense, industrial, and finance business lines, three years of which he spent as the Vice President for International Business.  

Major General Kennedy served 32 years in the U.S. Air Force, including a year tour in Afghanistan as the senior Air Force advisor to the Commander of U.S. Forces. Along with serving as a wartime commander leading air wings in air warfare over Iraq and Afghanistan, Kevin also commanded the U.S. Air Force Global Cyberspace Integration Center where he set the course for the standup of a U.S. Air Force cyber component and the modernization plan for Air Force Operation Centers and tactical edge data link connectivity.

Panelist:
Women in the Industry

With over 20 years of experience in the telecom industry, Leticia Latino went from working for Merrill Lynch and telecom-giant Nortel Networks to establishing her family business in the U.S. in 2002. Neptuno Group, originally founded by Leticia’s father in 1972 in South America, helped deploy some of the first cellular networks in the region and built over 10,000 towers. 

Leticia is a recipient of the Women in IoT award by Connected Magazine, was highlighted as a revolutionary CEO by Aspioneer, selected as one the most admired women leaders in the business by CIO Look, and chosen as one of the 30 most influential leaders in teach by Insight Success. She currently serves as a member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Development Advisory Committee (BDAC) and as the Chair of the Job Skills and Training Working Group. 

In addition, Leticia is a published author, public speaker, mentor to young women, and an advocate of nurturing human connections through her Back2Basics podcast. 

Moderator:
Women in the Industry

Andy Page Lee has been in the telecommunications industry for 24 years, as Vice President of Operations for Lee Antenna & Line Service, Inc, in Springtown, PA. She has been involved with NATE for 21 years, serving two years on the Trade Show committee and as Chairwoman of Women of NATE (WON) for the past five years.  

Andy has been a motivational speaker and writer for 26 years, with a particular focus on women’s leadership issues, including creating and improving inclusive work environments, using voice more effectively, and work-life integration. She is also a writer, photographer, marathon runner, wife, mother, and chronic pain patient advocate.

Speaker:
FCC Changes and Development

Thad Lowe joined Tessco in 2020 and currently holds a dual role as the General Manager of the Ventev business and Chief Technology Officer of Tessco. Thad brings 25 years of industry experience to Tessco, where he plays an essential role in developing technology and business strategies to create value for the customer. Previously, Thad held various leadership positions, including his role at Airspan Networks as Head of Small Cell Solutions and Development and at Samsung Electronics America, where he served in multiple roles, including Vice President of Technology Solutions & Support and Vice President of Engineering and Network Services. 

Panelist:
Workforce Development

Duane MacEntee is a partner at Barker MacEntee PLLC law firm, representing contractors and engineering companies in the communications tower and infrastructure industry. Duane’s firm provides industry-specific legal services as outside general counsel and for crisis response, business policy and process development, contract review, regulatory compliance, employment law, and mergers and acquisitions. Duane is also the Executive Director of the National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA), the telecommunications tower industry’s non-profit trade certification body for tower technicians.   

Over the last 20 years, Duane served in various business management, operations, and technical roles. He has experience in network infrastructure services and held leadership roles with major vertical realtors, tower engineering and fabrication companies, and construction and deployment contractors in support of broadband, wireless, and fiber networks. Duane also worked as Director of Safety and Loss Control at the NC Department of Transportation and as commissioner on the NC Radiation Protection and NC State Emergency Response Commissions. 

Panelist:
The Emergence of 5G and Small Cell

Corey began his career with a general contractor installing electrical service and new tower foundations in 1997, when cellular service was expanding from analog to digital. In 1999, he joined American Tower as a Site Supervisor, managing installations on existing owned assets and handling operational tasks, including lighting inspections and modifications. Over the next 14 years, Corey continued his focus on macro installations and new tower development as a Project Manager for Andrew Systems Inc. and later rejoined American Tower as a Regional Construction Manager. In 2013, Corey joined Sabre Industries where he focused on large scale deployment for Sprint Network Vision until late 2014, when he changed focus to small cell and outdoor DAS development. Corey joined B+T Group in 2018 to help with small cell deployment. Since Joining B+T Group, the small cell organization became a standalone division of the company and has extended its reach to 12 new markets, where they continue to successfully develop small cell installations using a turnkey model that has proven extremely efficient under Corey’s leadership. 

Speaker:
Women in the Industry

Kelly Mavias is the Vice President of Sales for the Carrier Ecosystem at Tessco. Kelly has been with Tessco for 13 years, starting as a Program Manager for the first 10 years, followed by her role as leader of the Program Management team. For the past three years, Kelly has been part of the Sales Leadership team. Kelly is focused on building and executing on a strategy that delivers continuous growth within the Carrier market. In her spare time, Kelly enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.   

Moderator:
The Emergence of 5G and Small Cell

David has over 25 years of RF engineering and business development experience within the wireless ecosystem. He is well versed in enterprise and cloud-level software for big data, data warehouses, operations support systems (OSS), business support systems (BSS), and network elements. He led a DAS/small cell integrator from a regional presence to a global company – focusing on professional sporting venues, casino, smart cities, and health care. David has held various engineering roles with T-Mobile and AT&T working in the market, regional, and headquarter teams. The past 14 years he has spent in sales and business development selling engineering and IT services as well as planning and testing software and turnkey network integration. 

Speaker:
Women in the Industry

Tammy Ridgley is Vice President of Product and Supply Chain at Tessco. She has more than 25 years of experience at Tessco in Sales, Product Marketing, and Supply Chain. Most of Tammy’s time was spent on the Retail side of the business in Sales, eight years of which she led the Retail Product Marketing team. In January 2018, Tammy made the move to the Commercial business, leading the Product Marketing and Supply Chain teams. 

Panelist:
The Emergence of 5G and Small Cell

Mike is an evangelist for CommScope Outdoor Wireless Network solutions. In his current role as Vice President, Wireless Network Engineering for CommScope, Mike manages a highly capable global team of technical sales professionals who work with CommScope’s mobile network operator customers. Mike has over 27 years of experience in wireless technology and is passionate about making CommScope the most valued partner to their customers as they continuously evolve their networks towards 5G technology and beyond.