Dave Schaeffer
Dave Schaeffer, age 67, founded our Company in August 1999 and is our Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President. Prior to founding the Company, Mr. Schaeffer was the founder of Pathnet, Inc., a broadband telecommunications provider, where he served as Chief Executive Officer from 1995 until 1997 and as Chairman from 1997 until 1999. Mr. Schaeffer has been a director since 1999. Mr. Schaeffer serves as both Chairman and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") because he is the founder of the Company and has successfully led the Company and the board since the Company was founded. For this reason he has been nominated to continue serving on the Board. Since 2014, Mr. Schaeffer has been a director of CyberArk Software Ltd., (NASDAQ: CYBR) a publicly traded Israeli company. Mr. Schaeffer can be reached at Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!or 202-295-4201.
Marc Montagner
Marc Montagner, age 62, has served on our Board since April 2010 and has served as our Lead Independent Director since February 2020. Mr. Montagner also serves as the Chair of our Compensation Committee. Since January 2024, Mr. Montagner has been Chief Financial Officer at SBA Communications. Mr. Montagner served as Chief Financial Officer at Endurance International Group Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: EIGI), from 2015 to 2021. He was previously Chief Financial Officer at LightSquared from 2012 until August 2015. Previously, he had been Executive Vice President of Strategy, Development and Distribution at LightSquared. On May 14, 2012, LightSquared filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Prior to joining LightSquared in February of 2009, Mr. Montagner was Managing Director and Co Head of the Global Telecom, Media and Technology Merger and Acquisition Group at Banc of America Securities. Until August of 2006, he was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and M&A with the Sprint Nextel Corporation. Prior to this, Mr. Montagner had the same responsibilities with Nextel Communications. Prior to 2002, Mr. Montagner was a Managing Director in the Media and Telecom Group at Morgan Stanley. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Montagner worked for France Télécom in New York where he was Head of Corporate Development for North America. Mr. Montagner has been nominated to continue serving on the Board due to his extensive experience in the telecommunications industry, specifically with respect to operational, financial and strategic matters. Mr. Montagner can be reached at Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!or 202-295-4262.
Blake Bath
D. Blake Bath, age 61, has served on our Board since November 2006. Mr. Bath also serves as Chair of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. He is currently a private investor and engaged in philanthropic concerns. He is on the boards of the Loyola Marymount University Seaver College of Engineering and the University of Michigan’s Chemical Engineering Advisory Board. From 2006 to 2016 he was the Chief Executive Officer of Bay Bridge Capital Management, LLC, an investment firm in Bethesda, MD. From 1996 until 2006, Mr. Bath was Managing Director at Lehman Brothers and, as a senior equity research analyst for Lehman Brothers, was Lehman’s lead analyst covering wireline and wireless telecommunications services. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers he was the primary telecommunications analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein from 1992 to 1996. From 1989 to 1992 he was an analyst in the Strategic Planning and Corporate Finance organizations at MCI Communications. Mr. Bath has been nominated to continue serving on the Board because of his wide experience with the telecommunications industry which allows him to contribute a broad perspective to discussions about the Company’s future activities and its place in the current competitive landscape. Mr. Bath can be reached at Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!or 202-295-4226.
Steven Brooks
Steven D. Brooks, age 72, has served on our Board since October 2003. Mr. Brooks also serves on our Audit Committee. Mr. Brooks is a private investor. He was Managing Partner of BCP Capital Management from 1999 to 2009. From 1997 until 1999, Mr. Brooks headed the technology industry mergers and acquisition practice at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Previously, Mr. Brooks held a variety of positions in the investment banking and private equity fields, including: Head of Global Technology Banking at Union Bank of Switzerland, Managing Partner of Corporate Finance at Robertson Stephens, founder and Managing Partner of West Coast technology investment banking at Alex Brown & Sons, and Principal at Rainwater, Inc., a private equity firm in Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Brooks has been nominated to continue serving on the Board because of his extensive experience with firms such as Cogent and with public market activities of such companies. Having been involved with the Company since its early days he also brings extensive historical perspective to the Board. Mr. Brooks can be reached at Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!or 202-295-4265.
Lewis Ferguson
Lewis H. Ferguson, III, age 79, has served on our Board since October 2018. Mr. Ferguson also serves as the Chair of our Audit Committee and on our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. From 2011 to 2018 he served two terms as a board member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), the oversight body for auditors of U.S. public companies. Mr. Ferguson served as Vice-Chair and Chair of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, the international coordinating body of more than 50 independent audit regulators throughout the world, from 2012 to 2015. Mr. Ferguson also served as the first general counsel of the PCAOB from 2004 to 2007. Prior to his service at the PCAOB, Mr. Ferguson was a partner at the law firm of Williams & Connolly, LLP from 1979 to 1993 and 1998 to 2003, and at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP (“Gibson Dunn”) from 2007 to 2011. Mr. Ferguson has at various times served on the boards of seven companies, two public and five private. The two public companies were Wright Medical Technologies (1994 to 1997) and Cogent Communications Group, Inc., a predecessor of the Company (2007 to 2009). Mr. Ferguson has been nominated to continue serving on the Board due to his extensive experience with audit matters, corporate finance, and corporate governance. Mr. Ferguson can be reached at Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!or 202-295-4253.
Sheryl Kennedy
Sheryl Kennedy, age 69, has served on our Board since November 2019. Ms. Kennedy also serves on our Audit Committee and on our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Ms. Kennedy serves on the board of directors of Private Debt Partners, Inc., serving on the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee and a Director of the CLS Group Holdings AG, serving as Chair of the Nominating and Governance, and the Chairs Committees and also as Chair of the board of its subsidiary, CLS UK Intermediate Holdings Ltd. Ms. Kennedy served as non-executive Chair of Promontory Financial Group Canada, an IBM Company, during the course of 2019, and previously was CEO of Promontory Canada from 2009 through 2018. From 1994 to 2008 she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada and chaired the Markets Committee at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland from 2003 to 2006. She also served as Senior Advisor for International Strategy for Scotiabank in 2006. Prior to her time with the Bank of Canada, Ms. Kennedy worked in the Canadian federal Department of Finance and served as Finance Counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in Paris, France. Ms. Kennedy served on the University of Waterloo Board of Governors chairing both its Pension Investment Committee and Responsible Investing Advisory Group and serving as a member of its Finance and Investment Committee from 2017 to 2023. She is a Trustee of the Anglican Church of Canada General Synod Pension Plan and Chair of its Asset Mix Committee and is Vice Chair of the Mothers Matter Centre. She is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and Harvard University. Ms. Kennedy has been nominated to continue serving on the Board due to her experience in the oversight of public company auditing, risk management, financial system management, regulation and corporate responsibility and sustainability, together with her international experience. Ms. Kennedy can be reached at Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein! or 202-295-4278.
Paul de Sa
Paul de Sa, age 52, has served on our Board since December 2021. Mr. de Sa also serves on our Compensation Committee. Mr. de Sa is a co-founder and partner of Quadra Partners, a telecommunications advisory firm founded in 2017. From 2009 to 2012 and again from 2016 to 2017, Mr. de Sa served as Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning at the U.S. Federal Communications Commissions (FCC). During his time at the FCC, Mr. de Sa focused on transaction reviews, and spectrum and broadband policy. From 2012 to 2016, he was a Senior Analyst at Bernstein Research. Prior to his government service, Mr. de Sa was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, serving communications and private-equity clients from the firm’s Washington, D.C., and Seoul offices., Mr. de Sa is a director of the Coalition for Green Capital, a non-profit that works with national, state and local governments to establish green bank financial institutions for the deployment of sustainable technologies. Mr. de Sa holds a doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford and a B.A. from Cambridge. He was also a John F. Kennedy Memorial Scholar at MIT and researched technology policy as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University. Mr. de Sa has been nominated to continue service on the Board due to his experience in the communications industry, regulatory background, sustainability and corporate finance. Mr. de Sa can be reached at Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein! or 202-295-4251.
Deneen Howell
Deneen Howell, age 52, has served on our Board since May 2022. Ms. Howell also serves on our Compensation Committee. Ms. Howell is an attorney in private practice and has been practicing since 1998. Ms. Howell’s practice includes advising former government officials, senior executives, public speakers, broadcasters and journalists (many of whom also are authors) in their professional pursuits; and counseling privately held businesses and non-profit organizations in employment and publishing-related matters. Ms. Howell also has an extensive executive compensation practice where she represents top executives as well as fiduciary and advisory board members of public and privately-held companies. Ms. Howell serves as co-chair of her firm’s Transactions and Business Counseling practice, and its Employment Counseling practice group and as chair of its Budget Committee. Ms. Howell is a graduate of Yale University and Stanford Law School. Ms. Howell’s expected appointment is based upon her extensive experience in the areas of media and content development, executive compensation, internal corporate compliance and corporate governance.
Eve Howard
Eve Howard, age 61, is an attorney and Senior Counsel at Hogan Lovells, specializing in capital markets, financing and other corporate strategic transactions for more than 30 years in private practice. Ms. Howard regularly provides advice to senior management teams and corporate boards of directors on their corporate and finance activities, environmental, social and governance policies and practices, and securities matters. She has served as the global head of the capital markets practice of Hogan Lovells since July 2020, and prior to that served on the global executive management committee of the firm from 2016-2020. In her management role, Ms. Howard worked closely with teams throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia to expand the business, set policies, manage risk and streamline operations. Ms. Howard is a graduate of Duke Law School, where she currently serves on the Board of Visitors, and Dartmouth College. Ms. Howard serves on the Board of Reading Partners DC, a nonprofit aimed at building literacy skills in qualifying Washington, D.C. public elementary schools.
Marc Montagner serves as Cogent’s Lead Independent Director.
Our Board of Directors maintains a standing Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. All of the members of our committees are independent directors. As of May 4, 2022, the committee membership of the Board of Directors was as follows:
| Director | Montagner | Bath | Brooks | Ferguson | Kennedy | de Sa | Howell | Howard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit Committee | X | Chair | X | |||||
| Compensation Committee | Chair | X | X | |||||
| Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee | Chair | X | X |