Meet Conexon's Executive Leadership Team
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Randy Klindt
Conexon Founding Partner and co-CEO
Conexon Founding Partner Randy Klindt is a pioneer of the electric cooperative broadband movement, widely credited with architecting the most cost-efficient fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) design in use by electric co-ops today. With over 20 years of hands-on operational leadership experience across three electric cooperatives, Klindt led the initial conception, construction, and operations for Co-Mo Connect in Missouri, and OzarksGo in Arkansas. These have grown to become two of the largest electric co-op FTTH projects in the nation. In 2015, Klindt formed Conexon to support rural electric cooperatives across the country with end-to-end FTTH management solutions. Randy’s unwavering vision that fiber broadband is possible for all rural Americans continues to change the telecommunications industry landscape. Today, Conexon’s mission and methodology are broadly considered the defining standard of the most successful rural electric co-op fiber networks.
In 2021, Conexon launched its internet service provider entity, Conexon Connect, the transition of Randy’s vision to change the face of rural internet with an innovative solution to operate and manage cooperative and investor-owned fiber networks. Today, Randy serves as CEO of Conexon Connect in addition to his Conexon partnership role.
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Jonathan Chambers
Conexon co-CEO
For over 30 years, Jonathan Chambers has been deeply involved in and influenced the development of government telecommunications policies and the deployment of internet access networks. Early in his career, Jonathan worked in the U.S. Senate as the Republican staff director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. During that time, the Committee overhauled most of the federal laws that today still govern the telecommunications industry, including the wireless, cable, telephone, and internet access industries. Later, Chambers worked in the U.S. and Europe with cable television and wireless providers as the first broadband and digital mobile networks were planned, designed, and constructed. In 2012, Chambers returned to the federal government as the Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning for the FCC. He was a principal advocate for the reforms that altered $12 billion in annual FCC spending from support of voice services to support of broadband services and from subsidies for incumbents to competitive bidding.
Since early 2016, Chambers has worked primarily with electric cooperatives to bring much-needed fiber broadband services to rural America. Under his leadership, rural electric cooperatives have collectively secured more federal broadband funding than any other group in the country. In 2021, his expert guidance of Conexon’s Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium, made up of nearly 90 co-ops, received more than $1.1 billion through the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction to deliver fiber broadband service to rural Americans throughout the country. Jonathan is the author of the widely-read Co-ops Connect FYI weekly industry email.
Jonathan holds a BA in economics from Yale College, an MA in international affairs from Columbia University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
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Abby Carere
Chief Customer Experience Officer
Chief Customer Experience Officer Abby Carere offers a breadth of rural broadband industry expertise, with more than 15 years of sales, marketing, and operational experience. Carere was among the first in the telecommunications industry to recognize the potential and role of the nation’s electric cooperatives for rural America broadband and has spent the last decade helping guide dozens of co-ops to successfully deploy and operate broadband services in their markets.
Carere joined Conexon nearly six years ago as the Senior Vice President of Marketing, a role which quickly expanded to SVP of Sales, Marketing and Account Management, as she launched sales and account management divisions in answer to electric co-op market needs.
In the early days of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) initiative, Carere played a significant role in the formation of the Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium, an influential bidding consortium within which over 100 electric cooperatives collaborated as a single entity to secure over $1 billion in RDOF funds to jump-start fiber network builds within rural territories.
Through Carere’s sales leadership and strategic vision, Conexon’s client base has grown exponentially as she successfully helped launch, market and build the teams that support selling Conexon’s suite of complementary services in addition to its core fiber design and construction capabilities.
Over the course of her Conexon career, Carere’s role has expanded as she created departments to meet the growing needs of co-ops. In her role as head of marketing, she launched a marketing agency within Conexon to deliver a full suite of co-op-centric marketing services ranging from branding and web development to best-practice oriented communications, breakthrough creative and expert advice for electric co-ops from a team of marketing managers.
Carere was also instrumental in the development of Conexon Connect, the company’s internet service provider arm launched in 2021, establishing marketing, consumer and commercial sales, engineering and account management divisions. Connect co-op partnerships continue to flourish with her guidance. Under Abby’s leadership, the marketing reach of Conexon and Conexon Connect is now over half a million co-op members.
Carere’s appointment as Chief Customer Experience Officer elevates Connect to its natural next level to offer a consistently superior experience to co-op clients and their members/subscribers by refining processes and ensuring cohesive operations across the company. In her new role, she will oversee Marketing, Sales and Account Management for Conexon and Connect, as well as Conexon Business Development and Connect Residential Sales, Commercial Sales, Sales Engineering, Customer Care and Retention. Carere will work closely with the Chief Operating Officer on company initiatives and ensuring cross-department excellence to enhance overall customer experience.
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John Walburn
Chief Operating Officer
Industry veteran John Walburn is a dynamic and results-driven executive with extensive experience in telecommunications, specializing in operational excellence, strategic planning, and cross-functional team leadership. Over his 20-year career, he has developed a proven track record in driving efficiency, optimizing processes, and delivering exceptional customer satisfaction.
Walburn specializes in managing large-scale projects and implementing innovative solutions to enhance service delivery and operational performance. At Conexon, Walburn looks forward to focusing on strategic growth initiatives and the development of new resources to position Conexon to continue its success in delivering connectivity to underserved parts of America. As COO, he will oversee Conexon’s multifaceted Network Operations, Development, Construction, Regulatory and Funding divisions in partnership with existing SVP leadership.
A long-tenured telecommunication leader, Walburn joins Conexon from Arizona-based cable provider Cable One, where he oversaw Field and Customer Operations across 24 states, managing a team of 1,600 associates in his role as Group Vice President. Prior to his five-year tenure at Cable One, Walburn held leadership roles at Missouri-based Fidelity Communications and Illinois-based Consolidated Communications.
Walburn holds a USTelecom Certification in Managing Telecommunications in a Dynamic, Global Environment from Georgetown University. He has also served as a Board Member of ACA Connects, America’s Communications Association.
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Matthew Blain
Chief Financial Officer
Matthew Blain is a versatile finance professional with nearly 20 years of diverse financial and operating experience that has included investment banking, corporate finance, management consulting, and most recently, consultant CFO services. He has played key roles in executing strategic growth plans for clients in a variety of industries including the energy and telecommunications sectors, from early-stage tech start-ups to mature manufacturing companies.
Blain specializes in dynamic solutions in functional areas such as financial modeling, analysis and planning, mergers & acquisitions, divestitures, capital sourcing, and strategic planning. At Conexon, he looks forward to developing resources to poise the company to continue its rapid growth that will bring connectivity to underserved parts of America.
Earlier in his career, Matthew served in a management consulting position at Burns & McDonnell providing support to utilities, cooperatives and municipalities with various financial services before transitioning into investment banking in the telecommunications sector with a specific focus on rural telecommunications.
Matthew has a Bachelors degree with a double major in Finance and Economics from Tulane University and a Master of Business Administration from the Rockhurst University EMBA program.
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Andy Burger
SVP Operations
Andy Burger offers unmatched operational expertise in the rural broadband market with experience that extends from project launch through deployment and post-install customer experience. Andy’s fiber-to-the-home career began at Missouri’s Co-Mo Connect as the cooperative’s first outside hire, initially serving as the Network Administrator and Network Operations Manager to oversee network design, architecture, and operations for the co-op’s Internet, Voice and IPTV networks.
In December 2015, Andy took over as the General Manager of Co-Mo Connect, responsible for all aspects of deployment and operations including outside plant, marketing, and customer service, as well as a continuing critical role with the network architecture and performance. Under Andy’s leadership, Co-Mo became the first electric cooperative in the country to make gigabit fiber-to-the-home service available to every one of its members and to do so without government subsidies or grants.
From Co-Mo Connect, Andy joined Conexon, where he established its industry-leading Network Operations Center and call center to serve Conexon’s electric co-op clients. He works with co-ops on their SCADA and smart grid systems. In 2021, he oversaw the creation and launch of Conexon’s internet service provider arm, Conexon Connect. Awarded substantial funding through the RDOF Phase I auction, Conexon Connect intends to with dozens of electric co-op territories throughout 10 states to deliver broadband service to their territories, reaching more than 2 million rural Americans upon completion.
Prior to entering the electric cooperative fiber broadband industry, Andy served in technology roles within the banking and government sectors.
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Michael Byrne
SVP Information Systems
Mike Byrne brings a wealth of geospatial analysis expertise to Conexon electric co-op clients and a passion for advancing public policy through the use of transparent information. Mike has 30 years of geospatial design, analysis and implementation experience in the private and public sectors.
He served as the first Geographic Information Officer for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where he led the creation of the first-ever National Broadband Map, an interactive and searchable online map showing broadband availability nationwide, in many cases in block-by-block detail.
This game-changing tool produced a never-before-available clear and accurate picture of the national broadband footprint. The map served as an invaluable resource for the FCC in accurately determining where broadband was or was not available. Mike’s work helped form the foundation of the Connect America Fund (CAF) and enhanced the collective understanding of where investments were needed to fulfill a connected America vision. He was awarded a Service to America Medal, the highest award given to government employees, for his work.
Mike developed and coded Conexon’s proprietary design software, which converts electric network GIS data into a distributed tap fiber architecture. This software tool allows Conexon to design rural fiber networks with unparalleled speed and accuracy. Mike leads the software development team, which focuses on improving network construction and operations through tools specific to the electric coop market.
Mike is a former member of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee and member of the board of directors of the National States GIS Council.
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John Gilmore
SVP, OSP Construction
John Gilmore brings a broad expertise to his role, with 25 years of experience in the telecommunications, cable and broadband industries – including four at Conexon and Conexon Connect marked by significant contributions to its growth and success.
John joined Conexon in 2020, initially charged with overseeing Conexon’s six Georgia projects, including the inaugural Connect ISP projects. Over the course of his tenure, John developed new processes to optimize fiber plant maintenance and worked with internal teams to develop and launch a maintenance tracking app. John has been instrumental in the completion of the first four Connect fiber-to-the-home projects to date, with 18 more projects in seven states nearing completion and further project expansion under way nationwide.
As SVP, OSP Construction, John’s leadership will span Conexon’s entire fiber design and construction teams across 22 states. John received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University and completed his MBA at the University of Tennessee.
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Terie Hannay
SVP Telecommunications Services
Terie Hannay offers more than 20 years of operational experience and expertise in deploying communications technologies including residential, commercial VoIP, and broadband services, as well as regulatory, billing, taxing, business procedures, business processes and provisioning integration.
Terie began her career in telecommunications operations at one of the nation’s early competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC), serving more than one million customers before moving into a customer care leadership role with a top-tier cable provider.
Terie puts her years of experience to work leading Conexon’s telecommunications service and support strategy. She upholds an exceptional reputation among co-ops for her ability to successfully incorporate telecommunications services in their network offerings, with unrivaled expertise analyzing the profitability of voice service for Conexon Connect co-op partners. She also serves as a regulatory, billing and business process support resource to the company’s electric co-op clients.
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Carl Meyerhoefer
SVP Business Development
Carl has been working in the telecommunications industry for over 25 years helping service providers successfully deploy fiber-to-the-home networks. Leveraging a strong understanding of telecommunications technology and architectures coupled with keen understanding of customer and market needs, Carl has successfully developed and grown over $300 million in new business revenue while working for industry-leading organizations such as CommScope and Calix.
Over the past several years, Carl has concentrated on developing greenfield emerging markets with a focus on electric utilities. He was an early advocate and catalyst for the electric cooperative broadband movement. At Conexon, Carl will be working with new and existing clients to drive new business growth for Conexon. His focus on developing Smart Grid solutions will allow electric co-op clients to leverage the power of a high-bandwidth, low-latency fiber connection all the way to the member’s home.
Carl’s career has included executive positions in Product Management, Business Development, Marketing, and Sales Management for a Fortune 500 company with extensive marketing and business experience helping companies create and communicate an executable vision, set strategic direction, motivate teams and deliver results.
With a background in Product Development Engineering, Carl holds 9 patents in the telecommunications space, most related to fiber technology. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova University.