Blue Ridge Network’s leadership is committed to providing best-in-class solutions to serve our customers’ missions.
Chairman and CEO
President
Chief Operations Officer
Chief Technology Officer
Chief Scientist
VP, Finance
VP, Engineering
VP, Sales
John Higginbotham brings over three decades of high technology executive leadership to Blue Ridge. He is the manager of the USVC investment group, the founder and managing Member of SpaceVest investment management group, formerly the senior partner of SpaceVest Capital, a co-founder and former senior executive of International Technology Underwriters (Intec), and was the Product Manager for HP’s first microcomputers. Higginbotham has served on the Boards of Directors and as a senior executive of several public and private information technology, aerospace and defense, space industry, and other high technology growth companies. He has actively supported several prominent professional and community service organizations throughout his career. Higginbotham holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Srini Mirmira is an executive with strong technical and business experiences in the fields of information technology and energy, spanning private, government, and international sectors. Over the last 15 years, in various roles, Srini has been responsible for product development, commercialization of new technologies, investing in and securing financing for programs and companies, managing domestic and international programs, and developing regulatory policies to create new markets.
Prior to joining Blue Ridge Networks, Srini served as a consultant to Monument Capital Group and the Ministry of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mirmira’s experience also includes the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where he was a Senior Advisor for International Affairs and as a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). Prior to DOE, Srini was a successful venture capitalist, including his tenure as a Partner at RedShift Ventures and its predecessor SpaceVest. Mirmira has also held operational roles, having been a Senior Technologist at Applied Materials, where his efforts led to over $100M in revenue and the company capturing significant market share at Intel, Texas Instruments, IBM, and Samsung.
Dr. Mirmira earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA with concentrations in finance and economics from the University of Chicago.
Maureen Gray created the Managed Services division within Blue Ridge Networks nearly 20 years ago to provide secure outsourced remote access and site to site network services to government agencies and commercial customers, especially within the healthcare and financial industries. She designed and established multiple SAS-70 certified secure Colocation facilities to house both managed services customer equipment and Blue Ridge management equipment. Gray led the initiative to create and implement corporate information security policies and has been responsible for creating and providing training to agencies and other customers. In addition, Gray was the Project Manager for the IMOD acquisitions for Secure Voice installed in over 25 Forts. She also implemented the Blue Ridge system for Secure Remote Access with Single Sign-on to Active Directory, using government-issued Common Access Card (CAC) certificates, within the DOIM communities. This system underwent extensive testing at the JITC and TIC labs at Fort Huachuca, and became approved for the US Army’s use.
Tom Gilbert has supported the definition and development of cyber-security products and services for more than 30 years. His extensive security experience and technical background have been strong assets in bringing Blue Ridge Networks products and services to market quickly and successfully. Like many members of the Blue Ridge team, Gilbert has seen his share of “firsts” in the technology industry. He was on the first team to provide commercial delivery of high-speed multimedia over satellite while working at Satellite Business Systems, a one billion dollar company. He was also on the team that developed and launched the first V-LAN during his tenure at Network Systems Corporation, where he served as director of business development, marketing director, technical sales consultant, and a national account sales manager, leading the IBM and AT&T accounts.
Gilbert also managed the worldwide development and support of programming tools at IBM. He received a Bachelor of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
Combining the education of an astrophysicist, experience at research and development, and expertise at assembling and managing knowledge teams, Ken Hardwick has earned his place as a leader and visionary in the technology industry. Hardwick independently envisioned and was the first person to market several key technology services, including a VPN product using cryptographic tunneling, Virtual LAN (VLAN) technology for segregation of customer networks, multiprocessor architectures for Internet routing, and packet filtering. He has also developed network-based cryptosystems that remain the technique of choice in major federal intelligence agencies.
In 2005, Hardwick was one of only five individuals named as “Ones to Watch in 2006” in InfoWorld magazine’s Innovators Awards. “By abandoning business as usual, these honorees are striking new paths to efficiency and reliability across the board,” InfoWorld stated. “We are pleased to honor those who are leading the way with their ingenuity.”
Prior to Blue Ridge Networks, Hardwick was a fellow and director of advanced software development at Network Systems Corporation where he led the development of the comprehensive cryptography and packet filtering system that is used today in Blue Ridge Networks products and services. Among other patents, Hardwick holds a software patent for virtual routing. He received a Bachelor of Science in astrophysics and Bachelor of Arts in applied math from the University of Rochester.
Danille Wilson is the Vice President of Finance for Blue Ridge Networks, having worked her way up the corporate ladder from Staff Accountant to Senior Staff Accountant to Controller to VP of Finance. She has worked in the financial industry for over 15 years dealing with a wide range of economic, technical, regulatory, policy, legislative and business issues affecting both small and medium sized organizations. Wilson’s experience includes extensive work on pricing methodologies, rate design, revenue requirements, billing, inventory management, payroll and general accounting. Wilson has significant experience in the area of sales training and staff development, having worked on issues pertaining to automation, the use of new technologies, and customer satisfaction.
Wilson graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Mary Washington.
As Vice President of Engineering for Blue Ridge Networks, Mukesh Sharma draws on more than seventeen years of product development management experience with the proven ability to build engineering teams and deliver products to meet both schedule and revenue goals. He has an extensive experience spanning more than 30 years in the field of data networking, telecommunication, systems development to the field of cyber security in the Enterprise, banking sector, retail industries and industrial control systems. Prior to becoming Vice President, Sharma was Director of Hardware and Firmware Engineering at Blue Ridge where he led the development of the award-winning next generation BorderGuard Server product line and RemoteLink product line.
Sharma joined Blue Ridge Networks from Megisto Systems Inc., where he served as software manager developing their Mobile Service Delivery Systems that deliver IP data services to Mobile Access Networks. Prior to that he worked at Salix Technologies, Alcatel Data Networks, Hyundai Network Systems, AT&T Bell Labs, Timeplex Inc. and Center For Development of Telematics in India.
Sharma received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Master of Science in Physics degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.
Mark Webber joined Blue Ridge Networks as the Vice President of Sales.
Mark is an experienced sales and business executive who has forged partnerships with leading industrial control systems, mobile carrier, and networking companies. Mark began his career as a leader in networking platform software development.
Prior to Blue Ridge Networks, Mark was Vice President of Sales at Vericlace, a cybersecurity company focused on offering customers a national security grade solution to prevent cyber threats from accessing networks. As a proven technical and business leader Mark has lead teams within R&D, Business Development, Sales, and Marketing including leading multinational sales teams in the US, Europe, India, and China. Mark has also held leadership positions at Extreme Networks, Vina Technologies, Metrobility Optical System and Agile Networks (purchased by Lucent). Additionally, Mark servers as an Aviation Officer in the US Army Reserves for 7 years. Mark graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science and in attending Southern New Hampshire University for a Master’s of Science in Cyber Security.
Mark, a native on New Englander, has 2 kids. Mark’s son is a junior at Boise State University in Boise Idaho and is studying Marketing. Mark serves as President of Boise State University’s Parent and Family Council since 2019.
Our board of directors are comprised of individuals who have distinguished themselves in industry, finance, health care, and government service.
Chairman and CEO
Director
Director
Director
John Higginbotham brings over three decades of high technology executive leadership to Blue Ridge. He is the manager of the USVC investment group, the founder and managing Member of SpaceVest investment management group, formerly the senior partner of SpaceVest Capital, a co-founder and former senior executive of International Technology Underwriters (Intec), and was the Product Manager for HP’s first microcomputers. Higginbotham has served on the Boards of Directors and as a senior executive of several public and private information technology, aerospace and defense, space industry, and other high technology growth companies. He has actively supported several prominent professional and community service organizations throughout his career. Higginbotham holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mark Oderman has more than thirty-five years of experience in the aerospace, defense and telecommunications markets as a co-founder and Senior Managing Director of CSP Associates, a leading strategy and business diligence advisory firm based in Cambridge, MA. In this capacity, he has led hundreds of strategy, diligence and policy engagements for clients in industry, the financial sector, and for government clients. Mr. Oderman is also a co-founder and presently serves as a Senior Advisor to X-Band LLC, a satellite communications venture, and served on the Technology Advisory Board of Riverside Partners from 2012-2014. Prior to co-founding CSP Associates, Mr. Oderman was the President of Research Services, Inc., a firm providing case study research and analytic support to graduate and business schools in the greater Boston area. Mr. Oderman holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Pomona College, and a Master’s degree in international business and international law, from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Mark is an Advisor to the company and a member of its Board of Directors.
Mark is a Managing Director of North Atlantic Capital, a leading venture capital organization headquartered in Maine. Prior to joining North Atlantic Capital in 2000, he worked at Advent International in Boston, and in consulting at CSC Index in Cambridge, MA. He earned a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is the past President of the Board of the Northeast Regional Association of Small Business Investment Companies. His current Directorships include the: AeroSat Corporation, American Fiber Systems, Inc., KickApps Corporation, Synacor, Inc., Vivisimo, Inc., and Voxeo Corporation.
Mark Ferrer recently retired as the executive vice president and chief revenue officer at Citrix. He joined Citrix from SAP where he served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Global Customer Operations. Prior to SAP, Ferrer held various leadership roles in the software and services enterprises, including serving as president and CEO of Vastera, Inc. (now JPMorgan Chase Vastera, Inc.), a leader in global trade management software and managed services solutions, as President of Baan Americas (later acquired by Infor), and as COO of Aurum Software (a Baan company). He formerly served as the head of global software sales at HP, where he served as vice president of Worldwide Sales and Operations for HP Software & Solutions, and as vice president and general manager of HP Software’s Americas organization, and as vice president of the Americas Communications, Media and Entertainment (CME) industry group. In addition, he previously served, and held numerous executive sales and marketing positions during his 16 years at IBM.
Ferrer holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Clarkson College in Potsdam, New York, and serves on the board of Teach for America, a national organization dedicated to enlisting, developing, and mobilizing promising future leaders to grow and strengthen educational equity and excellence.
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor
Stanton D. Anderson is currently senior counsel to the president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing 3 million companies and organizations of every size, sector, and region. In this capacity, Anderson works to advance the Chamber’s efforts on legal reform and defense of business interests in the courts. He chairs the Chamber’s involvement in the coalition to protect the lawyer-client privilege. He also chairs the Chamber’s effort on Global Regulatory Divergence. In 1981, Mr. Anderson founded his own law firm—Anderson, Hibey, Nauheim and Blair—and in 1995, he joined the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery. As part of his law practice, Mr. Anderson represented a number of Japanese interests, including the semiconductor, electronics, and machine tool industries. He continues to have close relationships with senior Japanese political figures and travels to Tokyo often. He currently represents several U.S. companies seeking to resolve regulatory issues in Japan. Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree from Westmont College and a Juris Doctor from Willamette University.
Recently retired from the position of Chief Information Security Officer to the Central Intelligence Agency, a position he has held for the past 15 years. As the Agency CISO, his responsibilities included cryptography, information security policy/processes, standards and requirements, testing and network defense/response. He also served as the Agency’s designated officer for all discussions with the information security industry and its commercial partners. A pioneer in the field of classified information protection, Mr. Bigman developed technical measures and procedures to manage the nation’s most sensitive secrets and has worked in every area of information and data security. His earlier assignments at the CIA included participation in the technical design of the Intelligence Community’s first counterterrorism database and delivery of the Agency’s first secure TCP/IP local and wide area network for the Counterintelligence Center. In recognition of his expertise and contributions, Mr. Bigman has received numerous CIA and Director of National Intelligence awards.
R. Bruce Fisher is a creative strategist with a dynamic leadership style and demonstrated knowledge of finance, operations, and business development for a wide variety of industries. He has a proven track record of implementing successful business strategies, building effective operations, and creating enterprise value for global, performance-driven organizations.
Previously, Bruce served as Corporate VP for Strategy and Investor Relations of Ingersoll Rand coming to them through their acquisition of American Standard where he held several senior executive positions. Earlier in his career he held several business management and leadership roles at Allied Chemical, AlliedSignal, and Honeywell. He has also served as a partner in a private equity group, advisor to a broad range of public and private firms, and a board member for several start-ups and non-profit organizations. Bruce received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his M.B.A. from the College of William and Mary.
Mr. McCoy is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience at the highest levels of government and the private sector. He has planned and executed major doctrinal changes, multi-billion dollar programs, legislative support activities, association creations, and company strategic financing initiatives as a senior executive within the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, the aerospace industry and the venture capital community. As a dedicated professional, he has served with distinction at the highest levels within the legislative and executive branches of government, and has received Presidential, Defense and Air Force Secretarial and Congressional recognition for his accomplishments. Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Washington Capital Partners, LLC, a venture capital firm; Vice President for Government Relations for Thiokol Propulsion; Assistant Secretary for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, and Installations and later Assistant Secretary for Readiness Support; Air Force Systems Acquisition Review Council; Member of the Professional Staff, Senator Jake Garn and the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee; Director of Policy Research, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Scientific Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Engineering and Systems; Deputy Assistant and Staff Assistant to the Secretary of Defense; Member of the Professional Staff, National Security Council, The White House; and Officer, United States Army. Mr. McCoy received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from the United States Military Academy, West Point, in 1967, and a Master’s Degree in Business Financial Management from George Washington University in 1975. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Viet Nam, and other military medals while on active duty as an officer in the United States Army; and, as a civilian, Medals for Extraordinary Service by two different Secretaries of Defenses and the Secretary of the Air Force.
Virginia’s 64th Governor (1982 – 1986) and two-term United States Senator (1989 – 2001). Currently serves as Vice Chairman of Board of Trustees of The MITRE Corporation, as a member of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, and in other national security positions. He also serves on the boards of the Invacare Corporation and other for-profit organizations.
Mark Stachiw is currently a Managing Partner, General Counsel and Secretary and Founder of Artic Partners, a boutique equity firm investing in technology based companies. Prior to joining Artic Partners, Mark held a similar role with NxGen Partners. In these roles, Mark has found and evaluated over 350 investment opportunities and has directed six investments in companies valued over $30 million. Earlier in his career, Mark held various leadership roles, ultimately becoming the Vice Chairman, General Counsel and Secretary, at MetroPCS Communications, Inc. a $5 billion dollar Fortune 500 public wireless communications company, where he was responsible for board governance, legal, regulatory and external affairs. Mark took MetroPCS public in 2007, raised over $28 billion in debt, and was instrumental in quintupling the company’s addressable market and over sextupling its revenue. Mark was also played a key role in leading the company’s combination with T-Mobile, the largest domestic merger announced in 2012. Mark has served as member of the Board of Directors of SkyTitan International, and GruupMeet, Inc., Tractus Corp and Health Tech Pal Corp, the latter three being portfolio companies of NxGen Partners. Mark received both Juris Doctor, and Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Davis, and he is a member of the Order of the Coif, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi.
Don Upson is a recognized leader in government technology and management with more than three decades experience. He currently is the managing partner of Upson Technology Group (UTG), a firm that specializes in bringing innovative technologies to government and critical infrastructure sector markets.
Upson spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill, where he served as Republican staff director of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He is most recognized for his work as Virginia’s first Secretary of Technology – the first office of its kind to combine traditional functions of a chief information officer with major economic development responsibilities.
Upson is also the founder and co-chair of both the Government Business Executive Forum (GBEF) and CES Government and serves on the Executive Committee of the USO Metro. He is a six-time winner of the prestigious Fed 100, honoring the 100 most influential technology leaders in the U.S. federal sector.
Most recently, Upson served as Chief Operating Officer of UNICOM Global a $350m VAR and reseller of technology products and services to the public sector.
Collins Spencer is the Founder and Managing Member of Spencer Partners LLC, a boutique consulting firm that secures access to venture capital, forms strategic alliances, and stimulates joint ventures for emerging enterprises. Prior to starting his own company, Collins was a Senior Vice President & Director at Boston-based Fidelity Investments/International and Vice President of Aetna Capital Management, a financial services unit of Aetna Life & Casualty (currently Aetna Inc.). He has previous business experience at IBM and American Cyanamid.
Collins has served on the boards of numerous companies and organizations including Virginia Tech Intellectual Property, Inc. He was a founding & governing board member of the Robert A, Toigo Foundation and National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) annual public / private conferences. He was a Consultant for J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Private Bank and the Episcopal Church Pension Fund. He has a bachelor’s degree in Education and History from Providence College and has participated in numerous Executive Management programs during his corporate career.
Trent R. Teyema is the Principal / President of CSG Strategies, Inc., a national security consultancy which specializes in of cyber, space, technology, and critical infrastructures including pharmaceuticals and agriculture. Previously, he was the Global Head of Cyber Threat Management for the insurance giant AIG, and the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the Parsons Corporation.
Prior to his career in the private sector, Trent led the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Cyber Division as their Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Cyber Readiness where he was responsible for the financial management, information security, physical security, logistics, data science, and training of the cyber workforce across Field Offices, Headquarters facilities, and US Embassies. During his 27-year investigative career, he served in numerous senior positions, including as the Director of Cybersecurity to the White House’s National Security Staff under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Special Agent in Charge of the Cyber and Counterintelligence Divisions, and as a Senior Supervisory Inspector at FBI Headquarters.
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