Leadership

Michael Poth, CEO

: Mr. Mike Poth began his career in public safety with the Tempe, Arizona Police Department where he held various positions in patrol, traffic, detectives, narcotics, and the tactical team. As a Police Captain in Corvallis, Oregon, he held executive assignments leading three different bureaus including the regional 9-1-1 center. Later, as technology senior executive at Northrop Grumman and Hewlett Packard., Mr. Poth led mission critical public safety projects for state and local police, fire, EMS, and emergency management services agencies, as well as the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. Mr. Poth received a BS in Criminal Justice and a Master in Public Administration from Arizona State University and completed executive certifications from the University of Virginia and the University of Chicago.

TJ Kennedy, President

: Mr. TJ Kennedy has broad-based experience in public safety having served as a Utah state trooper serving on the SWAT/Special Operations team. He also served as a flight paramedic and a firefighter. Prior to joining the FirstNet senior leadership team, Mr. Kennedy was the Director, Public Safety and Security for Raytheon Company, and was President of its JPS Communications subsidiary, focused on radio interoperability solutions. Mr. Kennedy joined FirstNet in July 2013 as one of the first leadership team members. Mr. Kennedy brings to FirstNet his hands-on public safety experience in police, fire and emergency medical services combined with his senior-level positions in Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Kennedy graduated from the University of Utah.

Jason Karp, Chief Counsel

: Mr. Karp started his career in private practice in commercial litigation and has held senior roles with the Federal Communications Commission, Net2000 Communications, MCI, Kelley Drye & Warren, and E-centives, Inc. Prior to joining FirstNet, Mr. Karp held executive positions, including most recently with Accenture, where he served as Director of Legal Services, responsible for overseeing Accenture’s global ethics program in more than 200 cities in 56 countries, and managing a portfolio of commercial transactions in the Communications, High Tech and Media industries. Mr. Karp joined FirstNet as the Deputy Chief Counsel in April 2014, and was named Chief Counsel in December 2015. Mr. Karp received a BSE in Electrical Engineering from Duke University, and a JD from New York University. He is a member of the DC, VA and MD Bars.

Jeff Bratcher, Chief Technology Officer

: Mr. Bratcher spent his early career in the private sector at Motorola Cellular and Siemens Mobile in their respective cellular field deployment engineering teams in domestic and international markets. Mr. Bratcher began his federal service in 2003 when he joined the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) located in Boulder, Colorado. Prior to joining FirstNet, Mr. Bratcher served as Division Chief for the Telecommunications and IT Planning Division at the ITS and also served as the Technical and Operations Manager for the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program. Mr. Bratcher received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University and a MS in Telecommunications from Southern Methodist University.

Jim Gwinn, Chief Information Officer

: Mr. Gwinn brings over two decades of private sector experience to FirstNet, having held leadership positions at global telecommunications businesses, Verizon, MCI, and WorldCom. For Verizon, he most recently served as Vice President of Information Technology-Network Systems, where he was responsible for more than 1,400 information technology professionals across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Before joining FirstNet in March 2014, Mr. Gwinn was the Chief Information Officer for US Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA). In that role, Mr. Gwinn was responsible for managing FSA's information technology modernization initiatives and updating the agency's legacy technology and operations infrastructure. Mr. Gwinn holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in management with an MBA from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Frank Freeman III, Chief Administrative Officer

: Frank Freeman retired as a Colonel in the Air Force after 25 years of experience leading large organizations in facility management, human resources, logistics, environmental protection, security, and emergency management. The recipient of numerous Department of Defense decorations and awards, Mr. Freeman served as senior military advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Installations). He oversaw a team of 19 engineers to execute the Air Force’s $4.1 billion Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Program. Named Chief Administrative Officer of FirstNet in December 2013, Mr. Freeman leads the full scope of mission support functions and serves as the principal senior executive responsible for long-term planning. Frank holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Howard University, a MA in Business Management from Webster University, and a MS in Strategic Studies from the Army War College.

Kim Farington, Chief Financial Officer

: Ms. Farington is a Certified Public Accountant, with over 24 years of government service. Her extensive government career includes positions at US Department of Agriculture, the US Office of Personnel Management, the White House Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Ms. Farington joined FirstNet in May 2015 from the US. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), where she was Associate CFO for Financial Services. In this capacity, she managed the financial, accounting, and reporting operations for all OPM programs. She also managed the development and implementation of OPM's Activity Based Cost Accounting system for management of OPM’s operations. She holds an Associate’s degree from Indiana University and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Excelsior College

David Dasher, Chief Procurement Officer

: Mr. Dasher most recently served as the IRS Director, Procurement, where he was responsible for executing the agency’s contracting budget of over $2 billion. Mr. Dasher started his acquisition career in 1990 in the Navy Acquisition Intern Program and then moved into increasingly senior roles, including at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). At DHS, Mr. Dasher participated on several high visibility cybersecurity initiatives on behalf of the department’s Deputy Secretary. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Richard Reed, Chief Customer Officer

: Mr. Richard Reed brings more than 30 years of government and industry experience in emergency communications to the FirstNet leadership team, and became CCO in June 2016. Rich joined FirstNet in early 2014 as the Director of State Plans. Prior to joining FirstNet, he was with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications, where Mr. Reed managed the office’s technical assistance branch. In his roles within both FirstNet and DHS, Mr. Reed worked directly with the first responder community to understand and address their needs. Mr. Reed also served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserves, with assignments in the Office of Naval Intelligence and White House Communications Agency, and holds a B.S. in Business Management from National Louis University..

J. Stephen Fletcher, Chief Network Program Officer

: As the former associate administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Office of Public Safety Communications (OPSC), Mr. Fletcher helped spearhead planning for the deployment and eventual operation of the FirstNet network. Now, as FirstNet’s Chief Network Program Officer, he will bring his information technology and management experience to working effectively with FirstNet’s industry partner to install the Radio Access Network across all 56 states and territories. Earlier in his career, Mr. Fletcher worked for the U.S. Department of Education as its Chief Information and Technology Officer, served as Utah’s Chief Information Officer, and consulted the leadership of Hawaii on the development of its first-ever Technology Transformation Plan. Mr. Fletcher also founded an IT communications consulting firm that provided successful management of numerous multi-million dollar projects. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Dallas and earned a B.S. from the University of Utah.

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