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Satellite Industry Association Announces New Executive Committee Officers for 2021

Washington, D.C., January 12, 2021 – The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today announced the SIA Board of Directors has elected the following persons as executive committee officers for 2021: Audrey Allison of The Boeing Company as Chair, Ross Vincenti of Intelsat as Vice Chair and Ananda Martin of Spire Global as Treasurer.

“The past year has been a uniquely challenging one and I would like to thank SI A’s outgoing Chair Stuart Daughtridge of Kratos and the 2020 executive committee for their dedicated service during the past 12 months,” said Tom Stroup, president of SIA.  “With the new year now upon us, it is with great pleasure that we announce our incoming executive committee officers for 2021.  Each of them bring a tremendous level of satellite industry and regulatory expertise to our board leadership.  They also collectively represent today’s broad and diverse industry as well as the revolutionary technological innovation found throughout the commercial satellite industry.  U.S. lawmakers and policy regulators are increasingly recognizing the tremendous and growing benefits that satellites are delivering to Americans each and every day.  SIA, its officers and our membership look forward to continue engaging with them as the collective voice of the domestic satellite industry.”

Audrey L. Allison is vice president of Global Spectrum Management for Boeing, where she leads the organization responsible for radiofrequency spectrum acquisition, compliance, and regulatory advocacy for the company’s technologies, including space and launch products, services, operations, and customers.  Allison is Boeing’s lead representative to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.  In addition to becoming the 2021 Chair of the Satellite Industry Association, she is a board member of the United States ITU Association.  Ms. Allison is also a member of the Commerce Spectrum Management Committee, a Department of Commerce federal advisory committee, and of the Federal Communications Commission’s World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining Boeing, Ms. Allison worked as an attorney for the Satellite Division of the Federal Communications Commission’s International Bureau and for satellite operator Iridium LLC., and as a regulatory consultant to the Department of Defense, C3I.  She is Boeing’s representative on the Board of Trustees of the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, She is also an Adjunct Faculty member there.  Allison also serves as a visiting lecturer at McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law in Montréal. She is author of The ITU and Managing Satellite Orbital and Spectrum Resources in the 21st Century (Springer, 2014).

Ms. Allison earned a Master of Business Administration, cum laude, from the International Space University; a Master of Laws, with distinction, in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; a Juris Doctor from Catholic University of America’s Institute for Communications Law Studies, Washington, D.C.; and a Bachelor of Arts from the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. She is based in Arlington, VA.

Ross Vincenti is associate general counsel at Intelsat.  His responsibilities include all aspects of the company’s commercial legal matters along with export and trade compliance.  Before joining Intelsat Mr. Vincenti served as chief legal officer for Federated Wireless, a wireless spectrum management company.  Prior to Federated Wireless, he was general counsel and secretary for , a global satellite telecommunications company based in the Washington, DC area.  Mr. Vincenti also served as the chief legal officer of SISVEL International S.A., a privately held international intellectual property licensing, monetization and consulting firm, and as managing director of SISVEL’s North American subsidiary.  Mr. Vincenti previously held a variety of executive level positions, primarily in the broadband telecommunications, technology and financial services industries, including as vice president and deputy general counsel for Clearwire, one of the first companies in the U.S. to offer high speed wireless broadband service.

Mr. Vincenti received his law degree from the University of Southern California where he was an editor of both the Major Tax Planning Journal and the Computer/Law Journal.  He was recognized by the Financial Times (N.A.) with a “Most Innovative In-House Legal Team” award in 2015.  In 2008 he was also honored as the “Top Technology Transactions Lawyer” in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area by the Washington Business Journal.

Ananda Martin is general counsel at Spire Global, Inc.  As General Counsel, Ms. Martin is responsible for legal affairs at Spire Global, a space to cloud analytics company that utilizes its proprietary nanosatellite constellation and global ground network to collect satellite data and algorithms to provide its customers with advanced maritime, aviation, and weather tracking solutions.

Prior to joining Spire Global, Ms. Martin served as in house counsel at Amazon and as a partner at Paul Hastings, LLP. She has a JD from Harvard Law School, a Masters in East Asian Studies from Columbia University, and graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis. She was a Fulbright Scholar and is a member of the British American Project, US-Japan Leadership Program, and National Committee on US-China Relations.

Satellite Industry Working Groups for 2021

As a trade association representing the commercial satellite industry, SIA has established working groups involved with a host of policy and communications issues including: regulatory (satellite licensing, spectrum allocation and regulatory policy), government services, earth observation, legislation, public safety, export control policy, international trade and media issues. SIA is a recognized focal point for the U.S. satellite industry in Washington, D.C., representing and advocating industry positions with key policy makers on Capitol Hill and with the White House, Federal Communication Commission and most Executive Branch departments and agencies.  Below is a list of Working Groups, Chairs and Co-chairs for 2021.

  • Space Cybersecurity Working Group – Jennifer Manner (EchoStar) and Donna Bethea Murphy (Inmarsat)
  • Earth Observation Forum – Mike Mineiro (Hawkeye 360) and Nathan Johnson (Planet)
  • Export Control Working Group – Kirsten Shumway (Boeing)
  • Legislative Working Group – Gwen Brown (Lockheed Martin) and Todd Putnam (Viasat)
  • Government Working Group – Marc Johansen (Boeing) and Jon Bennett (SES)
  • Regulatory Working Group – Cindy Grady (Intelsat) and Mariah Shuman (Amazon)
  • Space Safety Working Group – Jennifer Warren (Lockheed Martin) and Jennifer Manner (EchoStar)
  • PR and Media Communications – Sharyn Nerenberg (Hughes)

To learn more about SIA’s working groups, please visit the new website page at the following link:  https://sia.org/about-sia/sia-working-groups/

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About The Satellite Industry Association

SIA is a U.S.-based trade association providing representation of the leading satellite operators, service providers, manufacturers, launch services providers, and ground equipment suppliers. For more than two decades, SIA has advocated on behalf of the U.S. satellite industry on policy, regulatory, and legislative issues affecting the satellite business. For more information, visit www.sia.org.

SIA Executive Members include: Amazon; AT&T Services, Inc.; The Boeing Company; EchoStar Corporation; Intelsat S.A.; Iridium Communications Inc.; Kratos Defense & Security Solutions; Ligado Networks; Lockheed Martin Corporation; ; SES Americom, Inc.; Space Exploration Technologies Corp.; Spire Global Inc.; and Viasat Inc. SIA Associate Members include: ABS US Corp.; Amazon Web Services; Artel, LLC; AST & Science; Astranis Space Technologies Corp.; Blue Origin; Eutelsat America Corp.; ExoAnalytic Solutions; HawkEye 360; Hughes; Inmarsat, Inc.; Kymeta Corporation; Leonardo DRS; Lynk; Omnispace; Ovzon; Panasonic Avionics Corporation; Peraton; Planet; Telesat Canada; ULA; and XTAR, LLC. SIA Affiliate Members include: The Aerospace Corporation; Akash Systems Inc.; AQYR Technologies; COMSAT; Envistacom, LLC; Integrasys LLC, Kaman Precision Products; Kencast; Keysight Technologies, Inc.; Media Broadcast Satellite; NB+C; ; Plexus Corp; Radeus Labs, Inc.; Sheppard Mullin; Skylo Technologies; and Wiley