Engaging with visionary CEOs in the telecom industry to ensure MEF’s alignment with industry needs.
The MEF CEO Advisory Board (CAB) brings strategic industry executive perspectives to the strategic work of MEF. Through extensive collaboration with the MEF Board of Directors, the CAB further strengthens MEF’s mission to accelerate enterprise digital transformation through a better-together ecosystem of service, cloud, and technology providers.
Members of the CEO Advisory Board are invited to serve a one-year term based on their extensive industry leadership and ongoing commitment to the goals of MEF.
Ben Edmond
Chief Executive Officer and Founder,
Connectbase
Ben Edmond is the CEO and Founder of Connectbase, the global marketplace for connectivity, and is responsible for the company’s strategic direction, culture, and overall operations.
Before establishing Connectbase, he held the position of Chief Revenue Officer at Global Capacity, overseeing the comprehensive customer go-to-market strategy and execution. With a rich background spanning 25 years in the fiber, telecom, and networking industries, Mr. Edmond brings extensive expertise in executive leadership, strategy development, product management, customer experience, sales, marketing, and operations to his role.
Keri Gilder
Chief Executive Officer,
Colt Technology Services
Keri Gilder is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Colt.
Appointed to the role in May 2020, Keri is responsible for executing Colt’s strategy which centres around transforming the way the world works through the power of connectivity.
Before becoming CEO, Keri was Colt’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), leading global teams across sales, presales and marketing, as well as working closely with the wider organisation to ensure Colt delivered for its customers.
Before joining Colt, Keri held several leadership roles at Ciena but was most recently its Vice President and General Manager EMEA, responsible for guiding Ciena’s EMEA service provider and enterprise customers, as well as partners.
Keri is passionate about promoting Inclusion and Diversity to ensure Colt is a business where everyone feels they can bring their true selves to work. In addition, Keri brings this passion to the wider industry as the Chair of the TM Forum’s Diversity & Inclusion Council and President of the Global Telecom Women’s Network.
Prior to Ciena, Keri worked in multiple roles for Lucent Technologies, and she has also worked for Hughes Aircraft as a Network Engineer.
Keri has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Management Information Systems (MIS) from New Mexico State University.
Keri lives in London with her husband and two children and is based at Colt’s head office in London.
Chris MacFarland
Chief Executive Officer,
Comcast Business Masergy
Chris MacFarland joined Masergy in 2008 and was quickly promoted to CEO. Prior to joining Masergy, Chris served in executive positions at BroadSoft, McLeodUSA, Allegiance Telecom, Verio, OnRamp, CompuNet and Compu-Tek International. He currently serves on the board of directors for iTopia. Chris is passionate about community service and has championed numerous charitable and outreach programs. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington where he majored in Computer Science and Engineering.
Aliette Mousnier-Lompré
Chief Executive Officer,
Orange Business
Aliette Mousnier-Lompré was appointed CEO of Orange Business on 24 May 2022.
Aliette Mousnier-Lompré first joined the group in 2006. After an initial experience as Head of Mobile Data and Head of Pricing within International Carriers, she became Business Development Director for the Enterprise global voice business in 2011, then Chief of Staff to the Executive VP in charge of Innovation and Research in 2013.
In 2016, she joined Orange Business, where she first held the position of EVP of Global Enterprise Networks, then EVP of Customer Service and Operations in 2019.
In 2022, she was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Orange Business.
As a former semi-professional player for the Paris Saint-Germain football club, Aliette Mousnier-Lompré holds a master’s degree in international business from the Institut des Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po) and also studied at the University of California, Berkeley.
Elisabetta Romano
Chairwoman,
Sparkle
Elisabetta Romano has been appointed Chair of Sparkle in June 2023.
From 2020 to 2022 she was CEO of Sparkle, and since August 2022 she is Chief Network Operations & Wholesale Officer of TIM.
She joined TIM Group in 2018 as Chief Technology Officer and in 2019 she was appointed Chief Innovation & Partnership Officer.
With a degree in Computer Science, Elisabetta Romano has over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications field, where she was involved in corporate strategy with a sector development and transformation approach, in Italy and abroad.
Her career began in 1987 at Alcatel, and continued from 1998 at Ericsson, where in 2012 she became Head of Operations Support Systems at the Stockholm headquarters. In 2015 she took on the role of Head of the TV & Media Division, based in Santa Clara, California, and, still at Ericsson, in 2017 she was responsible for the Core Network division, dealing in particular with services related to mobile broadband connected to 5G technology.
Roary Stasko
Chief Executive Officer,
Telstra International
Roary Stasko is Telstra International’s CEO, responsible for working across the international business portfolio which includes Wholesale and Enterprise sales and services internationally as well as Digicel Pacific. He leads an international team that serves customers with world leading customer service, products and solutions, with revenues in excess of AUD$2.5 billion per annum.
Based in San Francisco, Roary has more than 15 years’ experience in the telecommunications sector and over 20 years of consulting and management experience across the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.
Roary has been with Telstra since 2018, first joining as Head of Corporate Strategy where he was responsible for company-wide strategy development, strategic planning, and capital prioritization. In 2020 he moved into the position of Finance Business Partner (CFO) for the Consumer & Small Business division. Roary has also been a Digicel Pacific Board member since Telstra acquired the business in 2022 and he a member of the ITW Global Leaders’ Forum (GLF), a Board representing a global network of leaders from the world’s largest International Telecommuncations Carriers.
Before joining Telstra, Roary was Head of Strategy at Ooredoo Group, where he led critical strategy, transformation and digitalization programs.
Roary holds an MBA from Georgetown University in Washington DC, USA and a BA in economics from Colby College, Waterville, Maine, USA. He lives in San Francisco USA with his wife and three kids.
Marisa Trisolino
Chief Executive Officer,
CMC Networks
Marisa comes to CMC from AT&T, where she had a successful career for the last 21 years, serving in a variety of roles including sales, supplier management and strategic planning.
Marisa is an accomplished and energetic leader with a track record of improving service quality, increasing sales and managing costs and carrier relationships in the wholesale industry.