Leadership
EVP, External & Legislative Affairs
Jeff Blum
Jeff Blum serves as DISH’s Executive Vice President, External & Legislative Affairs, overseeing public policy, regulatory and government affairs in Washington, D.C. He has been with DISH since 2005. Before coming to DISH, Jeff was a partner at the Los Angeles firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, where his practice focused on copyright, First Amendment and anti-piracy litigation. At Davis Wright Tremaine, Jeff co-represented a class of songwriters and music publishers in the Grokster P2P file sharing case, which was decided by the United States Supreme Court in favor of Jeff’s clients. The Grokster decision established a new basis for secondary copyright liability called "inducement liability."
From 2003 to 2005, Jeff was a part-time lecturer at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Journalism where he taught media law. After graduating from law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Joseph Tauro of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. He currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA). Jeff also serves on the board of INCOMPAS, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), and the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). Jeff graduated summa cum laude and first in his class at Boston University School of Law, where he was a Note Editor of the Boston University Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Classics. He makes his home in Arlington, Virginia with his partner, Rachel, and two daughters, Jia and Amelia.
SVP, Wireless Product
Paul Chapple
As SVP of Retail Wireless Product for DISH’s retail wireless business, Paul leads mobile product and device strategy and development across DISH’s current and future wireless brands. He is responsible for device portfolio selection, management of DISH’s relationships with key suppliers, as well as product and services development and sourcing required to deliver a world-class customer experience.
Paul has been at the forefront of wireless products and device innovations for many years, leading efforts at top-tier carriers and original equipment manufacturers. He is a seasoned consumer wireless executive with over 20 years of diverse experience across multiple markets and geographies.
Before joining DISH, Paul served as Director of Mobile Products & Services at Vodafone, where he led their strategic relationships with key suppliers. Paul also served as VP of Supplier and Product Management at T-Mobile, leading the end-to-end product management for all devices including handsets, wearables, tablets and devices related to the Internet of Things. Paul focused on developing T-Mobile’s 5G roadmap. He has also held executive roles with Nokia, Samsung and HTC.
Paul received his Bachelor degrees in Political Science and Public Communications from Syracuse University. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.
EVP, Corporate Development
Tom Cullen
Tom Cullen serves as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development for DISH, overseeing the company's long-term strategic interests including new ventures, partner development and spectrum strategy. Tom has more than 39 years of experience in the telecom, cable, satellite and wireless sectors. Previously, he served in senior leadership roles at Charter Communications and MediaOne as well as two privately funded firms. Tom graduated from the University of Colorado with a master's degree in Business Administration and received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Northern Arizona University.
EVP & Group President, Retail Wireless
Michael Kelly
As Executive Vice President of Retail Wireless, Michael is responsible for sales, marketing, go-to-market strategy and operations for DISH’s retail wireless brands, including the iconic Boost Mobile. He also works in close coordination with DISH’s other consumer-facing brands to help align and maximize opportunities across them. Michael is a visionary leader with more than three decades of entrepreneurial and corporate executive experience.
Michael spent 15 years with DISH in numerous leadership roles, before leaving DISH in 2015. He originally joined DISH in 2000 with its acquisition of Kelly Broadcasting Systems (KBS), a company he founded in 1991. During his tenure at DISH, he led and spearheaded numerous strategic initiatives within sales, advertising, marketing, customer service, in-home services, programming and Blockbuster. Prior to KBS, he served as executive vice president of Hamilton Consultants, Inc., a professional consulting firm specialized in the design and construction of broadcast and telecommunications systems. Most recently, he has been actively investing in and guiding multiple early stage start-up tech companies.
In his spare time, Michael enjoys traveling and spending time in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
SVP, Chief Solutions Officer
In-Kyung Kim
As Senior Vice President and Chief Solutions Engineering Officer, Dr. In-Kyung Kim leads modem, module, and device engineering and development. He works with retail wireless and network teams to ensure the successful launch of all new devices supporting DISH customers. Prior to DISH, In-Kyung served as Senior Vice President at LG Electronics in South Korea for 15 years, where he was known by peers as the “Father of LTE.” He was responsible for mobile network technologies, as well as partnership programs with key industry players, and has led many challenging wireless device launches.
Previously, he was the Technical Director at Hughes Network Systems, overseeing the architecture, design and development of wireless broadband systems. His career began as a research engineer at the Biomedical Engineering Lab in the Seoul National University Hospital. In-Kyung holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. He received his Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering and a master's degree in Electronics Engineering from Seoul National University. In-Kyung and his wife, Soonmee, enjoy running and hiking in the great Colorado outdoors and have two grown sons.
SVP, National Development
Richard Leitao
As Senior Vice President of National Development, Richard Leitao oversees key supplier relationships that support the buildout of DISH’s first-of-its-kind 5G network. Richard joined DISH in 2020 as Vice President of National Development, designing centralized processes in supply chain, real estate, construction standards and processes, data management and training.
Before joining DISH, Richard worked in international procurement, operations and infrastructure leadership roles at Digicel Group, VEON Ltd. and Nokia Corporation. He also spent more than 10 years at Nortel Networks Corporation early in his career.
Richard earned his Master of Science in Finance from Universidade Católica Portuguesa and his Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications from Instituto Superior De Engenharia De Lisboa. He enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf and basketball.
EVP, Network Development
Dave Mayo
As Executive Vice President, Network Development, Dave Mayo is responsible for DISH’s wireless buildout strategy and execution of the company’s aggressive deployment of the nation’s first standalone 5G network. Prior to joining DISH, Dave served as Senior Vice President at T-Mobile USA, Inc., where he most recently led T-Mobile’s IoT business and founded the company’s fixed wireless business.
Prior to this role, he led the strategic, development and financial areas for T-Mobile’s network organization during more than two decades of explosive growth. He continually reengineered and reinvented the cost structure, led a network sharing joint venture between T-Mobile and Cingular in metropolitan New York City and California, negotiated key infrastructure agreements and led technical due diligence of key acquisitions. In this capacity, Dave had business management responsibility for approximately $10 billion in annual capital and operating costs and developed and drove key strategic network initiatives. Dave also innovated and led the aggressive transformation of T-Mobile’s transport network to fiber which was foundational to T-Mobile’s multi-year “Fastest Network” claim, T-Mobile’s first ever nationwide, network-based marketing claim. Prior to joining Western Wireless in 1996 (T-Mobile’s predecessor), Dave held financial management roles at US West Cellular and Flow International Corporation. He also worked for Price Waterhouse from 1983 to 1988. Dave is a graduate of the University of Washington and is an avid skier and boater. He and his wife Veronica have three grown children.
EVP, Wireless Network Operations
Jeff McSchooler
As Executive Vice President of Wireless Operations for DISH, Jeff McSchooler leads a team responsible for the operation of DISH’s national wireless network. Prior to his role in Wireless, Jeff was Executive Vice President of DISH Technologies, overseeing staff members located primarily at the company’s Denver-based corporate offices and six nationwide digital broadcast centers. Those technical teams are responsible for broadcasting and delivering DISH’s satellite television service, as well as various components of Fixed Satellite Services, IPTV, VOD and the incorporation of Sling Media technology.
Jeff is an industry veteran experienced in the architecture, design and sustaining of engineering systems. He has been granted several technical patents for his innovative efforts and continued dedication to his field. Jeff and his team received the 2014-15 Technology and Engineering Emmy award for Closed-loop Statistical Multiplexing of Geographically Distributed Encoders, which enable the delivery of local broadcast stations in HD to customers in those specific areas. Jeff’s background is in U.S. Air Force communications and Contel/GTE in Government Systems and GTE SpaceNet. He was on the team responsible for the implementation of ground station requirements for the launch of DISH’s satellite operations with the EchoStar I satellite in 1995 and the build-out of DISH’s uplink centers. Jeff has served on various executive advisory boards, regional Governor’s committees, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations throughout his career, including EchoStar’s annual Chairman’s Award.
EVP, Global Partnerships
Marc Rouanne
As Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships, Marc is responsible for network architecture, RF network and strategy, core network architecture and strategy, cloud and edge strategy, security, transport, 5G lab management and interoperability testing.
Marc brings to DISH more than 20 years of international management experience in the telecommunications industry, having held executive positions in R&D, customer operations and product management in the U.S., France and Finland.
He has managed industry-leading businesses developing 2G-5G radios, core, handsets, submarine cables, RF ancillaries and microwave transport. He is an entrepreneur and the founder of Dhatim, an AI software company. He has held a variety of leadership roles at Nokia, including President of Mobile Networks and Chief Innovation and Operating Officer. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Alcatel-Lucent.
In his career, Marc has transformed large telecommunications businesses to achieve growth and profitability in competitive markets. He has a track record of effectively delivering complex technological initiatives with a cost competitive approach.
Marc is an advocate of openness and decomposition of software in the telecom space, having pioneered Mobile Edge Cloud with NSN Liquid Net architecture. Under his leadership as Nokia COO, Nokia was the first large telco vendor to join TIP, xRAN, O-RAN, as well as other open initiatives including OCP and ONAP.
His accomplishments include the May 2017 restructuring of Nokia’s Mobile Business Group, which accelerated the company’s 4G and 5G roadmaps, and led to increased customer satisfaction around services. He introduced collaboration and DevOps at scale inside the Nokia mobile software teams yielding improvements in quality and resulting in flagship 5G deals in the U.S., Japan and Korea.
Marc holds a doctorate in Information Theory from the University of Notre Dame (U.S.), an Engineering degree in Signal Processing from Centrale Supélec (France) and is a graduate of Université d’Orsay (France) with a concentration in Computer Science. He is a French citizen. In his spare time Marc enjoys sailing. He is married and has five children.
EVP, Network Deployment
Satish Sharma
As Executive Vice President of Network Deployment, Satish Sharma works closely with key teams across DISH's wireless organization, as well as our multi-partner 5G ecosystem, to bring our ambitious and innovative network designs to life.
Satish joined DISH in 2020 as Regional Vice President for the West region. In this role, he oversaw a portfolio of key markets and their various core network components, including radio frequency engineering, site development (acquisition and zoning), construction, transport and project management.
Prior to DISH, Satish served as Senior Vice President of Global Operations for MediaKind where he oversaw global services, support and deliveries, and launched the MediaFirst pay-TV/OTT platform. Satish also held leadership positions at Ericsson and Sprint.
Satish received his Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology in Manilla, Philippines. He holds a Masters in Business Administration, Marketing from De La Salle University, and a Masters of Science in Telecom and Computers from George Washington University.
In his free time, Satish enjoys hiking, half-marathons, sci-fi TV shows and cooking vegetable curries. He and his wife have two sons—the eldest serves in the U.S. Air Force and the youngest recently graduated college with a degree in engineering.
SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Retail Wireless
Jonathan Sipling
As Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Retail Wireless Jonathan will oversee marketing strategies for our retail wireless brands, drive key marketing functions such as media and partnerships, and help monetize our DISH 5G network.
Jonathan is responsible for marketing and branding for DISH’s retail wireless brands, including Boost Infinite, Boost Mobile and Gen Mobile. He also works in close coordination with DISH’s other consumer-facing brands to help align and maximize opportunities across them.
Jonathan’s held senior marketing leadership roles at Wayfair, Amazon and other prominent brands. Additionally, he has had leadership roles at Adidas and McKinsey & Company, where he built and led highly successful teams. Jonathan is passionate about his work, and knows what it takes to succeed and win in a fast-paced environment. He takes a methodical and collaborative approach to leadership, with a focus on results. This will serve him well gaining the cross-functional alignment necessary to effectively drive our marketing strategies.
Jonathan brings proven leadership capabilities and diverse marketing experience that will be an immediate asset to the Wireless marketing team.
Jonathan enjoys spending time with his wife, son and dog and is excited to be back in his hometown of Denver.
President and Chief Operating Officer - Wireless
John Swieringa
As President and Chief Operating Officer of DISH Wireless, John Swieringa is responsible for all operational aspects of DISH’s wireless business including the deployment and management of DISH’s virtualized, O-RAN 5G broadband network, its retail wireless business, and its day-to-day activities.
John joined DISH in 2007 and has served in increasing leadership roles during his tenure with the company. He previously served as EVP and Group President of Retail Wireless where he was responsible for all aspects of DISH’s Retail Wireless business, including strategy, operations, sales and customer service for DISH’s retail wireless brands, including Boost Mobile.
John also has led as EVP of Operations, overseeing DISH’s In Home Services organization (which conducts residential and commercial installations), as well as the company’s Customer Service, Billing, Information Technology and Manufacturing & Distribution functions. Prior to that, he was the company’s SVP & Chief Information Officer, responsible for enterprise information technology strategy and operations. Earlier assignments in Information Technology include overseeing the company’s software development efforts as Vice President of Application Development & Architecture. John spent the first 10 years of his career working in Corporate Finance for DISH and other Fortune 500 companies.
Named a 2020 Rising Star by FierceWireless, John has also been recognized in the Denver Business Journal's 2015 40 Under 40 list, and honored as the 2015 Chief Information Officer of the Year by the Colorado Technology Association. John earned his bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business.
SVP, Wholesale Business Operations
Lisa Walker
As SVP of Wholesale Business Operations, Lisa is focused on efficiently liaising directly with other MNOs, service providers and resellers to facilitate the provisioning of DISH’s network services. She and her team manage complex B2B relationships, ensuring seamless integration and operation of various network services.
Prior to her most recent return to DISH, Lisa assisted a private equity firm in interim executive leadership roles to reshore manufacturing and supply chain operations across their portfolio holdings.
Previously at DISH, Lisa served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Manufacturing, Distribution, Logistics and Transportation for five years. She was responsible for leading DISH’s distribution strategy to build our 5G network, and managing forward and reverse logistics for the many mobile devices needed in retail wireless.
Lisa also served as Chief Operating Officer of Logic PD where she was responsible for design engineering, contract manufacturing, OEM product management and supply chain. This included helping customers design, develop, manufacture and manage connected products, and standing up near-shore and off-shore operations. Her 25+-year career began as a field service instrumentation and sales application engineer at Emerson Process Management.
Lisa earned her Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Master’s in Strategic Technology Management from Bethel University. She’s a second-degree black belt in taekwondo and she has trained in six other martial arts. Lisa enjoys sustainable gardening, visiting National Parks, and her husband’s cooking.