WiTT’s Directors are:
Stephanie Liston
Senior Counsel, Charles Russell
Stephanie Liston, an acknowledged international expert is Senior Counsel in Charles Russell’s Technology & Communications group. A qualified lawyer in the US and UK, Stephanie served as a Non-Executive Director of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) from 2005 to 2008, a Director of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) from 2000 to 2005 and cochairman of the Communications Committee of the International Bar Association from 2004-2006.
Stephanie co-founded Women in Telecoms and Technology (founded in 2000 – with current membership of over 500) and has been a senior partner in a number of leading law firms.
Stephanie has advised on strategic regulatory issues, contractual negotiations and commercial transactions for numerous companies in the European and international communications sector since 1990 when she was a senior lawyer for MCI Communications Corporation. Highlights include advising MCI on its joint venture with BT, Energis on its Metro Holdings joint venture with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, One.Tel in the 3G Auctions, the UK Telecoms Adjudicator appointed by Ofcom and Cable & Wireless on Ofcom’s 2004/2005 strategic review of the telecoms market.
Annette Nabavi
AHV Associates / Anchusa Consulting
Annette is a specialist in strategic partnerships, business planning and financing strategy and runs an independent strategy advisory business working with clients on business and financial strategy.
Previously, she was the CEO of XchangePoint Holdings where, over 3 years, she developed the company to become one of the fastest growing and successful metro broadband interconnect companies in Europe.
Before joining XchangePoint, Annette Nabavi was a Director at ING Barings and the Global Head of Business Development in the Telecommunications Corporate Finance team.
She joined ING Barings from the PA Consulting Group where she was a Senior Partner focussing on strategy and business planning for telecommunications and technology clients.
Annette has an MA from Oxford University and a doctorate from the University of Dijon, in France.
Michelle Senecal de Fonseca
Director – Cloud and Hosting Services, Vodafone
Michelle Senecal de Fonseca has developed a career of 25 years in international telecommunications and technology by managing large-scale corporations and small entrepreneurial start-ups owned by the public markets and private equity. With operational experience in more than 50 countries on all continents, she has primarily worked with NextiraOne, Worldport, Global One, Sprint International and US West International. Ms. Senecal de Fonseca’s executive positions have ranged from CFO, to head of Sales and Marketing, Corporate Development, Strategic Planning, and Corporate Communications. Having joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in early 2007, Ms. Senecal de Fonseca manages the Telecom, Informatics and Media banking team and its associated investment portfolio within the international financial institution. The EBRD, owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, aims to foster the transition from centrally planned to market economies from central Europe to central Asia.
Ms. Senecal de Fonseca holds a dual degree in Business and Political Science from the University of Kansas and Masters in Business from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, Arizona where she also serves on the school’s Global Council. Ms. Senecal de Fonseca has served on the board of a variety of American and European tech companies. She is married with three children.
Audrey Mandela
WiTT Chair; Acting COO and Chair, Informilo; Chair, The Locus Association
Audrey is WiTT’s chair and company secretary. She is also chair of the Locus Association, an organization that works to encourage the public sector to maintain a fair and equitable trading environment in relation to licensing and re-use of public sector information (PSI); chair and acting COO for Informilo, a technology news site that links business with innovation; and founder of Mandela Associates, which provides market research and consulting services for select clients in the telecom, internet and geographical information sectors.
Audrey was Co-Founder of Multimap, one of the world’s leading online mapping providers, where she acted as the company’s corporate counsel and marketing director, and was a board director and Company Secretary. Multimap was sold to Microsoft in December 2007.
Audrey was formerly Senior Vice President, International, for the Yankee Group, one of the industry’s leading IT research firms. As Senior VP, Audrey was responsible for managing the Yankee Group’s research, consulting and sales activities in Europe, Latin America and Asia. She was a frequent speaker at telecom industry events around the world, and the author of numerous reports and studies on global telecom trends.
Audrey holds a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, US.
Helen Kelisky
Vice President, Comms and Media Industry, IBM UK and Ireland – 2012
Helen is responsible for IBM’s business with Telecommunications and Media companies across UK and Ireland. She is a member of the IBM leadership team. Formerly Chair of IBM’s Women’s Leadership Council and leader of gender diversity mission for IBM UK, she remains an active member, actively promoting women’s career progression both inside and outside IBM.
