Apogee, Inc. » The Apogee Team

Charles Brady, Founder & CEO
Charles Brady founded Apogee in March 1998. As CEO and President, Brady´s vision and management style have created a company that is poised to offer a proven, and profitable, business model to universities and colleges.

While the company began as a success in offering student long-distance services, Brady recognized that there was an even greater untapped potential in helping colleges and universities at the administration level. Relying on his own engineering background, Brady refocused the company on technology. In the summer of 2000, Apogee began introducing a custom networking solution that helps schools meet and exceed their financial and educational objectives. This solution is being utilized by public and private universities, ranging in size from 1,200 to 50,000 students.

Mark Holt, COO
Mark rejoined the Apogee team in March 2010. After playing a key role in Apogee's first five years from 1998 through 2003, Mark left to gain valuable experience, and a change in climate, at Alaska DigiTel, a regional provider of cellular voice and data services. While at DigiTel, Mark was part of a team that grew subscribers from 7,000 to 40,000 over 5 years. In 2008 the company was acquired by an Alaskan statewide telephone and cable operator, GCI, for $40 million. Post acquisition, Mark served as a Director for GCI overseeing voice and messaging products.

With an institutional perspective on Apogee's vision and more than a decade of telecommunications experience, Mark's drive for organizational growth and scalability is well-suited to Apogee's customers, employees, and leadership team.

Mark has a degree in Accounting from St. Edward's University and has earned the designation of Certified Public Accountant.

Howard Weinzimmer, VP Business Development/Director Sales & Marketing
Howard is a strategy driven senior executive with over 30 years of proven sales, business development, leadership and management experience. Throughout his career Howard has developed a demonstrated talent for evaluating technology, determining its proper utilization and creating as well as implementing the strategy to bring it successfully to market.

Prior to coming to Apogee, Howard was the original investor and CEO of Video Furnace. He was instrumental in securing over 150 installations around the globe including 50 higher education customers, establishing the company’s IP video system as the leading video distribution technology of choice in government, education and the enterprise. Howard has served on numerous boards and advisory boards of early stage companies.

Sean Eaton, Field Services Supervisor
Sean Eaton has been with Apogee since 2004. As Apogee's Field Service Supervisor, Eaton oversees end user support strategies. He manages a team of field coordinators to resolve on-site issues, and is also responsible for communications with ITS regarding student issues. The Field Services Team is often the "Face of Apogee", as they are the ones that most actively interface with students on a day to day basis. Eaton has 10+ years experience in the customer service field, including 8+ years on the technical support side.

Diana Fernandez, Project Manager Diana Fernandez joined Apogee in 2008 as a project manager. With more than 19 years of experience leading successful projects in construction and technology, Diana serves as the lead point of contact for onsite and offsite implementation of ResNet services, as well as a liaison between university administration and Apogee’s senior management team. Diana works closely with vendors, contractors, project architects, and construction teams, overseeing operations through all phases of the project life cycle.

Diana's project management portfolio includes numerous telecommunications deployments, including a full-scale PBX implementation for the San Francisco International Airport.

Robert Foster, National Account Manager & Division Manager for CALEA
Robert Foster has been affiliated with Apogee since 2001 and brings four decades of technology experience to the firm, including almost 20 years with IBM. As National Account Manager he is responsible for working with Apogee customers to create a workable strategy for implementing new services and technologies. In this role, he acts as a point of contact both internally and externally to facilitate rapid response to client needs. During the construction phases of client on-boarding, Foster is active in project management, overseeing every aspect of installations, upgrades and expansions.

As Division Manager for CALEA, Foster crafts solutions and proposals for commercial and higher education entities that are seeking to comply with the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.

Gene Gilbert, Director of Information Technology
Gene Gilbert has been with Apogee since 2000. As the Director of IT, Gilbert develops and evaluates IT strategies and oversees the management of IT-enabled business development and improvement projects such as software design and programming, website development and internal/external customer support. His group is involved in ongoing research and development for ResNet technologies as well as streamlining service delivery. Gilbert has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas in Austin.

Holt Hackney, Public Relations
Holt Hackney began working with Apogee in 2001. With more than 20 years of experience in communications and marketing, Hackney has been especially successful in the technology arena. He helped CyBerCorp, through effective public and analyst relations, to obtain a valuation of more than $500 million when it was purchased in 2000 by Charles Schwab, Inc. He also guided Dazel Corp. through its transition after it was acquired by Hewlett Packard.

Wendi Lisso, National Account Manager
As a member of the Apogee Team since 2005, Lisso facilitates the numerous efforts involved in marketing the company´s service lines. She is responsible for creating, scheduling and coordinating Apogee's marketing efforts as well as providing support for new business development. With more than 8 years of marketing experience in commercial and residential real estate, Lisso´s portfolio includes strategic branding, marketing communications, media relations, public affairs, financial forecasting, investor relations, special event planning and more.

Keith Moore, Director of Engineering
Keith Moore joined Apogee in April 2009 as Director of Engineering. As head of network operations, Keith is responsible for managing the installation and implementation of large-scale network projects, as well as overseeing a team to provide top-tier engineering support. Keith has previously worked as a network engineer and IT operations manager in Houston, Texas, supporting network operations and communications for several global firms, including Shell Oil and AIM Investments. Keith brings more than 18 years of experience in IT operations to the Apogee team and holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Washington.

Jeff Tobias, Call Center Director
Jeff Tobias joined Apogee in May 2008, bringing more than 20 years of experience in call center management to the team. Most recently, Jeff was responsible for creating and implementing the support and service organization for Motion Computing. As Call Center Director, Jeff oversees the operation of Apogee’s 24/7 Customer Service Center and develops forward-looking strategies for continued growth.