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Our Leadership Team

SENIOR MANAGEMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Our executive leadership team and board of directors bring decades of experience in the networking and technology industries and a broad range of qualifications and skills that are helping us redefine transport networks for a new generation of connectivity services.

Headshot of Davide Heard CEO of Infinera

David W. Heard

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND DIRECTOR
Headshot of Dave Welch founder of Infinera

David F. Welch, Ph.D.

FOUNDER, CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER, AND DIRECTOR
Headshot of Nancy Erba CFO of Infinera

Nancy L. Erba

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Headshot of Nick Walden SVP of sales at Infinera

Nicholas R. Walden

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, WORLDWIDE SALES
Headshot of Tom Burns General Manager at Infinera

Tom Burns

GENERAL MANAGER, OPTICAL MODULES AND COHERENT SOLUTIONS GROUP
Headshot of Ron Johnson General Manager at Infinera

Ron Johnson

GENERAL MANAGER, OPTICAL SYSTEMS AND NETWORK SOLUTIONS GROUP
Headshot of Russ Esmacher SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGY, MARKETING, AND CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT at Infinera

Russ Esmacher

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGY, MARKETING, AND CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT
Headshot of Alex Derecho SVP of Services at Infinera

Alex Derecho

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
GLOBAL SERVICES
Headshot of Rob Shore SVP of Marketing at Infinera

Robert Shore

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING
Headshot of Craig Cocchi SVP of Global Operations at Infinera

Craig Cocchi

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
GLOBAL OPERATIONS
headshot of Brett Hooper Chief Human Resources officer at Infinera

Brett Hooper

CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER
David Teichmann portrait

David L. Teichmann

CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER AND CORPORATE SECRETARY
George Riedel

George A. Riedel
Chairman of the Board

George Riedel has been a member of our Board of Directors since June 2020 and has served as Chairman of our Board of Directors since November 2020. Mr. Riedel has served as a Senior Lecturer in the General Management Unit at Harvard Business School since 2017. From 2014 to 2017, Mr. Riedel served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CloudMark, Inc., a cybersecurity company, overseeing the company’s sale to Proofpoint, Inc. in 2017. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Riedel served in executive leadership roles at Nortel Networks Corporation, a Canadian telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturing company, including Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President of Business Units. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Riedel served as Vice President of Strategy and M&A at Juniper Networks, a networking and cybersecurity company. From 1987 to 2003, Mr. Riedel worked at McKinsey & Company, including as a senior partner. Mr. Riedel has served as an independent director at Cerner Corporation, a health information technology company, from April 2019 to June 2022. Between 2010 and 2020, Mr. Riedel also served on various boards, including as Chairman of Accedian Networks Inc., a Canadian network communications software company; as a director of PeerApp Ltd., a caching solution provider; and as a director of NextDocs Corporation, a compliance innovation company (acquired by Aurea Software, Inc.); and as a director of Xperi Corporation, a technology licensing company. Currently, Mr. Riedel is a board member of Juvare, a private company that provides emergency preparedness and response software solutions, and Bridgeway Benefit Technologies, a private company that provides healthcare and retirement benefit administration software focused on the end-to-end needs of self-administered multiemployer benefit funds and third-party administrators.

Mr. Riedel received a BS with distinction in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Harvard Business School.


Christine Bucklin

Christine B. Bucklin
Director

Christine Bucklin has been a member of our Board of Directors since June 2020. Ms. Bucklin served as Managing Director, Operations Group at Gryphon Investors, Inc., a private equity firm, from 2015 to 2018. From 2008 to 2010, Ms. Bucklin served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategic Planning at Sun Microsystems, Inc., a technology company, prior to its acquisition by Oracle Corporation in 2010. From 1999 to 2007, Ms. Bucklin served as Chief Operating Officer of Internet Brands, Inc., an internet media company. From 1988 to 1999, Ms. Bucklin worked at McKinsey & Company, a consulting company, including as a partner. From 2011 to 2019, Ms. Bucklin served as a director of Local Media San Diego, LLC, a radio station and event company. From 2015 to 2018, Ms. Bucklin served as a director of Leadership Platform Acquisition Corporation, a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors related to educational services.

Ms. Bucklin received an AB in Mathematics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford Business School.


Gregory Dougherty

Gregory P. Dougherty
Director

Greg Dougherty has been a member of our Board of Directors since January 2019. Mr. Dougherty served on the board of Fabrinet from 2019 to 2022. Mr. Dougherty served as Chief Executive Officer of Oclaro from June 2013 until its acquisition by Lumentum in December 2018. Mr. Dougherty also served as a director of Oclaro from April 2009 until the completion of the sale in December 2018. Prior to Oclaro, Mr. Dougherty served as a director of Avanex Corporation, a leading global provider of intelligent photonic solutions, from April 2005 to April 2009, when Avanex and Bookham merged to become Oclaro. Mr. Dougherty also served as a director of Picarro, Inc., a manufacturer of ultra-sensitive gas spectroscopy equipment using laser-based technology, from October 2002 to August 2013, and as its Interim Chief Executive Officer from January 2003 to April 2004. Earlier in his career, Mr. Dougherty served as the Chief Operating Officer at SDL from 1997 to 2001, when the company was acquired by JDS Uniphase Corporation, where he continued in the role until 2002. From 1989 to 1997, Mr. Dougherty was the Director of Product Management and Marketing at Lucent Technologies Microelectronics in the Optoelectronics Strategic Business Unit.

He also served as a board member of the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford from January 2004 to December 2009, and the Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation. Mr. Dougherty currently serves on the board of directors of IPG Photonics Corporation, a fiber laser manufacturer, and Max Linear, a fabless integrated circuit design company.

Mr. Dougherty received a B.Sc. in Optics in 1983 from the University of Rochester.


David Heard

David W. Heard
Chief Executive Officer and Director

David Heard has served as our CEO and has been a member of our Board of Directors since November 2020. Mr. Heard joined Infinera in June 2017 and served as our Chief Operating Officer from October 2018 to November 2020. During his time as COO, Mr. Heard was responsible for leading the innovation of new solutions and the overall operational excellence of the company, overseeing functions including corporate development, facilities, human resources, information technology, marketing, operations, product lifecycle management, quality, research and development, and services. Mr. Heard brings a proven track record of technology industry leadership, with more than 25 years of success in the industry. Prior to Infinera, Mr. Heard served as President of Network and Service Enablement at JDS Uniphase from 2010 to 2015, and as COO at BigBand Networks (now Arris) from 2007 to 2010. Earlier roles included President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Somera (now Jabil), President and General Manager, Switching Division, at Tekelec (now Oracle), President and CEO at Santera Systems, and various positions at Lucent Technologies and AT&T.

Mr. Heard holds a B.A. in Production and Operations Management from Ohio State University, an MBA from the University of Dayton, and an M.S. in Management from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a Sloan Fellow.


Sharon Holt

Sharon E. Holt
Director

Sharon Holt has been a member of our Board of Directors since June 2019. Ms. Holt has served as a Principal at Fraser Stuart Ventures, LLC, a private investment and advisory firm, since 2016. From 2016 to May 2021, Ms. Holt was on the board for Immersion Corporation, a leading developer and licensor of touch feedback technology. Since 2012, she has served as an advisor to several technology companies. Ms. Holt was a senior executive at Rambus Inc., a leading technology development and licensing company, from 2004 to 2012, where she served as Senior Vice President of Sales, Licensing and Marketing, and Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Semiconductor Business Group. From 1999 to 2004, Ms. Holt was an executive at Agilent Technologies in the Semiconductor Products Group (now Broadcom), where her last position was Vice President & General Manager of Americas Field Operations, overseeing sales and technical support operations for the semiconductor business, including ASICs, ASSPs, optical and wireless ICs. Prior to that, she ran sales operations focused on Agilent’s largest global customers. From 1986 to 1999, Ms. Holt worked at HP in Applications Engineering, Sales and Distribution Channel Management for the Semiconductor Products Group.

Ms. Holt received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).


Roop Lakkaraju

Roop K. Lakkaraju
Director

Roop Lakkaraju has been a member of our Board of Directors since February 2022. Mr. Lakkaraju has served as an Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Benchmark Electronics, Inc. since January 2018. From February 2017 to January 2018, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Maana, Inc., an enterprise software company that pioneered an artificial intelligence-driven knowledge platform. From October 2013 to February 2017, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Support.com, a provider of cloud-based software and services for technology support. From July 2011 to October 2013, he was Chief Financial Officer of Quantros, Inc., a provider of enterprise SaaS-based solutions and information services that advance healthcare quality and safety performance. Prior to that he held executive financial and operational roles at 2Wire, Solectron Corporation, and Safeguard Scientifics. Mr. Lakkaraju is currently on the Board of Directors of Greater Phoenix Economic Council. He began his career in 1993 as an auditor with Grant Thornton before joining PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Audit and Business Advisory Services.

Mr. Lakkaraju holds a B.S. in Business Administration from San Jose State University.


Paul J. Milbury
Director

Paul Milbury has been a member of our Board of Directors since July 2010. Mr. Milbury served as Vice President of Operations and CFO of Starent Networks Corp., a provider of mobile network solutions, from January 2007 until its acquisition by Cisco in 2009. From December 2009 to July 2010, he played a key role in integrating Starent Networks into Cisco to create the Mobile Internet Technology Group. From December 2000 to March 2007, Mr. Milbury served as Vice President and CFO of Avid Technology, Inc., a digital media creation, management, and distribution solutions company. Mr. Milbury previously served as audit committee chair for public companies Gigamon, Inc., a provider of network traffic visibility solutions and Aerohive Networks, a pioneer in cloud-managed WLAN. He also currently serves on several private company boards.

Mr. Milbury holds a B.B.A. in Business and Economics and an M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.


Amy Rice

Amy H. Rice
Director

Amy H. Rice has been a member of our Board of Directors since April 2020. Ms. Rice is a Managing Director with Oaktree’s Special Situations Group and has been with the firm since 2009. Prior to joining Oaktree, Ms. Rice spent two years as an associate at Lindsay Goldberg, LLC, and before that, she spent two years as an analyst in the Leveraged Finance group at Deutsche Bank.

Ms. Rice has an A.B. from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.


Dave Welch

David F. Welch, Ph.D.
Founder, Chief Innovation Officer, and Director

David F. Welch, Ph.D., is Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Infinera, a role he has held since October 2018. In this role, he drives deep business and technology innovation through forward-looking strategies, including breakthrough technologies and technology partnerships, in addition to innovative business and market directions. Dr. Welch is currently a member of Infinera’s Board of Directors, where he has served the company since 2010. Dr. Welch’s past roles at Infinera include Chief Strategy and Technology Officer from 2017 to 2018, President from 2013 to 2017, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer from 2004 to 2013, and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from 2001 to 2004. Prior to co-founding Infinera, he served as CTO, Transmission Division at JDS Uniphase, and in various executive roles, including CTO and Vice President of Corporate Development, at Spectra Diode Labs (SDL).

Dr. Welch currently serves on the Board of Directors of several start-up companies. He holds over 130 patents and has authored over 300 technical publications, and he has been awarded the Optical Society of America’s (OSA) Adolph Lomb Medal, Joseph Fraunhofer Award and John Tyndall Award, as well as the Institution of Engineering Technology’s J J Thomson Medal for Electronics. He is a Fellow of the OSA and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Dr. Welch holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.