News for and about the Internet2 community

[Susan Estrada <>]

The Quilt Creates First President and CEO Position
 
Seattle, Washington - February 1, 2009 The Board of Directors of The Quilt,
Inc. is pleased to announce the selection of Jen Leasure to serve as the
organization¹s President and Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Leasure was
appointed to the position of President and CEO by a unanimous vote of the
Board on Thursday, January 29.
 
The Quilt, Inc., a coalition of 30 advanced regional network organizations,
enters its second year as an independent organization. The Quilt provides a
dynamic forum where leaders from the advanced research and education network
community build on the intellectual capital and best practices of network
service providers worldwide.
 
³Since its creation, the Quilt has been continually morphing to meet the
demands of its membership. As we further engage in the national debate on
the power of broadband and advanced networking and the important role of the
academic network community, the board concluded it was time to appoint our
first President and CEO,² said Paul Schopis, the Chairman of the Board of
The Quilt. ³We were lucky to find leader like Jen Leasure to embrace the
challenges ahead. Ms. Leasure brings the leadership and common sense
abilities to ensure The Quilt plays a respected and trusted role within the
networking and broader information technology communities.²
 
In her new role, Ms. Leasure will lead The Quilt to influence the national
agenda on information technology infrastructure, with particular emphasis on
networking, while promoting the delivery of networking services at lower
cost, higher performance and greater reliability and security. Ms. Leasure
joined The Quilt as a Program Manager in 2005 to shape the strategic
direction of the organization through developing and supporting essential
programs. In her 4 years of service, she has shown her ability to
successfully articulate and address the issues that are most important to
The Quilt and its members. Prior to joining The Quilt, Jen served as
Director of Customer Operations for a commercial Internet provider and has
over 13 years of experience in the telecommunications and healthcare
industries. 
 
The Quilt is a member driven and funded organization which relies on
significant volunteer contributions from its participants. ³Jen knows what
members really want and delivers it,² said past-Chairman Mark Johnson. ³As a
former Quilt Program Manager, she has been one of the keys to the success of
our organization.²
 
³This is an exciting time for Quilt members and the entire research and
education community,² said Ms. Leasure. ³With a new national agenda that
embraces technology and communication, along with comprehension of the
importance of science, I am proud to be able to collaborate with members of
The Quilt to advance regional networks as a critical component of the
networking infrastructure and help lead the research and education community
to evolve the issues that are key to providing advanced networking
capabilities to researchers and students.
 
About The Quilt
 
The Quilt gathers more than 30 leading research and education networking
organizations in the United States to promote consistent, reliable,
interoperable and efficient advanced networking services that extend to the
broadest possible community; and to represent common interests in the
development and delivery of advanced network services. Participants in The
Quilt provide network service for more than 200 universities and thousands
of other educational institutions. For more information, see
http://www.thequilt.net
 
Contact
Susan Estrada 
(760) 510 8406