Leadership Team

As Interop Technologies’ President and CEO, John A. Dwyer has leveraged his solid wireless operator experience and diverse management expertise to lead the organization to solid growth and a strong market position. Earlier, he served for three years as Chief Operating Officer of Wireless One Network (Cellular One of Florida) until its successful sale in 2000. Before joining Wireless One Network, John spent seven years with Ameritech Cellular in Chicago. At Ameritech, he held several corporate engineering and marketing positions, eventually becoming the company’s director of national accounts.

Stephen J. Zitnik brings diverse technical and financial expertise to his position as Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at Interop Technologies. Steve is responsible for software development and oversees IT business strategy and direction. Previously, he worked for Wireless One Network, where he was responsible for extending the company’s intellectual property portfolio. From 1997 to 2000, he established and operated a boutique dollar/yen brokerage house, where he worked with well known clients, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, ED&F Mann, and Dean Witter. In addition, he has held positions at DHT, Paine Webber, and E.F. Hutton.

Patricia Heath, CFO, has 16 years of experience in the wireless industry from both an operator and vendor perspective. Pat manages financial accounting and reporting, billing, human resources and risk management for Interop Technologies. Previously, she served as CFO of Wireless One Network, where she was responsible for investor and financial reporting, revenue assurance, billing, human resources, and credit and collections. She managed a $475 million syndicated debt facility and was instrumental in acquisition and financing activities. A Certified Public Accountant with over 30 years of experience. She began her career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen. She joined Coopers & Lybrand as an Audit Manager in 1985 and was admitted as a partner in 1990.

Peggy Dwyer joined the company full-time in January 2007 after serving four years with Wireless One Network, where she was Legal Counsel to Interop Technologies and other related companies. As General Counsel, she manages all Interop Technologies’ legal matters and oversees contracts. An attorney with 10 years of experience, Peggy previously was in private practice concentrating in tax and estate planning. She became a Certified Public Accountant in 1990.

Jim Dwyer oversees the vision, planning, and strategic road map for Interop Technologies solutions and directs members of the product management team as they evaluate and develop solutions for the marketplace. Previously, Jim served for nine years as CEO of Talamh Associates LLC, a commercial real estate development firm, where he was responsible for the planning and development of construction projects, leasing contract negotiations, and management.

Jim's wireless experience includes an 11-year tenure at Wireless One Network, where he held key positions in customer support, IT, and billing and roaming management as well as the role of executive vice president. He managed the transition team upon the company's successful sale to AT&T Wireless and continued to work with AT&T Wireless on a contract basis in that capacity for one year following the close of the sale.

José Antonio (Tony) Mijares, Senior Vice President Global Sales, Global Distribution, brings more than 30 years of telecommunications management experience to Interop. Tony oversees Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, with a focus on new business development. Prior to joining Interop, Tony was Vice President of Sales for Airvana’s CALA market, where he focused on new business development for EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) infrastructure and market development of femto cells. He also was responsible for channel sales development with Nortel Networks and Ericsson, as well as carrier demand creation for wireless broadband data in Latin America. Throughout his career, Tony has worked for numerous wireless operators and telecommunication companies, including Nortel, where he held the position of Vice President New Business Sales, Latin American Division.

John Bickford joined Interop Technologies in 2004 and currently is responsible for the company’s product and customer support team. In addition, he oversees the Scrum software development processes. Previously at Interop, John was the Vice President of Technical Support and Billing Assurance departments. He has more than 18 years of experience in the wireless industry and has held key positions within several companies, including General Manager of Qualicom Systems, where he handled strategic planning, development, and management of key enterprise-wide initiatives. Before joining Qualicom, John worked eight years at Wireless One Network, (Cellular One of Florida). He served in a number of corporate management positions at Wireless One before becoming the company’s Director of Marketing and Distribution. From 1990 to 1993, he was President and Owner of Ultra Copy Inc., a printing and direct marketing organization in Fort Myers, Florida.

Damian Sazama joined Interop Technologies as Vice President of Corporate and Product Marketing in 2007 to lead all marketing, advertising, and public relations initiatives at the company. He previously served at Bluegrass Cellular Inc., where he was Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Product Development. Damian began his wireless career with GTE Mobilnet as a cell site technician. In 1991, he was one of five employees from GTE who started the management team for Bluegrass Cellular, a Kentucky wireless operator. He held several positions in the company and in 2001 was promoted to Vice President and appointed an officer of the company. At Bluegrass Cellular, he successfully launched many enhanced wireless services, including digital wireless, mobile e-mail, SMS, MMS, ringtones, ringback tones, and push-to-talk services.

Donn Wilkins is responsible for developing strategic partnerships and managing channel relationships to support the company's continued international expansion. Joining Interop in 2007, he most recently served as Vice President, Technical Operations and Handset Certification at Interop. Donn has more than 30 years of experience in telecommunications and technology, including numerous overseas assignments. Prior to joining Interop, he served as Vice President of Technology Services at Syniverse Technologies, Inc. and was Vice President of Operations and Engineering at VeriSign, Inc. Donn also served six years with American Airlines, where he held international business development posts and was Senior Vice President Network Services. In nine years with AT&T, he was based in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Singapore, directing IT projects from those countries. He was also the Director of Network Operations for Consolidated Rail Corp. (CONRAIL), a rail freight service in the Northeast.

Nancy L. Dwyer joined the Interop board of directors in August 2010. Nancy is the wife of the late James A. Dwyer, Jr., Interop Technologies' co-founder, past chairman, and wireless industry pioneer.

Brian Rich is the Managing Partner of Catalyst Investors, LLC, a New York based private equity fund founded in 2000. Catalyst Investors makes private equity investments in high-growth companies with a focus on a variety of tech-enabled sectors including software-as-a-service, digital media, internet infrastructure, wireless communications, and business and consumer services, among others.

Prior to co-founding Catalyst, Mr. Rich founded and managed TD Capital (USA) Inc. (“TD Capital”), the entity that made Toronto Dominion Bank's U.S.-based equity, mezzanine, and limited partnership investments from 1995 to 1999. As group head, he oversaw the funding of more than 30 investments totaling more than $500 million in commitments in the wireless and wired communications, cable, broadcast and publishing industries. Mr. Rich's investments in the wireless sector include: Barrett Xplore, Denali Spectrum Manager, Clearwire Communications, Extend America (Nextel affiliate), Aloha Partners, Alaska Native Wireless, American Cellular, Rural Cellular, Sygnet Wireless, Telecorp PCS, Tritel PCS, Triton Cellular, Triton PCS and Western Wireless. Before founding TD Capital, Mr. Rich was a Managing Director in the bank's Media, Telecom & Technology Group.

Fred Tannenbaum is a Managing Partner of the Chicago law firm, Gould & Ratner LLP and has been a practicing business lawyer for over 25 years. He has been recognized by the Illinois Venture Capital Association as a leading expert on private equity and venture capital, by a national bar association organization as a leading authority on mergers and acquisitions, and by a leading business publication, Crain's Chicago Business, as a top expert on family-owned businesses. He has also been voted an Illinois SuperLawyer and been featured as a top business lawyer in Leading Lawyers Network.

Fred acts as general counsel to over 80 privately-held companies, as well as many hedge funds and private equity funds and family offices. He has handled over 300 mergers and acquisition transactions and 200 venture capital investments in his career.

Fred has been involved in the telecommunications industry since the early days of cellular telephone. He has represented cellular telephone service providers, ILECs, CLECs, MVNOs, private equity funds, tower lessors and lessees, equipment manufacturers, lenders, consultants, entrepreneurs, software developers and vendors and many others in over $15 billion of telecom and technology transactions and over 100 transactions over the past 25 years.

Fred has written extensively on business and legal topics and frequently speaks worldwide. He is on the Executive Committee of and the past president of Law Exchange International, a network of 30 law firms in Europe, Australia, China, India, Israel, and South and North America.