The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) have appointed six leaders to fill vacancies on the Board of Industry Leaders (BIL). Daniel Pidgeon, chairman of CEA’s BIL and chairman of Starpower, made the appointments this week.
The BIL serves CEA and its Executive Board in an advisory role, helping to set public policy positions and priorities for association activities. CEA welcomes industry executives from companies across the technology spectrum including Gibson Brands, Ingram Micro, MC10, New Age Electronics, Phone2Action, and Warrantech Corp. as new BIL members.
“With support of CEA’s Executive Board, these individuals were appointed because they each bring to the table a special type of experience, enthusiasm and difference in perspective that is necessary for the continued forward momentum of CEA,” said Pidgeon.
“I am thrilled that CEA is forward-thinking in welcoming diversity in companies, services, demographics and talent,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “CEA’s membership base and leadership continues to expand to include non-traditional technology companies, reflecting the expansion and increasing diversity of the entire consumer electronics (CE) industry. The guidance of these new members will provide unique and valuable insight as CEA continues our mission to grow the CE industry.”
New members of CEA’s BIL include:
Craig Birmingham
Craig Birmingham, VP & GM CE, Retail and eCommerce Reseller Channels, Ingram Micro – Birmingham has more than twenty-four years of IT channel sales experience and is currently responsible for leading the Consumer Electronics division of Ingram Micro, along with the sales organization dedicated to the retail and e-commerce reseller channels. Birmingham started in 1991 with Ingram Micro and has held various sales roles over a fifteen-year span. In 2005, Birmingham left Ingram Micro to become vice president of sales for Punch! Software. In 2010, Punch! Software was acquired by Navarre Corporation and he took on the role of VP North American Sales at Encore Software. Birmingham returned to Ingram Micro in 2011 as VP of sales for Ingram Micro’s North American retail and e-commerce reseller channel.
Henry Chiarelli
Henry Chiarelli, Executive VP, Industry Relations, Gibson Brands – Chiarelli oversees corporate relationships in the technology standards and channel communities focused on emerging technologies within the consumer entertainment technology sector for Gibson, the premier manufacturer of musical instruments and professional audio equipment. Previously, Chiarelli was president of DBL Distributing, a $350 million consumer electronics distributor. He also served in a number of roles for CompUSA including chief strategy officer. Prior to that, Chiarelli was a division president with RadioShack from 1998 to 2001, which capped off a thirty-two year career at Tandy Corp. Chiarelli is an active member of CEA and former CEA Executive Board member, where he served as vice chair in 2008-2009.
Ximena Hartsock
Ximena Hartsock, Co-Founder, Phone2Action – Hartsock is the president and co-founder of Phone2Action, a venture-backed, award-winning civic technology startup. In 2014, by using Phone2Action tools to participate in the policy making process, hundreds of thousands of people successfully influenced legislative efforts in forty states and D.C. Prior to founding Phone2Action she was a member of the executive cabinet of former Washington, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, serving as the director of the department of parks and recreation and later as the chief of staff of the city administrator. Before joining the D.C. mayor’s cabinet, Hartsock was D.C. public schools deputy chief for teaching and learning, where she led key reform initiatives. Hartsock came to that position after working in D.C. government as a federal project administrator, and school principal. A native of Chile, she holds a doctorate in policy studies and administration from the George Washington University.
Carmichael Roberts
Carmichael Roberts, Chairman and Co-Founder, MC10 – Roberts brought the technology and team together to form MC10 in 2008, and has served as the company’s chairman and co-founder ever since. MC10’s mission is to extend human capabilities by making high-performance electronics virtually invisible, conformal, and wearable. Roberts started his career as a technologist, subsequently moving into business-developing applications for his research interests, and then moving on to entrepreneurship and venture capitalism. He joined North Bridge Venture Partners in 2007, focusing primarily on building companies based predominately on innovative materials technologies. A serial entrepreneur, Roberts founded and ran several companies prior to joining North Bridge, including Arsenal Medical and Nano-Terra. In 1999 MIT’s Technology Review named him one of the world’s top 100 young entrepreneurs. Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Roberts worked in business development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals.
Sean Stapleton
Sean Stapleton, CEO and President, Warrantech Corporation – Stapleton serves as the president and CEO of Warrantech Corporation, which provides innovative extended service plans (ESPs) and warranty programs for retailers, dealers, distributors, and manufacturers in numerous consumer and automotive markets. Stapleton has previously held positions as vice president of legal and governmental affairs for National Electronics Warranty (N.E.W.) and has served in various leadership capacities at Warranty Corporation of America, an Asurion company. A board member and advisor to multiple entities in the specialty risk industry, he has also lent his services as an acting member of the executive committee for the Service Contract Industry Council (SCIC). Stapleton has developed, implemented and maintained service contract programs for an extensive list of Fortune 500 retailers, manufacturers and telecommunications providers.
Fred Towns
Fred Towns, President, New Age Electronics, a Division of SYNNEX Corporation – Towns serves as president of New Age Electronics, giving retail customers better ways to move, monitor, manage, and market products – making traditional forecasting models obsolete. Before New Age Electronics’ acquisition by SYNNEX Corporation in March 2008, Towns served as senior vice president. With an extensive background in consumer technology including digital photography, home theater, and digital convergence, Towns was instrumental in expanding distribution partnerships with Kodak and Panasonic and signing additional contracts with such vendors such as Sharp and Samsung. Prior to joining New Age, Towns was a senior vice president at Panasonic, where he progressed through the company in a series of senior management positions. Throughout his career, Towns has creatively designed and implemented new channel strategies, including executing dealer agreements polices, converting small direct dealers to distribution partners, and creating online programs for internal and external training.
