Staff
Drew Clark, Executive Director, drew@broadbandillinois.org, 217-886-4225
Drew is a nationally-recognized leader on broadband who brings his talent and vision for high-speed internet connectivity to Illinois. For the past three years, he has led the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, the non-profit designated entity under the federal State Broadband Initiative. As Executive Director, Clark brings a unique public interest perspective to collecting and using broadband data to advance internet deployment, adoption and use. Clark is the founder of the Broadband Breakfast Club in Washington, and has written about telecom and technology for Ars Technica, GigaOm, the National Journal, Slate, and the Washington Post.
Clayton Black, Regional eTeam Leader, clayton.black@broadbandillinois.org, 217-886-4029
Clayton graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He previously served as a Vince DeMuzio intern for Connect SI, the regional initiative in Southern Illinois built upon high-speed internet connectivity. He has worked at PCI since February 2010, first as a researcher on carrier outreach and now as a Regional eTeam Leader.
Lacey Buss, Administrative Coordinator, lacey.buss@broadbandillinois.org, 217-886-4030
Lacey graduated from Lincoln Christian University in 2001 and 2009 and has been working in non-profit agencies for her entire career. Lacey has experience in business management, human resources, grant writing, and in many other aspects of non-profit management. Lacey currently serves as the Administrative Coordinator at the Partnership for a Connected Illinois, coordinating grants, compliance, and office management.
Steve Dryden, GIS Database Technician, steve.dryden@broadbandillinois.org, 217-645-6080
Steve attended Western Illinois University and Lakeland Community College. He previously worked in St. Charles, MO for an electric cooperative. He serves as part of the GIS Team, managing geodatabases and developing maps for publication.
Aaron Facemire, Web Specialist, aaron.facemire@broadbandillinois.org, 260-251-5078
Aaron graduated from the University of Illinois in 2010 with a degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures. He served as photo editor at the Daily Illini, worked on international video projects, and studied abroad in Japan. Aaron is the web specialist for Broadband Illinois, providing support for IT, eTeam and communications projects.
Dan Gavrilovic, GIS Database Technician, dejan.gavrilovic@broadbandillinois.org , 217-886-4227
Dan has experience working for ESRI, as well as an extensive career doing GIS work for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Dan's presence fills the GIS void on the database technician end of the data team.
Brad Housewright, eTeam Director, brad.housewright@broadbandillinois.org, 618-886-4552
Brad has worked in the Telecommunications Industry in several capacities over the last two decades. He has also served in a leadership role with ConnectSI, an economic development group focused on aggregation and adoption of broadband opportunities in the Southern Illinois region.
Amy Lawson, Administrative Associate, amy.lawson@broadbandillinois.org, 217-886-4035
Amy graduated from University of Illinois at Springfield in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s in management. Amy previously worked as a marketing member for State Farm and worked as part of a management team in retail. Amy currently serves as the Administrative Associate at the Partnership for a Connected Illinois.
Anne Madonia-Hubbard, Communications Director and Program Manager, anne.madonia@broadbandillinois.org, 217-645-6079
Anne graduated from the University of Illinois and Sangamon State University (now University of Illinois at Springfield) with degrees in Social Work and English. A native of Springfield, Anne has spent her professional career in Springfield and Chicago working in the medical industry as pharmaceutical sales specialist, account manager and district manager. Anne was named a “Top 40 Under 40” professional in 2008 by the Illinois Times. Anne joined us as program manager, responsible for launching new efforts to increase broadband usage throughout the state.
Roxana Ryan, Communication Specialist, roxana.ryan@broadbandillinois.org, 217-280-4066
Roxana graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 with degrees in journalism and library & information science. As an undergraduate, Roxana worked at the Daily Illini and the University’s News Bureau. After graduation, she was accepted to the Teach for America program and served for three years in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She joined Broadband Illinois in January 2012 as the communication specialist.
Ernest Sanders, Regional eTeam Leader, ernest.sanders@broadbandillinois.org, 217-886-4226
Ernest previously served as the New Communities Program Manager and Director of Communications for the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation. For more than 30 years, Ernie has worked on national causes to reduce recidivism, enhance middle school education and social services and promote digital excellence in lower income populations. He is a community activist and a candidate for a Masters Degree in the area of Comprehensive Community Development with a focus on Communications and Workplace & Traffic Safety.
Barbara Webster, Regional eTeam Leader, barbara.webster@broadbandillinois.org, 217-886-4554
Barbara has worked as a technology director for two school districts, a technology specialist for 12, and as a corporate trainer. Prior to working for PCI, Barb was a grant writer for the University of Illinois Extension in Crawford County and obtained millions of dollars of funds for rural communities. She has worked as a private consultant on a variety of projects. Barb graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in computers. She and her husband are owners of a business in Marshall, Illinois. Barb, her husband, and three children live in rural Clark County.
Nathan Woodside, Journalism/Editorial Assistant, nathan.woodside@broadbandillinois.org, (217) 717-4255
Nathan was previously an editor at the Lincoln Courier, Missourian Publishing and the Macomb Eagle, and also has worked as a news and sports reporter/photographer at the McDonough County Voice. He studied journalism at Western Illinois University and has collected numerous Illinois Press Association awards for his news reporting, photography and graphic design.
Consultants
Jeffrey Pirmann, Director of Finance and Administration, jeff.pirmann@broadbandillinois.org , (217) 836-3454
Jeff joins Broadband Illinois following a 37-year career of financial reporting for life, property casualty and HMO insurance entities. During this career, Jeff has worked for both large and small publicly held insurance entities, as well as a not-for-profit fraternal benefit insurer and as a state-based insurance regulator. As a senior financial executive, Jeff has served on the Boards of Directors at a social services agency and a national trade association and he has broad experience in management reporting and financial statement analysis, cash and invested asset management and strategic planning.
John Horrigan, Research Director, john.horrigan@broadbandillinois.org
John, in addition to his work at Broadband Illinois, is Vice President of Policy Research at TechNet, the bipartisan network of technology CEOs, where he is responsible for formulating and carrying out TechNet's research agenda to promote innovation. Prior to that, he was Research Director and member of the leadership team for the National Broadband Plan. He has a PhD in public policy analysis from the University of Texas at Austin.
Deborah Strauss, Consultant, deborah.strauss@broadbandillinois.org
Deborah is a consultant to nonprofit organizations; her work includes fundraising, and general management topics. She was the long-time Executive Directorof Lumity (formerly the IT Resource Center) in Chicago; Lumity’s mission includestechnology and finance assistance for nonprofits as well as leadership in developing andsupporting community technology centers in underserved communities in Cook County.
Brian Webster, Telecom Project Coordinator, brian.webster@broadbandillinois.org, 217-886-4229
Brian has been conducting studies and mapping competitive broadband technologies at the census block level for over eight years. This data is used to assist broadband network operators as they work to cover un-served markets.