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The RIS management team possesses significant construction management, media and marketing, strategic planning, legal/regulatory, civil and network engineering, and business development experience.
Stephen Paletta, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, began his career managing construction and engineering projects at
Edenwald Contracting Co., a third generation family municipal infrastructure business and one of the
largest construction companies in New York City for over a half century. Since leaving Edenwald in 1989,
Stephen has patented a number of construction methodologies and founded and sold several companies. In
1989, Stephen founded Westmoreland Construction, one of the leading fiber network deployment
companies in the New York metropolitan area, specializing in building access laterals to establish “last
mile” connectivity with end-users. Westmoreland developed exclusive contract arrangements with
telecommunications companies, such as MFS Communications Company, Inc., Metromedia Fiber
Networks, AT&T and other CLECs. Westmoreland also built long-haul backbone fiber systems for
individual carriers and managed numerous high-value construction projects for various city and state
agencies such as the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation. While
cultivating Westmoreland, Stephen founded Pipelining Products, Inc. (PPI) in 1992. Based on Stephen’s
patented Sure-Line Pipe System, PPI emerged as one of the leading trenchless technology companies in the
U.S., specializing in the rehabilitation of sewer and water lines without excavation. PPI manufactured, sold,
and licensed both the Sure-Line Pipe System and the trademarked Cure-Line Pipe System throughout the
U.S. and abroad. In 2000, PPI was acquired by RePipe, Inc., a national trenchless rehabilitation
corporation. Stephen graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in civil engineering.
David Kidder, Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer, brings extensive organizational, product, and
technology marketing expertise to the RIS team. In 1994, David founded Net-X, a ground-breaking web
development company, serving clients such as Xerox, Bausch & Lomb, Ray Ban and Young & Rubicam.
Target Vision acquired Net-X in March 1996. David then led the corporate development team at THINK
New Ideas, serving as Vice President, Strategic Operations. While there, he helped grow THINK to more
than 500 employees through seven acquisitions in 24 months. In January 1999, David founded wireless
content delivery pioneer, SmartRay Network, Inc. SmartRay was acquired by Lifeminders, Inc. in August
2000 for $36MM. David graduated with a B.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology.
David Rubenstein, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel, began his
career as a corporate lawyer for Cravath, Swaine & Moore working as underwriter’s counsel for high-yield
acquisition-related debt offerings as well as borrower’s counsel for project financings and leveraged lease
transactions. He then became a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on
developing strategic and operational effectiveness opportunities for global financial institutions and media
companies. He received a B.A. from Tufts University summa cum laude where he was elected to Phi Beta
Kappa, a M.St. from Oxford University, and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Chris Downie, Acting - Chief Financial Officer, is an outside finance advisor to RIS. He is currently EVP and CFO of Motient
Communications, Inc. a nation-wide provider of wireless data communications solutions to enterprise and
consumer customers. He began his career as an investment banker in the Corporate Finance/Mergers and
Acquisitions department at Bear, Stearns & Co., eventually moving to Daniels & Associates in 1993, where
he became a Vice President in the investment banking division specializing in the telecommunications
industry. At Daniels, he was actively involved in the placement of more than $500MM in private equity
and debt capital and managed more than $6B of merger and acquisition activity, financial advisory and
valuation transactions. In 2000, Chris became the CFO and SVP of BroadStreet Communications, Inc., an
integrated communications service provider. At BroadStreet, he was a key member of the founding
management group and led the effort to secure $61MM in equity capital and $120MM in vendor financing
from Lucent Technologies. BroadStreet had 6 markets in operation in the mid-Atlantic region and over 250
employees. Chris graduated with a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a M.B.A. from the NYU Stern
School of Business.
H. Ali Mahan, Vice President, Network Engineering, possesses more than 20 years of wide ranging telecommunications experience that includes
a strong technical and managerial record in both small and large institutions. Most recently, Ali was with
Metromedia Fiber Networks/Abovenet Communications where he served as VP and Senior VP for Program
Management, Network Development, Sales Support, and large contract negotiations. Earlier, Ali was
responsible for the development of the global network for Pacific Gateway Exchange. Ali served nine years
at Cable and Wireless where his responsibilities included managing overall network design and
procurement. Prior to Cable and Wireless, Ali served for 10 years with MCI in various technical and
management positions. Ali holds a Master’s Degree in Operations research from George Washington
University and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering.
Jim Donlon, Vice President, Service Provider Business Development, brings more than 18 years telecommunications sales experience to the RIS team. Most
recently, Jim held the position of SVP Carrier & ISP Sales for Metromedia Fiber Networks (MFN), where
he worked from 1998 until October 2003. While at MFN, Jim and his team successfully secured
multimillion dollar contracts with the world’s largest telecom and internet companies, including Verizon,
SBC Communications, Sprint, AT&T, MCI, Qwest, Cable & Wireless, France Telecom, T-Systems, AOL
and Microsoft. Within the first 3 years of his tenure at MFN, the total contract value of all fiber deals
secured within the telecom/ISP industry exceeded $3 billion. The long-term contracts awarded to MFN
under Jim’s leadership were instrumental in the company’s construction of fiber networks in major markets
throughout the U.S. and assisted in the company’s expansion into the European and PacRim markets. Prior
to joining MFN, Jim held various executive sales positions at IXC Communications and EMI-Newhouse
Communications. Jim graduated with a B.A. from St. Lawrence University.
Nancy Rutledge Connery, Vice President, Public Affairs, has nearly 25 years of public and private sector experience in civil infrastructure planning, finance and research. Her first position in this field was as lead transit analyst for the NYC Mayor's Office of Management and Budget in 1980 just as the historic reconstruction of the subway system began. Later, as a planner for the State of Washington, she developed the Public Works Trust Fund, which provides low interest loans for local infrastructure renewal. She also worked as an investment banker on a variety of municipal financings for Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp. In 1985, she was named executive director of the National Council on Public Works Improvement, a joint Presidential/Congressional study commission, where she produced a series of well-regarded reports and frequent testimony on the state of the nation's infrastructure. In 2000, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader appointed Connery to the Amtrak Reform Council, a financial oversight board; she also has served on the Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems at the National Research Council and the Advisory Board of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard University. She has published, lectured and consulted throughout the world. Clients have included: U.S. Department of Transportation, World Bank, New Jersey Alliance for Action, State of Washington, among others. Her education includes a B.A. in political science from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington and a M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
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