Brian Young
President - ConVergence Technologies, Inc
Nominee Questionnaire
| Please provide a short bio for voters to get to know you. | Brian has been a vital part of ConVergence Technologies, Inc., IPpay’s parent company, for over 20 years. Before joining ConVergence, he owned a successful IT consulting firm and founded a nationwide DirecTV MDU business in 1997. Over his tenure, Brian has served the ConVergence companies in various executive roles, including EVP and CRO, contributing significantly to the growth and strategic direction of each business. For the past six years, he has led IPpay as President, while also serving as a director of several trade associations within our community. |
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| Please explain why you consider yourself an excellent candidate for the Board of Directors of the Fiber Broadband Association. | After spending over 25 years in the industry and growing the ConVergence businesses, I have personally committed much of my time and energy to growing the Associations I have been a part of. I believe that Associations like the Fiber Broadband Association are vital to the growth of the Membership, especially when it comes to policy items. While events and training are important to any Association, Managing the policy agendas for the Members is critical. I have been engaged with State and National level policy advancement for over 15 years, and will use that experience to help the Fiber Broadband Association advance and be another tool for the staff to utilize |
| How many years has your company been a Fiber Broadband Association Member? | 2 |
| How many years have you participated in Fiber Broadband Association activities? | Since 2018 |
| Please indicate any Fiber Broadband Association Committees or working groups you have participated on including position and years served. | Conference Committee – 2 Deployment Specialists Committee – 1 Power Utilities – New |
| Please list any Fiber Broadband Association Contributions (activities supported, assets developed, documents drafted, webinars presented, etc.) | As most have participated with and over the years, Fiberconnect events have been the majority of the time involved. However, that has changed over the last two years, and as I have had time become available for me to commit to the Fiber Broadband Association, I have now engaged with 3 committees to apply efforts available to the Association. |
| How many years have you been in your current position? | 6 |
| Describe your current job and functional responsibilities. | I oversee all financial services offered by IPpay, managing the subsidiary with full responsibility for business growth, budgeting, P&L, and strategic leadership. I also drive innovation initiatives and ensure compliance across all operations. |
| What was your previous position? | Chief Revenue Officer, ConVergence Technologies |
| How many years did you hold your previous position for? | 4 |
| Do you have experience as a member of a Board of Directors? | Yes |
| If you answered yes, please provide the entity, the number of years served, and the officer position held. | FISPA – 2012-2015 – Treasurer WISPA – 2015-2023 – Vice Chairman WISPA – 2023 – 2024 Secretary Various other Water Districts and personal interest boards |
| The bylaws prohibit convicted felons from serving on the board. Is there any legal impediment that would prevent you from serving on the Board? | No |
| Is there any legal issue personally of which the Association should be aware? | No |
| Being a Fiber Broadband Association Board Member requires a considerable time commitment. Please confirm that you have the support of your company if you are elected. | Yes |
| Please provide a short overview of your experience with telecommunications, fiber optics, and FTTH technologies. | In 1992, I joined DePaul University’s Information Technology group, where I was part of the team responsible for connecting the Lincoln Park and Loop campuses with fiber running along the Chicago ‘L’ train tracks. Our team also led the onboarding of several departments to the campus Ethernet network, providing them with internet access. From there, I was recruited to launch a business that would later merge into ConVergence Technologies. In this role, I deployed networking for projects within Chicago Public Schools and businesses ranging from small 5-person shops to large, publicly traded companies. Recognizing, as many in our industry do, that true control lies in owning your facilities, I moved away from reselling 64K and T-1 lines from the LEC and founded ConVergence. By leveraging our network in Chicagoland, we were able to deliver broadband to many of the tallest residential buildings in the area. After merging with ConVergence, we realized our strengths lay in architecture and engineering rather than operations. We then sold the ISP and MDU businesses, reinvested the capital into IPpay, and established MitoTec, the wholesale services subsidiary of ConVergence |
| Please describe the goals you would like to accomplish during your term as Fiber Broadband Association Board Member. | With newly elected board members, the 1st bit of any term is a log of digesting the current landscape and understanding the deeper reasoning why the Association is driving the items they are. With that said, there are membership enhancements I would like to bring to strengthen the community, as well as further advance the policy agendas with additional support for the FBA Staff. |
| Have you reviewed the Board of Directors’ Responsibilities document, and do you understand what is required? | Yes |
| Please describe the level of commitment (in terms of time and effort) that you intend to make to the Association during the three-year term. | Drawing from my experience on other boards, I understand there is a ramp-up period needed to get fully oriented. During this initial phase, I can commit up to 10 hours per month. Following this period, I am available to dedicate 20 to 30 hours monthly, depending on activities and the natural cycle of DC events and initiatives. |
| Please inform us of any other information, issue, or concern of which the Association should be aware. | None |