WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the Fiber Broadband Association announced its Board of Directors has appointed Gary Bolton as the Association’s new President and CEO, effective November 2, 2020. Bolton, who brings a wealth of communications industry experience, joins the Fiber Broadband Association after serving as Vice President of Global Marketing and Government Affairs at ADTRAN.

“Gary is a strong leader with a great breadth of industry experience,” said Katie Espeseth, Chair of the Board and Vice President of New Products at EPB. “This is an exciting and challenging time for our members, the Association, and the industry as COVID-19 has laid bare the profound importance of connectivity for all of us. We’re lucky to have found a leader with Gary’s deep understanding of our industry who can take the helm at this important juncture.”

“I am thrilled to join the Fiber Broadband Association in this role,” said Gary Bolton. “Every day, our members work tirelessly to deliver the best connectivity to businesses and communities from coast to coast. I know this work well — in fact, I have built my career on it — and I look forward to bringing these experiences to help the Association work towards a faster, more efficient, better-connected world.”

Prior to ADTRAN, Bolton served on the executive team for two successful venture-backed broadband start-up companies and held executive and senior management roles at Ciena and Nortel. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the college of business at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Gary has been deeply involved with the Association and has chaired the finance and audit committee, the public policy committee, and the marketing committee, has served two terms as Board Treasurer, and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board. He succeeds President and CEO Lisa R. Youngers, who is leaving the Association for a new industry opportunity.

About the Fiber Broadband Association

The Fiber Broadband Association is the largest and only trade association in the Americas dedicated to the pursuit of all-fiber-optic network infrastructure to the home, to the business and to everywhere. The Fiber Broadband Association helps providers make informed decisions about how, where, and why to build better broadband networks with fiber optics while working with its members to lead the organization forward, collaborate with industry allies and propel the deployment of fiber networks. Since 2001, these companies, organizations and members have worked with communities and consumers in mind to build a better broadband future here and around the world. Learn more at fiberbroadband.org.