Executive Team

As President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Strahan is responsible for the overall management of Aptela's strategy, operations and performance. In leading Aptela, Mr. Strahan leverages over 25 years of experience in finance and 12 years in a senior executive capacity with emerging and high growth technology businesses.

Prior to joining Aptela, Mr. Strahan was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of INPUT, the leading government market research firm. He was also Chief Financial Officer for two early stage businesses: Advocates On Call, a company he co-founded, and BIA Financial Network, a premier financial advisor to the communications industry. Prior to BIA, he was Director of Finance for a $600 million division of Blockbuster Entertainment and Controller for $100 million unit of Bardon, Inc. Mr. Strahan started his career at General Electric in the company's world class financial management training program.

Mr. Strahan holds a post-MBA Certificate in Accounting and a MBA in International Business from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and a B.S. in Finance and Marketing from Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.

As Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Aptela since 2001, Mr. Paolini-Subramanya is responsible for Aptela's technical vision, development and implementation. Drawing upon 20 years of accomplishments in telecommunications, Mr. Paolini-Subramanya is a recognized thought leader in the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) industry. A true Internet pioneer, he developed the technological foundation for the e-commerce revolution by helping to create the world's first online commerce system.

Mr. Paolini-Subramanya's innovations have continually shattered paradigms and re-shaped the landscape of online business. As Aptela's CTO, his development of value-added telecommunication services continues to revolutionize the capabilities of the Internet. Mr. Paolini-Subramanya previously served as V.P. of Development at Neoglyphics Media, Inc. and CTO of Proxicom, Inc.

Mr. Paolini-Subramanya holds a B. Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology - Kanpur and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Notre Dame.

As Vice President of Operations, Mr. Smith is responsible for Aptela's systems and customer-facing operations. Mr. Smith brings 16 years of experience to Aptela, with deep expertise in creating, managing and improving software products, with a focused commitment on creating high quality customer experiences.
Throughout his career, he has been a key player in various game-changing initiatives, such as the first e-commerce store on the web, the first airline ticketing web portal and the first online Super Bowl store. Prior to Aptela, Mr. Smith worked at American Online, where he led teams which developed AOL's standalone web browser and Instant Images component of AOL Instant Messenger.

Mr. Smith has a passion for innovation, quality and technical excellence and draws upon his experience of leading large-scale technical initiatives for companies such as America Online, Thomson Financial, Chase Manhattan Bank and American Express.

Mr. Smith has a B.S. in Advertising from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication and a minor in Anthropology.

As Vice President of Product and Business Development, Ms. Santorios formulates the product roadmap and growth strategies along with developing business initiatives and strategic partnerships. Ms. Santorios brings 15 years of experience to Aptela with an extensive background in wireless telecommunications and web services with a unique focus on messaging and social networking. Her diverse experience includes significant contributions in product management, marketing, business development, sales programs and business operations.

Prior to joining Aptela, Ms. Santorios led product management for the largest messaging community in the US, AOL's Instant Messenger, AIM®. Earlier in her career, Ms. Santorios spearheaded product management initiatives at NII Holdings and Nextel Communications, where she was instrumental in launching mobile data solutions in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. Providing individual product, go-to-market and operational strategies for each organization, she showcased her talent for creating and developing relationships that deliver value for all parties.

Ms. Santorios holds a Bachelor's degree in Speech Communications from George Mason University.

As the Senior Director of Marketing, Jackie Funk is responsible for overseeing all aspects of marketing, including demand generation, media and analyst relations, marketing communications and corporate communications. With 20 years of marketing, sales and development experience across both the Small and Medium-sized Business (SMB) and Enterprise markets, she brings a unique combination of marketing and technology experience to Aptela's management team.

Prior to joining Aptela, Ms. Funk was the Director of Marketing for Apptix, playing an integral role in the company's transition from a Hosted Exchange provider to a leading provider of unified communications solutions for the SMB market. Earlier in her career, she served in various Product and Corporate Marketing leadership roles for enterprise software companies, including Manugistics, Mercator Software and Software AG.

Ms. Funk earned a B.S. in Business Administration from George Mason University and holds a M.S. in Information Systems from The American University.

As Controller, Ms. Canicosa is responsible for overseeing finance for Aptela, including the accounting and billing customer service operations. Ms. Canicosa brings over 20 years of public accounting and corporate finance experience to Aptela.

Prior to joining the company, she worked as an auditor with Deloitte & Touche, LLP serving clients mainly in the financial industry sector. Her role and training at Deloitte paved the way for spearheading the finance department at Aptela. Ms. Canicosa also served as an Accounting Manager at the International Division for Hearst Magazines International based in Manhattan, NY.

Ms. Canicosa graduated with a degree of Bachelor in Accountancy (BA) from Polytechnic University of the Philippines. She is a Certified Public Accountant and an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of CPAs.