Our Team

Tobin Richardson

As President and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, Tobin Richardson is on a mission to simplify and harmonize the Internet of Things (IoT) through open, global standards and by creating a place where the world’s leaders and innovators across the IoT value chain can work together to create a more connected, accessible, sustainable, and equitable world.

From facilitating international trade and commerce relationships to driving large scale digital and business transformation, Tobin’s career is rooted in driving human-centric change and enabling purposeful collaboration. Bringing together his early days as an advisor and consultant with his work in public policy, Tobin was drawn into the IoT in 2008, when he helped establish Zigbee Smart Energy as the open connectivity standard for the utility industry.

Since 2014, Tobin has led the Alliance, which now includes over 695 member companies in 45 countries across the IoT value chain. The Alliance is both a member-driven standards development group, known for technologies like Zigbee, and an industry association – guiding the industry forward, driving growth for members, delivering value to customers and consumers and creating standards that matter.

Under Tobin’s leadership, the Alliance launched a first-of effort between the largest IoT ecosystem players (Amazon, Apple, Google, Comcast & Samsung SmartThings) to create an IP-based standard intended to knock down the “walled gardens” of the IoT. Matter – the interoperable, secure connectivity standard for the future of the smart home – now has more than 230 member company contributors.

In addition to evolving the Alliance into a multi-standards organization that is setting the foundation and future of IoT, Tobin also sits on the World Economic Forum’s Council on the Connected World, as Chair of the WEF’s initiative focused on strengthening collaboration across enterprise, regulators, consumers, and NGOs.

Prior to leading the Alliance, Tobin led large-scale tech transformations and new service/product rollouts across Fortune 500 companies, world-leading technology firms and public sector organizations. He holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis.

Michelle Mindala-Freeman

As a leader at Connectivity Standards Alliance, Michelle works to promote the Alliance, its mission, standards, and solutions, and drive the growth and success of IoT for the benefit of our members, consumers, and the marketplace at large. As a former executive in the telecom, energy & professional services industries, she has built and led teams across marketing, strategy, brand, customer experience, and go-to-market. With 25+ years of industry and consulting experience, she brings a wealth of experience, perspectives, and a passion for the Alliance’s mission to build the foundation and the future of IoT.

Chris LaPré

Chris plays an integral role in several key initiatives for the Alliance, from recruiting and supporting new and expanding ecosystems, to providing technical expertise and guidance in our marketing and developer programs. Chris also represents the Alliance as guest speaker in key market segment events and speaking engagements. With a background in embedded systems, wireless, and developer community, Chris has been working at Zigbee companies since 2004, most recently in the Iris program at Lowe’s.

Liz Bunker

Elizabeth (Liz) oversees operations, including Accounting, Finance, HR and Membership Support (Help Desk) management for the Alliance. Liz joined the Alliance after a varied career in operations and production engineering, biotechnology and financial services, which gives her a broad technical background, which she leverages to support efforts to enhance member engagement and understand the organization’s strategy. In her free time Liz enjoys hiking, cycling, camping and skiing.

Jon Harros

Jon leads the Alliance Certification and Testing team across three continents with 25+ years of experience in testing, certification and homologation programs. Before joining the Alliance, Jon was involved with Zigbee technologies for 11 years and was very active helping to shape specifications and policies within the Alliance as a member company representative. During this time, he held roles as Technical Editor, Secretary, Vice-Chairperson and Chairperson within several Alliance technical Work Groups and Committees. He has been appointed as a Continua Certified Expert and held a position on the Alliance Expert Panel.

Krista Ingram

Krista leads the Alliance marketing team and facilitates collaboration with members on the deliverables and execution of the Alliance marketing plan, including brand and go-to-market activities. Krista has 19 years of experience with Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) in marketing, communications, and events and began working with the Alliance during its inception in 2002.

Rusi Kelly

As Head of Board & Member Services, Rusi is responsible for the customer journey across all levels of the global membership. Rusi brings over 14 years of SDO and related industry experience in roles across executive management, program management, and operations. She lives in the SF Bay Area and enjoys experiencing different cultures.

Tim Ryan

Tim leads the Alliance Finance function, with responsibility for all aspects of the organization’s financial operations and reporting. Tim joined the Alliance after 20+ years in finance, starting at Ernst & Young in London, United Kingdom, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant working in the external audit practice. He subsequently held a number of senior finance roles, primarily in the communications and marketing industry, serving a technology client base in a mixture of publicly traded, private equity-backed, and owner-managed organizations.