Axesstel has been conscious of the need for a well-balanced board of directors.  As an international company, we aim for a balance of nationalities in our directors.  Our directors have a wide-ranging expertise and we have aimed in particular to appoint directors with an entrepreneurial mind and track record.

Osmo A. Hautanen, Chairman

Osmo Hautanen is chairman of the board.  He has been a director since November 2005.  Hautanen has served as chief executive officer of Magnolia Broadband, Inc., a fabless semiconductor-design company for the cellular communications industry, since 2004.  From 2002 to 2004, he was president of Cosmos Consulting, a private consulting firm providing organizational and business services to international companies.  From 2000 to 2001, Hautanen was the CEO of Fenix LLC, the holding company for Union Pacific Corporation's extensive portfolio of technology assets.  From 1998 to 1999, he served as CEO of Formus Communications, an international wireless communications company.  From 1996 to 1998, Hautanen was president of Americas for Philips Consumer Communications group.  Before that time, Hautanen had an 18-year career with Nokia, where he served in multiple roles; vice president of sales and marketing for North America, vice president and general manager of Latin America, as well as vice president and general manager of Personal Communications Services, which led Nokia's dominance in the North American handset market.  Hautanen holds a bachelor of science international business from Technical College of Varkaus (Finland), as well as a MBA in international business from Georgia State University.  He is fluent in Finnish, German and English.  

Richard Gozia is chair of the audit committee and has served as director since February 2009.  He served as CEO of ForeFront Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded company in the golf accessories business, from 2007 to 2008.  From 2000 to 2004, Gozia served as chief executive officer of Fenix LLC, the holding company for Union Pacific Corporation's extensive portfolio of technology assets.  From 1996 until 1999 Gozia served as president and chief operating officer of CellStar Corp., a distributor of wireless phone products with operations in North and South America, Europe and Asia.  During his tenure, CellStar more than doubled its revenue through a combination of organic growth and several acquisitions. Prior to that, Gozia served as CFO of SpectraVision, Inc.; CEO of Wyatt Cafeterias, Inc.; CFO of Harte-Hanks Communications; and vice president and chief accounting officer of Campbell Taggart, Inc.  He began his career as a CPA at Arthur Young & Company.  Gozia holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Missouri.

Mark Fruehan, Director

Mark Fruehan was appointed to the board in June 2011. He is currently the Executive Vice President, Sales and Business Development for AdMarvel, an Opera Software ASA company, a position that he has held since 2008. AdMarvel is the world-wide leader in mobile ad serving, mediation and monetization infrastructure. Since 2007, Mr. Fruehan has been a partner with Mobility partners, a venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in the wireless, broadband and network transactional spaces. From 2001 to 2007, Mr. Fruehan served as Chief Business Development Officer for VeriSign Communication Services, a subsidiary of VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSN). From 1996 to 1999, he was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for Cellstar Corporation. During this time CellStar was the largest mobile device distributor and value added logistics provider for the wireless telephony market. At Cellstar, he was responsible for global business development and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Fruehan currently serves on the Board of Directors of Wau Movil, a privately held company. Wau Movil is the largest mobile transaction provider in Latin America capable of reaching half a billion subscribers everyday. Mr. Fruehan received a bachelor of science in economics from Penn State University.

Clark Hickock, Director

Clark Hickock was appointed CEO and became a director on March 13, 2008.  He joined Axesstel as Chief Operating Officer in April 2005 and has been responsible for all areas of operations including global contract manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, quality control and product cost reduction and new product introductions.  In addition he has managed Global Sales. Prior to joining Axesstel, Hickock was executive vice president (EVP) of global operations for Cherokee International Corporation, responsible for operations and supply chain management in the U.S., Mexico, China and Europe.  Prior to that he served as EVP of global operations for REMEC, Inc., where he managed an international team of over 4,000 in the manufacturing services business unit, new product introduction, and supply chain.  While at REMEC, he also led a major corporate restructuring by consolidating 22 separately acquired manufacturing operations into a unified global supply chain of three low cost offshore manufacturing facilities.  Prior to REMEC, Mr. Hickock was director of materials of E-systems Inc., an aerospace and defense division of Raytheon Company, where he managed the material and subcontract department.  Hickock holds a B.A. in Finance and Economics from the University of Texas.

Patrick Gray, Director

Patrick Gray became a director in June 2011.  He joined Axesstel in March 2004 as vice president, controller. In 2005, he was promoted to senior vice president, corporate controller and in February 2007, he was named chief financial officer. From 1996 to 2004, Gray served in various finance and accounting positions at REMEC, Inc., a San Diego based designer and manufacturer of telecom equipment for the worldwide mobile communications market, including vice president, corporate controller and vice president, controller of global operations. At REMEC, Gray was responsible for the financial management of all domestic and international entities including China, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Philippines. He also participated in over twenty merger and acquisition transactions and multiple financings. Gray holds an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University and a B.S. in business administration with a concentration in accounting from California State University, Northridge.