Our Team

Driven by a commitment to bridging the digital divide, we empower communities through innovation, collaboration, and reliable connectivity.

Senior Leadership Team

Mark Colwell

Executive Director

Mission Telecom

Mark Colwell

Mark is the Executive Director. Before joining Mission Telecom, Mark served as the Senior Manager of Broadband Programs for the Colorado Broadband Office, where he managed a team working on federal broadband grant programs, including Capital Projects Funds (CPF) and the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

In addition, Mark was appointed by Governor Polis to serve on the Colorado Broadband Deployment Board, funding state and federal grants to connect unserved and underserved Coloradans.

Mark began his career as a Legislative Assistant in the U.S. Congress, focusing on telecommunications, spectrum, rural broadband, and IT issues. He also worked as a Senior Business Operations Analyst at DISH Network, managing projects related to providing world-class customer experience.

Mark earned a master's degree from the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he was the top graduate.

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Jo Ann Cain

Chief Financial and

Administration Officer

Jo Ann Cain

Jo Ann is a strategic finance executive specializing in financial transformation and operational turnarounds across nonprofit, higher education, technology, and professional services organizations. She brings extensive experience modernizing financial operations, strengthening reporting and compliance, and implementing systems that improve decision-making and support long-term organizational growth.

Jo Ann is known for stabilizing complex environments and building scalable financial frameworks that restore operational discipline and enable leadership teams to make informed strategic decisions. She has repeatedly helped organizations improve financial visibility, streamline processes, and align financial strategy with organizational priorities.

Prior to her current role, she held senior finance leadership positions across multiple industries where she led financial modernization initiatives, implemented enterprise systems, and partnered closely with executive leadership and boards to guide organizations through periods of change and transformation.

Through collaborative leadership and a solutions-oriented approach, she has built high-performing teams and strengthened financial infrastructures that support sustainable performance.

Jo Ann holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Brenau University, and a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, graduating magna cum laude, from Arizona State University. She is an Arizona licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner.

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Ashindi Maxton

Executive Director

Mission Telecom Giving

Ashindi Maxton

Ashindi is the Director of Mission Telecom's Grants Program. As a serial social entrepreneur and strategist working at the intersection of racial justice, democracy reform, and philanthropy, she believes everyone benefits by moving power and resources to the communities that have least often had access to them. Ashindi has co-founded multiple innovative philanthropic organizations and campaigns that continue to serve and resource the field of racial and social justice. These include the Donorsof Color Network, New Media Ventures, the Youth Engagement Fund, the Reflective Democracy Campaign, the Emergent Fund, and the ClimateFunders Justice Campaign.

Ashindi was part of a team recognized by Inside Philanthropy as “Donor Organizers of the Year” and has been listed three times on Washington Magazine’s “Young and the Guest List” of geniuses, visionaries, crusaders, and innovators shaping Washington's future as well as the “NAACP Power 40” list of the most influential African-Americans under forty.

In an earlier life, Ashindi was a Fulbright Scholar in the Dominican Republic studying race consciousness in young children. She has also served as a proud fifth-grade teacher and the principal of an arts-based public school.

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