Our Team

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

Senior Leadership Team

Rhea Yaw Ching

Executive Director

Rhea Yaw Ching

Rhea Yaw Ching is the Executive Director. Rhea led the public launch of Mission Telecom in July 2024, and is focused on charting its strategic direction, aligning its growing team, and refining operations to ensure scalable impact on its social equity and justice initiatives.

Rhea's career spans over two decades in innovation and leadership in sectors including telecommunications, with a specific emphasis on developing economies, as well as digital, social, and economic transformation.

A lifelong learner, Rhea has earned multiple degrees and certifications, including an Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Data Science Ethics credential from the University of Michigan. These achievements reflect her commitment to leveraging knowledge for systemic change.

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Rhea, along with her two teenage daughters, now calls Florida home. She channels her relentless drive and passion into championing equity-creating opportunities for underserved communities, firmly believing that meaningful change begins with access and empowerment.

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Stephen Kowal

Chief Technology Officer

Stephen Kowal

Stephen is the Chief Technology Officer. He is a multicultural, customer-centric global transformation leader with 20+ years of experience in digital transformation and expansion, technology-focused strategy, and performance turnaround. He is valued for propelling start-ups into market leaders.

Stephen consistently achieves hypergrowth and profitability through operational expansion, enterprise digital and cloud-delivery models, and cutting-edge technology solutions. He has repeated success scaling businesses for rapid profits and market dominance, with revenues up to $5B+.

Prior to Mission Telecom, Stephen was head of IT strategy, architecture, and business analytics for Liberty Latin America, where he built lucrative digital technology platforms and improved cross-channel digital marketing to support new commercial Customer Value Propositions, driving the IT strategy for rapid transformation and several acquisitions totaling $3B+.

Through relationship development and collaborative leadership, Stephen has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to restructure, lead teams, and integrate multimillion-dollar IT transformation in large and medium-sized organizations, including startups, resulting in IPO achievements.

Stephen has a BEng in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology and harnesses a strong commitment to outpacing competition through a creative spirit.

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Barbara Hunter

Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Mark Colwell

Director of Broadband Operations

Mark Colwell

Mark Colwell is the Director of Broadband Operations. 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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Ashindi Maxton

Director of Mission Telecom Giving

Ashindi Maxton

Ashindi Maxton 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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Elizabeth Rivera

Director of Marketing and Communications

Elizabeth Rivera

Elizabeth is passionate about the power of communication to drive change. With a career dedicated to advocating for human rights, free expression, and digital equity, she brings a deep commitment to storytelling and movement-building.

Previously, she served as Director of Communications and Advocacy at IFEX, a global nonprofit network of over 100 organizations defending the right to free expression. She is also a Board Trustee for Media Defense, a UK-based nonprofit that provides legal support to journalists and independent media worldwide.

Her experience includes consulting and translation work for NGOs such as Mozilla’s Foundation Internet Health Report, Witness, and Engine Room, as well as serving as the Latin America and Spain Editor for Global Voices. A published author of over 200 articles on human rights, freedom of expression, digital activism, gender, and social movements, she was also a 2019 Cannes Lions winner in the Human Rights category of the Act Responsible competition.

Elizabeth holds a Master of Arts degree with distinction in Global Media and Post-National Communications from SOAS, University of London, and a magna cum laude bachelor's degree in international business from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

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