Mitel Board of Directors
Tony Abate, Chair
Tony Abate currently serves as chairperson of GTT Communications and Tacora Resources. Previously he served as chairperson & lead director of Southeastern Grocers, independent director and audit committee chair of Denbury, Inc (DEN), and independent director of TOPS (now Northeastern Grocers), Broadview Networks, Looking Glass Networks, and Cbeyond Communications.
Mr. Abate spent 16 years in operating roles, most recently as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Echo360, Inc, a global SaaS education and corporate training platform (sold in 2021). While in that role, he received the Northern Virginia Tech Council's CFO of the Year Award.
Prior to his operating roles, Mr. Abate spent over a decade as an investor at Battery Ventures and Whitney & Co, serving on the boards of several 3 private equity-backed businesses. Mr. Abate also served as a strategy consultant in the TMT sector for McKinsey & Co.
As a Lieutenant in the US Air Force, Mr. Abate managed advanced technology projects supporting the Department of Defense. Tony holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Duke University (summa cum laude) and an MBA from Harvard Business School with distinction.
Marc Lefar, Director
Marc Lefar is an accomplished board director and former CEO with 40 years of leadership experience spanning technology, telecommunications, digital media, and consumer products. Recognized for driving transformation and innovation, Mr. Lefar brings deep expertise in global operations, marketing, finance, and governance to the Mitel board.
Mr. Lefar most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of RentPath, a leading digital marketplace connecting millions of consumers with apartments and homes for rent. Under his leadership, RentPath advanced its digital strategy and was acquired by Redfin in 2020. Prior to RentPath, Mr. Lefar was Chief Executive Officer of Vonage, where he led the company through a comprehensive financial and operational transformation, expanding into new markets and positioning the business for long-term growth and its eventual acquisition by Ericsson.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Lefar was Chief Marketing Officer for Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Mobility), overseeing all aspects of marketing strategy and execution as the company tripled its subscriber base to over 61 million and achieved a tenfold increase in data revenue. He played a pivotal role in forging the exclusive partnership with Apple to launch the iPhone, leading advertising, promotion, and retail execution. Mr. Lefar also held senior leadership positions at Verizon Wireless, GTE Wireless, and Cable & Wireless Global. He began his career at Procter & Gamble in finance and brand management, with assignments in the U.S. and Eastern Europe.
In addition to his executive leadership, Mr. Lefar currently serves as a Director of IDC, a global leader in market intelligence for the technology sector, and as Operating Advisor to Blue Heron Capital. He has held board roles with cxLoyalty (Executive Committee), ClassPass, and IPC Systems, and has been active in public service, including an appointment by President Obama to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee from 2011 to 2016. He also serves on the Board of Advisors at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and has contributed to several community organizations focused on affordable housing and homelessness.
Mr. Lefar holds two U.S. patents with additional patents pending. He is an avid tennis player and fitness enthusiast.
Marika Lulay, Director
Marika Lulay served the last 8 years as the CEO and the prior 15 years as COO of GFT Technologies SE, Germany. Over the course of two decades, Marika Lulay consistently drove profitable growth by placing digital transformation at the heart of the company’s strategy, enabling successful international expansion.
Prior to that, Marika Lulay held various senior management positions at Cambridge Technology Partners GmbH and at Software AG. Prior to that, Marika Lulay worked as a consultant for Diebold GmbH and was Co-Founder of BISTEC GmbH, a software company.
Marika Lulay currently serves several boards such as Aareal Bank AG, EnBW AG and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH as supervisory board member. Those board roles include serving as chairperson of the Innovation & Digitization Committee. Prior to this, Marika Lulay was also a supervisory board member for W&W AG.
Marika is a member of the Scientific Council for the Doctoral Center for Applied Computer Science of the Universities of Applied Science in Hessen, Germany, and holds a diploma in Computer Science from University for Applied Science, Darmstadt.
Mike Robinson, CEO and Director
Michael (Mike) Robinson is a telecom and infrastructure veteran with extensive operating experience as a CEO and CFO, leading business transformations, organic growth companies, mergers, acquisitions, and restructurings. Mike joined Mitel’s Board of Directors in 2025 and soon moved into the role of CEO.
Mike has held leadership roles and served on the boards of several companies in the tech and telecom space. Prior to his appointment to the Mitel Board of Directors, Mike served for six years as the President, CEO, and Director of Sungard Availability Solutions, an international data center company.
Mike began his career at Siecor (now Corning Fiber), followed by Windward International, Alcatel (now Nokia), US LEC (a publicly traded telecom provider where he served as CFO for seven years), and Broadview Networks (an SEC-filing UCaaS provider where he was President and CEO, including during the sale of Broadview to Windstream). During his 12 years at Broadview, the company executed and successfully integrated several acquisitions, raised new capital, and restructured its balance sheet.
Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in business and economics from Emory and Henry College and an MBA from Wake Forest University.
Carl Wiese, Director
Carl Wiese’s most recent role before his retirement, was Executive Vice President and Global Head of Sales for HP/Poly. In this role, he oversaw the company’s global sales function as the chief sales strategist, leading a worldwide team that is passionate about delivering world-class service and solutions for HP/Poly’s partners and customers. Wiese joined Poly in January 2020 and brought more than 35 years of experience in sales, marketing, services, and product management for enterprise technology companies.
Previously, Wiese served as President of Global Sales and Service of Blackberry. While at Blackberry, he was responsible for leading the company’s enterprise software business with the goal of transforming the company from a mobile phone and device business to one of the most respected cyber security software companies.
Before joining Blackberry, Wiese was the Senior Vice President of Advanced Technologies sales for Cisco focused on driving new market entry for emerging technologies that represented the company’s highest potential growth opportunities. The team went from start up to obtaining the #1 market share position in 4 new Billion-dollar markets. Earlier in his career, Wiese held key leadership positions at Apple, Avaya, Lucent Technologies Inc. and Texas Instruments.
He is the co-author of “The Collaboration Imperative: Executive Strategies for Unlocking Your Organization’s True Potential”. Wiese serves as a Trustee for Oklahoma State University Foundation and serves as a member of their Investment Committee. He is also a member of the Deans Council and on the Board for the Center for Sales and Service Excellence for the Spears Business School at Oklahoma State University. Wiese was inducted into the Spears Business School Hall of Fame in October 2024.
Wiese holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University.
Peter Wollman, Director
Peter Wollman has previously served as a director on the boards of QuarterNorth Energy, LLC and US Shipping Corp. His board roles have included chairperson of the board and chairperson of the compensation committee.
Mr. Wollman currently is a Portfolio Manager and Team Leader for Invesco’s Global Private Credit group. In this role, he collaborates with the senior investment committee, contributing to the strategic direction and day-to-day management of investment portfolios. Additionally, Mr. Wollman oversees a team of sector specialist research analysts dedicated to fundamental credit research. Mr. Wollman joined Invesco in 1998.
Mr. Wollman earned a BA degree in economics from the University of California, San Diego, and an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Southern California. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) charter holder and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts.
See the full list of Mitel leaders here