Board of Directors

Carl Russo
Chairman of the Board

Carl has served as chairman since July 2021. Carl previously served as Calix’s chief executive officer from December 2002 through September 2022 and as Calix’s president from December 2002 until January 2021. As Calix’s chairman of the board, Carl brings substantial expertise and knowledge regarding our business strategy, markets and operations to Calix’s board of directors. He also brings to the Board an extensive background in the telecommunications and networking technology industries.

From November 1999 to May 2002, Carl served as vice president of optical strategy and group vice president of optical networking of Cisco Systems, Inc. From April 1998 to October 1999, he served as president and chief executive officer of Cerent Corporation, which was acquired by Cisco. From April 1995 to April 1998, Carl served in various capacities, including as chief operating officer, at Xircom, Inc., which was acquired by Intel Corporation. Previously, he served as senior vice president and general manager for the hyperchannel networking group of Network Systems Corporation and as vice president and general manager of the data networking products division of AT&T Paradyne Corporation. Carl served on the board of directors of Vital Network Services, Inc., a privately-held company delivering network lifecycle services, and Xirrus, Inc., a privately-held company providing products that enable high-performance wireless networks.

Carl attended Swarthmore College and previously served on its board of managers.

Click here for Perspectives from the Chairman
Don Listwin
Lead Independent Director

Mr. Listwin has served as lead independent director since July 2021. He previously served as chairman of our Board from July 2007 to July 2021, and brings over 40 years of experience in the networking industry to our Board. Mr. Listwin currently serves as the chief executive officer of ZEVX, a privately-held company that builds and designs battery electric powertrain and power system products that quickly migrate commercial vehicle fleets to zero carbon. Prior to his current role, from 2018 to 2021 Mr. Listwin served as chief executive officer of RapidAI, a privately-held medical device company. Mr. Listwin owns and operates Listwin Ventures, a privately-held investment firm.

Mr. Listwin founded BelizeKIDS.org in 2016, a non-profit organization focused on helping children in Belize, and Canary Foundation in 2004, a non-profit organization devoted to the early detection of cancer, and has served on the board of directors of both organizations since their inception. From January 2008 to January 2009, Mr. Listwin served as chief executive officer of Sana Security, Inc., a security software company, which was acquired by AVG Technologies. From September 2000 to October 2004, Mr. Listwin served as chief executive officer of Openwave Systems Inc., a leader in mobile internet infrastructure software. From August 1990 to September 2000, he served in various capacities at Cisco Systems, Inc., most recently as executive vice president. Mr. Listwin formerly served on the board of directors of Violin Memory, Inc., Isilon Systems, Inc., Openwave Systems Inc. (now known as Unwired Planet, Inc.), TIBCO Software Inc., Redback Networks, Inc. and E-Tek Dynamics Inc., each a publicly-held company. Mr. Listwin also previously served as a member of the board of scientific advisors of the National Cancer Institute.

Mr. Listwin holds an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Saskatchewan and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan.

Christopher J. Bowick
Compensation Committee Chair

Mr. Bowick brings to our Board extensive experience in advising and managing companies in the technology and telecommunications industries. Mr. Bowick is principal of The Bowick Group, LLC, where he provides technology, product, business and executive-development advice and counsel to clients in the cable television and telecommunications industries.

From 1998 until his retirement in 2009, Mr. Bowick held various positions at Cox Communications. Mr. Bowick joined Cox in 1998 as vice president, technology development, and was named senior vice president of engineering and chief technical officer in 2000. Mr. Bowick retired as chief technology officer of Cox in June of 2009. At Cox, Mr. Bowick was responsible for strategic technology planning, day-to-day technical operations and the development and deployment of technology solutions for the company’s video, voice, high speed data and wireless products, including the development and deployment of telecommunications services, such as circuit-switched telephone, voice over IP, high-speed data, digital video, HDTV, video-on-demand and interactive television. Mr. Bowick was also responsible for network engineering and network operations for Cox’s nation-wide network infrastructure including its national backbone, Metropolitan Area Networks and HFC networks. Prior to joining Cox, Mr. Bowick served as group vice president of technology and chief technical officer for Jones Intercable, Inc., while simultaneously serving as president of Jones Futurex, a designer and manufacturer of triple DES, PC-based hardware encryption devices and provider of contract manufacturing services. Prior to Jones, Mr. Bowick served as vice president of engineering for Scientific Atlanta’s Transmission Systems Business Division, and as a design engineer for Rockwell International, Collins Avionics Division. Mr. Bowick also formerly served on the board of directors of VIXS Systems Inc., a publicly-held company, and currently serves on the board of directors of several privately-held software and technology companies.

Mr. Bowick holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Mr. Bowick is a National Association of Corporate Director (“NACD”) Governance Fellow under the NACD’s director credential program.

Kathy Crusco
Audit Committee Chair

Ms. Crusco brings to our Board a wealth of experience as a financial and operational executive instilling operational rigor at leading technology companies.

From December 2017 until January 2020, Ms. Crusco served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at Kony, Inc., a privately-held mobile applications solutions provider, which was acquired by Temenos, a banking software company. From August 2016 until November 2017, Ms. Crusco served as executive vice president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Epicor Software Corporation, a privately-held software company. Ms. Crusco joined Epicor in May 2011 when the company merged with Activant Solutions Inc., a business management software company where she served as senior vice president and chief financial officer from May 2007 to November 2010, then as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Before joining Activant, she worked for Polycom from 2002 to 2007, rising to the role of vice president of worldwide finance during her tenure. Ms. Crusco has also held a variety of financial roles at Documentum, Inc., Adaptec, Inc. and Price Waterhouse LLP.

Ms. Crusco holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in accounting from California State University, Chico.

Ellie Fields
Director

Ms. Fields brings to our Board extensive experience in global business intelligence and platform companies.   Ms. Fields currently serves as the Chief Product and Engineering Officer at Salesloft, the leading Sales Engagement platform. Together with the team at Salesloft, Ms. Fields builds products to help sellers connect with buyers, get insight from data at the moment they need it, and align across the team.

Prior to joining Salesloft in 2021, Ms. Fields was part of Tableau Software for more than 12 years, where she led product strategy and engineering for mobile apps, collaboration, search and Tableau Public.  She was part of the core team that envisioned, built and launched Tableau Public and Tableau Online, and led Tableau’s insanely vibrant customer community.

Ms. Fields has a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.  She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Policy from Rice University.

Kira Makagon
Director

Ms. Makagon brings to the Board extensive experience in global platform strategy, technology, cybersecurity, operations and high technology executive leadership. Since July 2019, Ms. Makagon has served as executive vice president and chief innovation officer at RingCentral, Inc., a publicly-held provider of cloud-based global collaborative communications solutions, and previously served as RingCentral’s executive vice president of innovation from August 2012 to July 2019.

From January 2012 to July 2012, Ms. Makagon served as the senior vice president of products of iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency owned by Hearst Corporation. From June 2009 to December 2011, she held various executive leadership roles at Red Aril, Inc., an online media technology company, serving as founder, chief executive officer and member of the board of directors from June 2009 to April 2010, and president from April 2010 to December 2011. Prior to joining Red Aril, Ms. Makagon held various executive leadership roles at NebuAd, Inc., an online data and media company, serving as co-founder and president from September 2006 to July 2008, chief executive officer from August 2008 to December 2008, and consultant and board member from January 2009 to May 2009. Ms. Makagon has also served in various roles at Exigen Group, a provider of SaaS workflow platforms and call center solutions, including president, ventures and alliances, and executive vice president, marketing and business development, as well as serving on the board of directors. Prior to that, Ms. Makagon co-founded and held key executive positions in flagship online marketing and CRM companies, including Octane Software, which was acquired by E.piphany, and Scopus Technology, where she brought multiple generations of CRM products to market.

Ms. Makagon holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Raj Mukherjee
Director

Mr. Mukherjee brings to our Board more than 20 years of experience in global platform and software companies focused on the SMB markets.  Mr. Mukherjee is currently an Executive Vice President and General Manager for SMB at Indeed, where he is responsible for shaping product and go-to-market priorities for Indeed’s many small to medium business customers globally. He also oversees Indeed’s product growth in international markets as part of the International Business Unit.

Prior to joining Indeed, Mr. Mukherjee was Senior Vice President of Product at GoDaddy from 2013-2016 where he was responsible for helping their 14 million customers build successful businesses online. He has significant experience with SMB customers and led multiple successful acquisitions for the company.

Previously, Mr. Mukherjee worked on the Enterprise Platform team at Google from 2011-2012 where he led Product Management for Domains for Google Apps and Google Drive for enterprises. From 2008-2011 he was a Sr. Product manager for the Online Services division at Microsoft with responsibility for product and business strategy for Office 365.

Mr. Mukherjee holds a joint Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley & the Columbia Business School. He also has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Engineering from India.

Kevin Peters
Cybersecurity Committee Chair

Mr. Peters brings to our Board a wealth of leadership as well as business and industry experience gained over the course of a 28-year career with AT&T, one of world’s largest communications companies. Since February 2018, Mr. Peters has served as president, chief executive officer and board member of NetNumber Inc., a privately-held technology company.

Mr. Peters formerly served as executive vice president, global customer service for AT&T, Inc., from 2012 until his retirement in 2014. Mr. Peters joined AT&T in 1986, and held various functional roles, including in information technology, sales, engineering and finance until 2000. Mr. Peters then served as vice president, local network planning and project management in 2001. During his subsequent career at AT&T, Mr. Peters served in the following capacities: senior vice president, network engineering from 2003 until 2004; senior vice president, global network technology program management, AT&T Labs in 2005; senior vice president-enterprise systems and software engineering in 2006; executive vice president, global network operations from 2006 until 2009; and chief marketing officer, business from 2010 until 2011. Since retiring, Mr. Peters has provided advisory services to a number of companies, including Accenture, a global management consulting and professional services firm, J&L Group, a privately-held telecommunications company and the Howe School of Business, Stevens Institute of Technology. Mr. Peters also currently volunteers and serves on the board of directors of the Crandon Lakes Country Club and the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, and also serves on the board of directors of privately-held technology companies.

Mr. Peters holds a Master of Business Administration with honors (Beta Gamma Sigma) from Columbia University, a Master of Science in Telecommunications Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Fairfield University, and attended the Harvard University Advanced Management Program. Mr. Peters also holds a Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

Michael Weening
President and Chief Executive Officer

Michael was promoted to president and CEO of Calix in September 2022, and was appointed to the Board of Directors in May 2023. He brings more than 20 years of experience leading growth, strategy and transformation to his role as President and CEO. Michael most recently served as the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer since January 2021. Michael joined Calix from Salesforce where he served as the senior vice president of Global Customer Success and senior vice president, Japan and Asia-Pacific Customer Success, Services and Alliances.

Over the span of his career, Michael has held executive positions in North America, Europe and Asia. Previously, Michael held leadership roles at Bell Mobility in Canada, where he was vice president of business and consumer sales. Michael also held sales leadership roles at Microsoft, in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, from Brock University supported by ongoing executive education at Queens, Wharton and USC.