Phone: 317-407-0642
- IT INFRASTRUCTURE -
SOLUTIONS
We specialize in IT consulting, solution selection, and service implementation. Empowering partners with access to cloud, colocation, and telecom service providers.
- FUTURE TECHNOLOGY-
NETWORKING
We are bringing the future of networking with resources and relationships to navigate the ever-changing world of digital communications and tech infrastructure. Leonard McDowell is here to support your business.
- TODAY -
IT SUPPORT
Providing innovative technology with supportive setup and continued help for optimized UX. Our goal is to set the industry standard for knowledge and navigation of the global technology marketplace.
CEO & Founder
317-407-0642
Telegram: @fpleonard
Frank Leonard is a dedicated sales professional with 25+ years of experience in areas including healthcare, IT services, SMBs, and large enterprises. Frank possesses expert qualifications in areas such as sales, executive management, business development and implementation, and has a proven history of loyalty and professionalism. He is primed at leveraging his extensive sales experience alongside exemplary executive leadership. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his three daughters. He also serves on the board for the Networking and Information Technology Association, volunteers with Volunteers of America, and runs the Indy Mini Marathon every year.
Junaid Islam
Senior Strategic Advisor
Junaid Islam is a seasoned technology expert with a wealth of experience in networking and cybersecurity. He currently serves as a Board Member and CTO for XQ, a Silicon Valley-based company that has developed the first Zero Trust messaging service called Secure.chat. He joined XQ in February 2020 and has been leading the development of innovative solutions that enable secure and private communication without disclosing users' identities.
Prior to his current role, Junaid was a Partner at OODA LLC, a Washington D.C.-based organization of technology experts who provide strategic advisory services to Global 500 companies. During his tenure at OODA, Junaid focused on minimizing supply chain risk and cloud migration, as well as developing 5G Smart Infrastructure strategies.
Junaid is also known for his successful entrepreneurial ventures. He was the Founder and CTO of Vidder, Inc., a company that developed the first network-based Zero Trust Architecture with Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) and was later acquired by Verizon. He was also the Founder and CTO of Piano Networks, a company that developed secure IPv6 overlay networks for the US Department of Defense's Netcentric Warfare research projects.
Junaid began his career in the technology industry as an Expeditionary Communications contractor for US Government Agencies, where he installed secure X.25 data networks in South America and the Middle East in support of national security missions. He then worked at Stratacom, where he helped develop Priority PVC Frame Relay and the first version of Frame-ATM integration, which later became MPLS after Cisco's acquisition of StrataCom. Later, he joined Cisco Systems as a Lead Architect, where he ran a group of 40 network architects that supported new product initiatives including VoIP, MPLS, as well as IP-ATM-Optic transport solutions.
Junaid holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is recognized as a thought leader in the cybersecurity and networking fields and has provided strategic technology consulting to Tier 1 global service providers on mobile applications.
Shaik Hamdan
Senior Strategic Advisor
Mr. Shaik Hamdan - a visionary entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and a true master of invention. With over 25 years of experience, Mr. Hamdan has played a pivotal role in revolutionizing the MENA area's business landscape. As the Founder & CEO of Next IT, he has helped numerous firms in expanding their operations and establishing a global presence. In addition, his Business Setup services have facilitated foreign businesses' growth in the UAE.
As the CEO of NEXT IT & SYSTEMS LLC, Mr. Hamdan has been at the forefront of introducing robots and artificial intelligence to assist organizations in thriving even in the face of unprecedented times. He is passionate about digitally virtualizing any human physical job using technology and has implemented many robotic systems, including humanoids, in the region. dditionally, he was among the first in the Middle East to leverage Amazon’s Alexa to assist clients without contacting or
emailing them.
Mr. Hamdan's contribution to the introduction of various revolutionary technologies to the MENA area has been critical. He is also a pioneer in bringing blockchain to this country and has had many successful blockchain implementations. With a deep understanding of the market's pulse and the economy's unique characteristics and strengths, Mr. Hamdan has served as a mentor to many successful companies in the UAE.
To learn more about Mr. Shaik Hamdan, please visit his LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamdan/ or email him at S.Hamdam@NextUAE.com
Jim Brainard
Former Mayor of Carmel Indiana
Jim Brainard is Carmel’s first seven-term mayor (serving from 1996 through 2023) and is one of the longest serving mayors in the United States. Under his tenure, Carmel experienced tremendous growth and prosperity. It is considered one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. The population has grown from 25,000 to more than 105,000 in the last 28 years. Park land, greenspace, and trails have increased from 40 acres to more than 1000, including the linear Monon Greenway and Central Park.
The development of an Arts & Design District, a new downtown called City Center and a new Midtown project joining the two together, has helped in the creation of a vibrant, thriving walkable city where companies want to locate, where employees want to live and where families want to raise their children. Mayor Brainard is frequently asked to speak around the world about city planning, climate change, redevelopment and transportation networks.
As part of the City Center project to create a downtown for Carmel, Mayor Brainard incorporated world-class cultural and entertainment venues. The Center for the
Performing Arts in City Center includes the Palladium, a state-of-the-art, 1,600-seat concert hall, The Tarkington, a 500-seat proscenium theater and the 200-seat black box Studio Theater.
Mayor Brainard was also successful in gaining the talents of Emmy-nominated performer
Michael Feinstein as the Artistic Director for the Center as well as integrating the Great
American Songbook Foundation and Songbook Academy into the cultural options at the Center. All of these venues, including an outdoor amphitheater named Rotary Centennial Plaza, opened in 2011.
Mayor Brainard has implemented numerous environmental initiatives for the City of Carmel. He has encouraged the construction of roundabouts in place of traditional signaled intersections in Carmel, which reduces vehicle emissions. Accidents with injury were also reduced by almost 80 percent when contrasted to signalized intersections. The City now has more than 150 roundabout intersections, more than any other city in the United States. Mayor Brainard has signed executive orders mandating the use of hybrid or flex-fuel vehicles for city operations when available and recently enacted a “No Idling” policy for city employees. He also encouraged the City’s Utilities Department to develop the technology to use recaptured methane gas to power its wastewater treatment facility as well as repurpose its biosolid waste into high quality fertilizer (topsoil), eliminating the need for
its transport to and disposal in a landfill. He has also initiated testing the feasibility of utilizing wind energy as a future power source for the plant.
Carmel has been honored with many awards for its high quality of life and environmental initiatives. Money Magazine named Carmel the No. 2 Best Place to Live in America for 2021-22 and Money placed Carmel at the top of their list of Best Places to Retire in 2022.
Carmel has also been named the No. 1 Best Place to Raise a Family in 2020 and No. 1 Best Suburb in America in 2019 by Niche.com. In 2015, Carmel was recognized as Community of the Year by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. The City was awarded first place in the Climate Protection Awards from the U.S. Conference of Mayors for its roundabout program and national runner-up of the Home Depot Awards of Excellence in Community Trees. Carmel has also been the recipient of the Sterling Tree City Award, honorable mention for Municipal Excellence from the National League of Cities and has been designated a silver level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.
Based on surveys using community statistics, Carmel is consistently ranked among the top places to live for families, singles, children, senior citizens and veterans based on low crime rates, low cost of living, excellent schools, availability of high paying jobs and appreciation of community amenities such as the arts, culture, parks and recreational opportunities. Mayor Brainard’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts in History from Butler University and Doctor of Jurisprudence from Ohio Northern University. He also received a diploma from the Oxford Institute on International and Comparative Law from the University of San Diego. His book, Carmel, ‘round about right shares the story of redevelopment in Carmel during his administration.
Mayor Brainard has served as a Trustee and Co-chair of the Energy Independence and Climate Protection Task Force for the U.S. Conference of Mayors since 2013. In November of 2013, he was appointed to the Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience by President Barack Obama. In 2015, he traveled to four cities in India to represent the United States as part of the U.S. State Department’s speaker’s bureau. Also, in 2015 he was asked to speak on energy and climate policy at the German-American Centers in five German cities. In 2016, he was asked to speak on climate change and urban design in Rome, Italy, at the International Making Cities Livable Conference. In 2021, the City of Carmel hosted the IMCL Conference. Additionally, he has been a guest lecturer for Georgetown University, Butler University, Indiana University and Purdue University among others. He often speaks to city councils and planning commissions across North America and Europe about city design and development.
The Mayor has served as President of the Butler University Alumni Association, was included in Butler’s “50 Under 50” in 2004 and has served as a Trustee of the university. He taught as an adjunct instructor at the University of Indianapolis and was named one of the “Most Powerful Hoosiers in the World” by Indianapolis Monthly Magazine of the Rotary Club of Carmel.
He currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Seaside Institute, on the Board of Stewards of International Making Cities Livable (Lennard Institute) and as a Director for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
Jennifer Bittinger
Strategic Advisor
Jennifer.Bittinger@narrativa.com
With 20 years of experience in media, tech, marketing and public relations, Jennifer brings a wealth of knowledge, skills and leadership helping brands grow to their highest potential utilizing her experience with digital marketing, demand generation, data reporting and brand development. She is currently serving as President of Narrativa, one of the fastest growing international AI technology companies in the world, forging the path to bring artificial intelligence automation to multiple industries, including Life Sciences, Finance, MarTech, Gaming and AEC.
Throughout her career, she specialized as a multi-faceted VP of Marketing and Branded Content Specialist serving many clients, including: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Entertainment Tonight, Dr. Phil, Cesar Millan, TBS, Hulu, Beliefnet, OWN, San Francisco Giants and more.
Michael Creadon
Strategic Advisor
Mr. Creadon spent over 20 years in capital markets serving as CEO of Traditum Group, a proprietary trading firm specializing in U.S. interest-rate trading and energy-market making. As co-founder of the company, he grew the firm to 75 employees with offices in New York and Houston to become one of the most respected midtier prop firms in the industry. Prior to working in the futures and options markets, Mr. Creadon worked as a journalist at TIME, Bloomberg and Voice of America. Today, he continues to blog regularly on LinkedIn and is a widely followed thought leader on blockchain, bitcoin and numerous other topics. Last year, he worked at DrawBridge Lending on global marketing and sales, and he is a frequent guest on podcasts and speaker at leading blockchain industry events. Mr. Creadon joined Inveniam Capital Partners in early 2020 as Director of Sales and assumed his current role as President of Inveniam Defi Devs in June, 2021. Inveniam Defi Devs is the lead sponsor of the new Accumulate protocol, an identity-based solution for enterprise-grade clients.
Kam Hosn
Senior Strategic Advisor
Kam Hosn has been CEO of Everest for the past 20 years with a deep background in Automotive, Telecom, and AI. He is working on developing an AI based platform to bring Investors and Companies together, so investors could invest with more visibility and transparency in companies. Previously he led the development of a MediaHub appliance for Cisco Consumer Group, where MediaHub won several awards at CES. Kam has also been an advisor to Cisco's Connected Car Group working with Tier-1 OEMs to bring advanced connectivities to automotive partners. Kam has also co-founded an Exotic car company, Rezvani Motors, selling sports cars and SUVs to global customers. Kam has also been involved in the Telecom industry such as partnering with Ericsson to utilize Drones to measure emission coming from cargo ships. Kam has been responsible for assembling an engineering team to develop products for Verizon as well as being involved in business development for Verizon to bring International Telecom operators promoting Technologies developed by Verizon.
Rich Banta
Senior Data Center Strategic Advisor
Rich is an Air Force Veteran. He formerly served as the Chief Technology Officer of a major health care system. In Rich’s current role at Lifeline, he is responsible for governance, compliance, information security, data center operations, information technology, client concierge services, and “other responsibilities as required.” Rich
is hands-on every day in the data centers. He is Co-Inventor on Lifeline’s multiple patents covering power delivery and EMP protection. Rich holds numerous cybersecurity and data center design and operations credentials. His industry standing and activities include serving as Current Chairman of the IDCA (International Data Center Authority) Technical Standards Committee, serving as a member of Governor Holcomb’s Indiana Executive Council on Cybersecurity, serving on the University of Texas San Antonio DEMSO (Domestic Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations) Working Group, and serving on the StateRAMP steering and appeals committees.