Linux Foundation Expands Management Team to Respond to Growth

IoT, finance, communications and technical talent added to manage demand for open source software

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., December 4, 2014 – The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating Linux and collaborative development, today is announcing the addition of industry veterans Steve Westmoreland, Laura Kempke, Philip DesAutles and Russell Farnell to its team. The Linux Foundation is experiencing steady growth due to the increased use of Linux, open source software and collaborative development to advance technology. The new leaders will help the organization continue its position as a primary destination for open source software projects, large-scale collaboration and open source ecosystem development.

Over the last four years The Linux Foundation has become home to open source projects spanning many areas of the software infrastructure stack: networking, Internet of Things (IoT), drones, mobile, virtualization, embedded Linux and more. As its work protecting and advancing Linux has also increased with the expanded use of Linux, the new management team will provide the experience and guidance needed to continue the focus on quality collaborative development, innovation and open source advocacy.

The additions to the existing Linux Foundation team include:

Philip DesAutels, Senior Director of IoT and Leader of the AllSeen Alliance

DesAutels will be working with members of The Linux Foundation’s Collaborative Project, the AllSeen Alliance to define strategic direction and execution for the world’s largest open source effort to advance IoT. DesAutels was most recently CTO of LogMeIn’s Internet of Things Platform, where he was responsible for business strategy, technology roadmap and the launch of the Xively product. Prior to LogMeln, he spent nearly 10 years at Microsoft driving .Net evangelism and adoption. As a co-founder of Ereo, chief scientist at Excite and part of the research team at the W3C, he has vast experience in cloud-based services, security and privacy issues. He earned a PhD in Industrial Marketing from Luleå Technical University (Sweden) and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Industrial and Management Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic University. He is based in Boston, Mass.

Laura Kempke, Vice President of Collaborative Projects Operations and Marketing

Kempke joins The Linux Foundation from MSLGROUP, a communications firm within Publicis Groupe and a top five public relations agency, where she was a senior vice president in the Boston office. In this position she was responsible for setting PR and content marketing strategy for technology and life sciences clients. Prior to MSLGROUP, Kempke was with Schwartz Communications, one of the largest PR firms working with entrepreneurial technology companies. She’s been working with open source companies since 2001, including Ximian, JBoss, Black Duck, Digium and Alfresco. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.A. in Government from Georgetown University. Kempke is based in Boston, Mass.

Russell Farnell, Vice President of Finance and Human Resources

Farnell is responsible for overseeing finance, human resources and operations at The Linux Foundation. He comes to the organization with more than 20 years of finance and accounting experience working at a number of organizations in the marketing industry. Most recently, he worked at the digital marketing agency, AKQA, where he ran US finance and operations. During his tenure, the company grew 20 percent year on year over a 10-year stretch to become one of the most awarded and respected agencies in the industry. He holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Oxford University and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Steve Westmoreland, Chief Information Officer

Westmoreland will oversee IT operations for The Linux Foundation and its Collaborative Projects. He brings more than 30 years of experience in leadership positions developing and deploying information technologies for companies such as VA Linux Systems, Vicor/FIS, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, among others. He has worked extensively with startups and major corporations to effectively utilize open source technologies in high performance, high capacity and ultra-secure environments and has devoted much of his career to the ongoing development of effective leadership and teamwork in technical organizations. He received his B.S in Computer Science from Louisiana Tech University. Westmoreland is based in Portland, Ore.

These individuals join the existing management team of Executive Director Jim Zemlin, Chief Revenue Officer Mike Woster, and Chief Marketing Officer Amanda McPherson. Other promotions also announced today include: Angela Brown, now senior director of events; Jennifer Cloer, now senior director of communications and community; and Mike Dolan, now senior director of strategic programs. With the new additions and existing team’s long track record of open source success, The Linux Foundation now contains one of the deepest pools of open source experience in the industry and is currently hiring across all areas of the organization. More information and detailed bios can be found at: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/leadership

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux and collaborative software development. Founded in 2000, the organization sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and promotes, protects and advances the Linux operating system and collaborative software development by marshaling the resources of its members and the open source community. The Linux Foundation provides a neutral forum for collaboration and education by hosting Collaborative Projects, Linux conferences, including LinuxCon, and generating original research and content that advances the understanding of Linux and collaborative software development. More information can be found at http://www.linuxfoundation.org

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The Linux Foundation, Linux Standard Base, MeeGo, Tizen and Yocto Project are trademarks of The Linux Foundation. AllSeen is a trademark of AllSeen Alliance Inc., OpenBEL is a trademark of OpenBEL Consortium Inc. OpenDaylight is a trademark of the OpenDaylight Project Inc., Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.