Robert Nealon, Chairman of the Board & Director

Mr. Nealon is the Principal Attorney in Nealon & Associates, P.C., and a Washington, D.C. based law and government relations firm. He has been practicing law for twenty-seven years and has achieved an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the leading rating bureau for the legal profession. Mr. Nealon has a B.A. from University of Rochester (1977) and M.B.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology (1978). He received his Juris Doctorate, magna cum laude, from the University of Bridgeport in 1982 and his Masters of Law in Taxation (L.L.M.) degree from Georgetown University in 1984. He is a member of the bar associations of New York State and Virginia, the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Nealon served as Adjunct Instructor of Corporate Law, George Washington University from 1985 until 2005. Mr. Nealon has been lead counsel on hundreds of commercial trials, including multi-million dollar derivative action lawsuits, security fraud and government contract fraud. He has been counsel to hundreds of corporations, including insurance affinity marketing, manufacturing and multiple financial institutions. Mr. Nealon has been active over the years in national politics and government relations.

Mr. Nealon was appointed to the Virginia Small Business Advisory Board by former Virginia Governor Warner and was reappointed to this state board by Governor Kaine through 2010 as its Chairman. Mr. Nealon is also a current appointee to the George Mason University Advisory Board for the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in Arlington, Virginia. He currently sits on the Board of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Small Business Committee and is a Director of the Alexandria Small Business Development Corporation. He is also an active member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Democratic National Club.

Neil G. Chan, Chief Executive Officer & Director  

Mr. Chan is a career technologist who has pioneered the early adoption of disruptive technologies in more than 45 countries over the last 30 years. From start-up to $400M in annual revenues, Mr Chan has led and created the best-in-class sales, marketing, and service organizations during the development of wireless data infrastructure, mobile content, Software-as-a-Service for commercial fleets, and HFC broadband infrastructure. Mr Chan led the first technology transfer initiative between Canada and Mainland China on behalf of Spar Aerospace and Gandalf Technologies Inc., during the mid-1980s along with training, product marketing and sales responsibilities for growing Gandalf's export markets; shortly after Mr Chan was recruited to Motorola Inc., to lead the product marketing of the industry's first mobile data solutions for public safety, taxi, utility, and field service markets. Mr Chan led Motorola's initiative to expand into public data networks throughout the Asia Pacific region during the 1990s and subsequently was promoted to Managing Director to lead the expansion of HFC data and voice broadband networks throughout the region. In the spring of 2000, Mr Chan joined Airvana Inc., to lead business development for the early adoption of CDMA-based broadband wireless networks which today continue to serve millions of users throughout North America and Latin America. Most recently, Mr Chan led worldwide sales and marketing of fleet management services for WebTech Wireless Inc., which contributed five years of record growth and industry leadership across government and transportation markets. Mr Chan has served on the Executive Review Board of Royal Roads University and continues to mentor and support early stage technology companies. Mr Chan is Chairman and CEO of the privately-held Gogiro Internet Group.

Richard Freeman, Chief Operating Officer & Director

Mr. Freeman is a senior high-tech operations and product development executive with over 25 years experience managing leading-edge hardware and software communications solutions and services across a broad-range of technologies and international markets. Mr. Freeman's career began with Mobile Data International where he spearhead adoption of early private wireless data networks for Taxi, Public Safety and Utility markets, overseeing 800Mhz radio Manufacturing Engineering, data terminal manufacturing, RF system design, and International sales support and system deployment.   In the early 90’s, Mr. Freeman was responsible for technical sales support and system implementation for Motorola’s Wireless Data Group located in London and Paris. Mr. Freeman was instrumental in Motorola’s successful launch into European Taxi markets, along with the global launch of data infrastructure with the responsibility for product definition, marketing, and implementation of wireless data infrastructure based on Motorola DataTAC and ARDIS network solutions.

Mr. Freeman subsequently joined Sierra Wireless where he led definition, development, and successful deployment of many world-class leading edge CDPD, 1xRTT, GPRS, and EVDO wireless data modem hardware and enabling software solutions for international markets.   In 2002 Mr. Freeman joined WebTech Wireless, where he defined target markets and requirements for mobile hardware and Fleet Management services.  Promoted to VP Operations he oversaw the successful growth of the organization, supporting ongoing 60% annual growth in shipments and software-as-a-service revenues, a tripling of personnel, five-fold growth in corporate and manufacturing facilities and infrastructure, and the successful implementation of many multiple multi-million dollar projects.

Most recently Mr. Freeman was Sr. VP Operations and Product Management for Saturna Green Systems, focusing on developing embedded telematics solutions for the electric vehicle industry.  Mr. Freeman holds a BaSC in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia.

Advisory Board

 John D. Raffaelli

John D. Raffaelli is the founding partner of Capitol Counsel LLC.  He has more than 25 years of experience in Federal Policy and policymaking, with an emphasis on taxation, finance, health care, international trade and general business matters.  In addition to being called a “big-name lobbyist” by The Washington Post, he has been nationally recognized as one of the most effective lobbyists in Washington and is respected by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers for his knowledge of the legislative process and his ability to develop public policy solutions to client problems.  In 2007, he was named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top 25 lobbyists in the Nation’s Capital and he has made every top lobbyist list the magazine has published.

Mr. Raffaelli spent four years on Capitol Hill as counsel for tax and international trade to Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX).  He developed extensive expertise in the tax rules governing depreciation, R&D, insurance, real estate, energy and other issues; and, as a lobbyist, he has regularly represented clients before Congress on those issues.  Before founding Capitol Counsel, Mr. Raffaelli was a founder and former Chairman of The Washington Group, a government relations firm in Washington, D.C., where he represented a wide variety of business, tax, and trade clients on Capitol Hill and before executive branch agencies.  Prior to serving with The Washington Group and its predecessor firm, Raffaelli, Spees, Springer and Smith, Mr. Raffaelli was a partner in the Washington law firm of Bishop Cook, Purcell and Reynolds.  Before serving on Senator Bentsen’s staff in the Senate, Mr. Raffaelli served as attorney advisor to then Chief Judge Samuel Sterrett of the U.S. Tax Court. He also served as Staff Assistant to Congressman Wright Patman (D-TX).

Mr. Raffaelli has served as a managing trustee of the Democratic National Committee. He was also actively involved in the 1992 Clinton for President Campaign, served on the 1996 Clinton-Gore National Finance Committee and served as Vice Chair of the Kerry for President Campaign. He is active each year in many House and Senate campaigns.  Mr. Raffaelli also served on the President’s Advisory Committee on The Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Raffaelli holds an L.L.M. degree in taxation from New York University Law School, a J.D. degree from the University of Arkansas law School and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from American University.

Jeff D. DeBoer

Jeff DeBoer is the founding President and CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable.  The Real Estate Roundtable represents the leadership of the nation’s top 150 privately-owned and publicly-held real estate ownership development, lending and management firms, as well as the elected leaders of the 16 major national real estate industry trade associations.  Collectively, Roundtable members’ portfolios contain over 5 billion square feet of commercial, retail and industrial properties valued at more than $1 trillion that includes over 1.5 million apartment units and in excess of 1.3 million hotel rooms.

Mr. DeBoer has served as President and CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable since 1997 and through a variety of positions he has been at the forefront of every major piece of legislation affecting the real estate industry during the last twenty-five years.  In addition to his position at the Roundtable, Mr. DeBoer serves as Chairman of the Real Estate Industry Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RE-ISAC), an organization dedicated to enhancing the two-way communication between the industry and federal policymakers on matters relating to building security, terrorist threats, and incident reporting. He also serves as Chairman of the National Real Estate Organizations, a coalition of real estate trade associations working together to enhance the coordination of the industry’s overall Washington advocacy efforts.  He also served as co-chairman of the Advisory Board of the RAND Corporations’ Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy and was a founding member of the steering committee of the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT).

Mr. DeBoer has discussed real estate and economic policy issues on FOX News, Bloomberg Television and CNBC; and his editorials have been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.  Mr. DeBoer was voted a “top 10 Industry Newsmaker of the Decade” by GlobeSt.com.  He is a member of the Virginia Bar Association and the American Bar Association.  A native of Rapid City, South Dakota, Mr. DeBoer earned a law degree from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and an undergraduate degree from Yankton College in Yankton, South Dakota.  Mr. DeBoer resides with his family in Alexandria, Virginia.

Phil Gardner
Philip L. Gardner will work advising IGEN on the international market for our systems and will be instrumental in assisting the Board in making sound intelligent decisions on expanding our presence globally. Currently he is president, CEO and Director of Advanced Applied Physics Solutions, Inc. UBC (Triumf) Vancouver, Canada. Mr. Gardner's career in Canada has included providing economic and financial advice to cabinet committees of governments and oil industry leaders. Recently, as senior commercialization executive at TRIUMF, Canada's National laboratory for research into sub-atomic physics, Mr. Gardner oversaw an increase in commercial revenues by twenty times their value, which resulted in the institution receiving several national awards for its commercial achievements. Mr. Gardner has held memberships and executive positions in a number of national and international professional organizations and is currently on the Board of Directors of several companies. He has published over fifty papers, several of which have been selected by international editors to be chapters in their published books.

Peter Goelz
Peter Goelz offers IGEN decades of experience in national crisis communications and federal relations, with a specialty in aviation and transportation. He is regularly sought-after by national media as a commentator on aviation safety matters, appearing frequently on CNN, CBS Evening News, FOX News, MSNBC, and others. Most recently, Mr. Goelz worked for an international public relations firm where his clients included major airlines, aviation maintenance companies and leading transportation safety and security firms. Previously, Mr. Goelz served as managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board. He is widely hailed as one of the country's most experienced coordinators in disaster situations.

Kelly O'Brian
Kelly O’Brian previous to joining IGEN served at the US department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) as Director of Public Affairs and as liaison for the Secretary to the nation’s premier leaders of business, government and academia regarding American Competitiveness. Kelly will be instrumental in assisting IGEN’s deployment throughout rural America. Kelly know holds the position as a director of County Executives of America whose mission is to help county governments serve the American people in the most responsive, most efficient way by acting as a national voice for its leaders and representing its interests on all levels of government.

Elliot H. Levine
Elliot H. Levine is Managing Member of Levine & Seltzer, LLP, Certified Public Accountants, based in New York City, a firm he co-founded in 1992. Levine & Seltzer provides a wide range of tax and accounting services. Clients include high net worth individuals and businesses in publishing, media, retail, manufacturing, hedge funds and securities trading. The firm also represents professionals who own in excess of $2 billion in real estate. Elliot Levine graduated from Queens College in 1975. He became a Licensed Certified Public Accountant in 1978. Mr. Levine began his work experience in 1975 at Arthur Young & Co. In 1980 he was employed as Tax Manager at Margoln Winer & Evans, CPA's. From 1981 to 1992 he was Director of Taxes at Leslie Sufrin & Co. a mid-sized New York accounting firm. Mr. Levine has particular expertise in the media and publishing industries and in the real estate world. He is frequently retained as a consultant in structuring accounting and tax related aspects of acquisitions and dispositions.  Mr. Levine is a director of Gyrodyne, Inc. (GYRO), a publically traded real estate investment trust on the NASDAQ. He is also a member of the Investment, Audit and Nominating Committees of Gyrodyne.

William E. Casselman
William E. Casselman, II is a founding partner of Waldron & Casselman and Counsel to Nealon & Associates, P.C., both law firms located in Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. Casselman represents U.S. and foreign clients on business and government matters, including commercial transactions, government contracts and federal lobbying. He is particularly experienced in international business, trade and finance matters. Much of his practice over the years has been devoted to technology issues, working with a wide variety of companies in the information technology and telecommunications industries. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Casselman served for over 10 years in appointed positions within the Executive and Legislative Branches of the U.S. Government, culminating with his appointment by President Ford as Counsel to the President, after serving as Legal Counsel to Vice President Ford. During his government service, starting as Legislative Assistant to a senior Member of Congress on the House Judiciary and Government Operations committees, Mr. Casselman first became involved with emerging computer technologies and advanced telecommunications. As General Counsel of the General Services Administration, where he directed the work of more than 200 lawyers and paralegals, his office was responsible for legal oversight of the Federal Telecommunications System, the principal communications network of the U.S. government, and the award of major computer systems and other IT contracts. Apart from his law practice, Mr. Casselman has served as a consultant or principal with U.S. and foreign companies in the development of several IT and telecom ventures. Among others, these include overseas fibre optic and wireless voice and data projects; distribution of the world's first mobile, wireless electronic funds transfer/point-of-sale device; commercialization of broadband-over-power-line technologies; marketing of optical data storage devices; and the sale of enterprise software for information management. Mr. Casselman also has several years of experience in satellite data communications projects relating to the oil and gas industry, in particular, efforts to monitor exploration and production equipment using the ORBCOMM System™ of Low-earth Orbit ("LeO") satellites. In addition, he has worked on projects involving development of active signal processing of seismic data and other oil and gas technologies, as well as participating in leasing and drilling programs.

Mr. Casselman has been active in various public service capacities, having served as a Founding Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Museum; Board Member, The George Washington Law Association; Board Member, Foundation for International Business Education and Research; Member, Committee on Legal Services, National Trust for Historic Preservation; and Counsel and Fellow at the Georgetown University National Center for Export-Import Studies, also having served as a Lecturer on international business at the University's School of Business. For two years, he was the host and moderator of the "International Trade Talk" segment of "Small Business Digest," a public cable television program broadcast in the Washington, DC area and other local markets.  Mr. Casselman maintains a continuing interest in national Republican politics, and previously served in the campaigns and/or administrative transition offices of Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and Presidential candidates Robert Dole and Lamar Alexander.

Mr. Casselman holds a B.A. in Government from Claremont McKenna College and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. He is a recipient of GWU's Distinguished Achievement Award, the University's highest alumni honor. Mr. Casselman also attended the Universidad de Madrid. He is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Virginia.

Albert Mokhiber

Mr. Mokhiber is an attorney in the D.C. Metropolitan area with an extensive background in immigration, government affairs, political consulting and public relations.  A partner in the law firm Mokhiber & Moretti, LLC, Mr. Mokhiber has an international practice dealing with individual and corporate clients concentrating in the areas of administrative, corporate, international and immigration law. Mr. Mokhiber served as National President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) from September 1990 to October 1994.  In that capacity, he has represented ADC in public and private forums across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa on issues ranging from civil rights, human rights, international relations and expanding markets.

Mr. Mokhiber has served on the national boards of the Association of Arab-American University Graduate (AAUG), the American Committee on Jerusalem (ACJ) and ADC for which he currently serves on the National Board and Executive Committee. In addition, Mr. Mokhiber has served as a co-chair of the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.  He served as a member of an international observer team for the 1997 elections in Yemen.

Mr. Mokhiber joined the ADC staff in 1984 as Director of Legal Services where he counseled thousands of members and developed a national legal referral network consisting of hundreds of attorneys.  He represented ADC before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case of St. Francis College v. Al-Khazraji which held that Arab-Americans were entitled to full protection under the Civil Rights Act.A frequent media guest and lecturer, Mr. Mokhiber has been featured on numerous American and foreign radio and television shows from Larry King Live and Crossfire to print media pieces ranging from The New York Times to People Magazine.

Mr. Mokhiber holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and History from the State University of New York (SUNY) Binghamton and a Juris Doctorate from the SNY Buffalo Faculty of Law and Jurisprudence.  He is licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in the states of New York, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Carlos Calderon
Carlos Calderon, a native of Bolivia, currently serves as the President/CEO of the Organization of American States (OAS) Staff Federal Credit Union, in Washington, D.C. During his 24 year involvement in credit unions, Mr. Calderon has consulted in credit union development in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and St. Lucia. Mr. Calderon received the World Council of Credit Unions Silver Award for credit union development work. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Credit Union Mortgage Association (CUMA), is a member of CUNA's International Legislative and Operational Committee and co-founder and past chairman of the Network of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals.

Mr. Calderon holds an Executive Masters in Leadership degree (E.M.L. 2007) from Georgetown University. He received his Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A. 1988) from Marymount University and his Bachelors of Science in Information Systems (B.S. 1982) from George Mason University.

Michael Griffin
Mr. Michael Griffin has been Executive Director of the County Executives of America for the past 26 years. The County Executives of America is a non-partisan organization that includes a membership of over 700 chief elected executives of a county or consolidated city/county government. This esteemed group represents more than 50% of the nation's population and includes the largest metropolitan governments in the country.

Michael Griffin is also President of the Institute for regional Regional Development, a non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting cooperation between local governments and business interests throughout the world. Mr. Griffin has acted as a consultant to Congress, the Senate and four Presidents. Mr. Griffin was previously Executive Secretary of the New York State Pension Advisory Board. He was also President of Polites Communications Company; President and CEO of Creative Resources Group; Principal Legislative Coordinator of the New York Legislature and Executive Director of the American Association of Trustees, Managers and Administrators.  Mr. Griffin was director of legislation for New York Governor Hugh Carey and directed the successful campaigns of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynahan, Senator Bob Graham and Mayor Ed Koch. Michael Griffin received his BA from the University of Miami and his MA from Cornell University.

 Jim Gottlieb

Jim Gottlieb is a partner with Capitol Counsel LLC, where he leads the commerce team. He brings over three decades of senior-level experience in a broad range of positions in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and in the private and non-profit sectors.  His in-depth experience in legislation, oversight and investigations and political roles on Capitol Hill, foundation management, and consulting and strategic advisory roles outside of government led Mr. Gottlieb to form his own government affairs firm in 2009, Gottlieb Strategic Consulting. Mr. Gottlieb joined Capitol Counsel in January 2010.

After graduating from law school and several years of private law practice in New York City, in 1977 Mr. Gottlieb moved to Washington to serve as the Chief of Staff for Representative Ted Weiss (D-NY).  Subsequently, he served on the Subcommittee on Human Resources and Government Relations of the House Committee on Government Operations (now Oversight and Government Reform) where he directed a wide range of investigations and legislation in health, education and veterans’ matters.  In 1992, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) asked Jim to serve in the Senate as his chief counsel and staff director for the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.  From late 1999 until March 2003, he also served as Senator Rockefeller’s chief of staff and was responsible for his legislative, community, economic development and political operations.  Mr. Gottlieb left Capitol Hill in 2003 to serve as Chief Management Consultant to the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI), a medical research institute dedicated to the study of memory and brain disorders. During this time, Mr. Gottlieb acted as a strategic policy and advocacy advisor, managed the restructuring of this multi-million dollar medical research facility for the study of brain disorders and continued to serve as legal counsel and policy advisor to Senator Rockefeller, the Institute’s Chairman.

Mr. Gottlieb has also served as a strategic management consultant to The George Washington University Medical Center’s Center for Health Services and Policy under a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts and was Executive Vice President for the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF).  In his role at NPAF, he spearheaded government affairs activities designed to work with members of Congress and their staffs to find solutions to patient access issues.  He also worked with pharmaceutical firms, provider groups and other D.C.-based patient groups with similar issues and interests.  In 2008, Mr. Gottlieb left NPAF to work on the Obama presidential campaign.Mr. Gottlieb’s client focus includes a broad range of commerce matters including aviation, telecommunications, e-commerce, oversight and investigations, mergers and acquisitions, and health.

Mr. Gottlieb holds a business degree from Michigan State University, a Master of Education from New York University and a law degree from New York Law School.  He also serves as a Director on the Board of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute and as Treasurer of Friends of Jay Rockefeller.

James Pasco
James Pasco is the Executive Director of the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), with over 324,000 members. FOP is the oldest and largest police organization in the United States. In this position, Mr. Pasco is responsible for all operations of the Washington, D.C. office, including all legislative initiatives and oversight of programs/policies that impact police officers across the country.

Mr. Pasco is also Principal Partner of the consulting firm, Jim Pasco & Associates. He has been a legislative and media consultant with over 28 years of experience within the federal government.  Jim Pasco served in the United States Army from 1965 to 1967. He began his federal career with the United States Customs Service in 1968. In 1970 he joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). During his tenure with ATF, he ascended to the Senior Executive Service and held a number of key managerial positions, including Chief, Procedures Branch; Chief, Strategic Planning; and Chief, Alcohol Import-Export Branch. Mr. Pasco retired from the ATF in 1995 after serving 11 years as the Assistant Director for Congressional and Media Affairs.  At the request of the President, Mr. Pasco served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Advisory Committee. He has been appointed to numerous boards and committees, including a Presidential appointment to the Federal Salary Council; the United States Marshalls Service Advisory Board on Judicial Security; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Civilian Police International Board of Advisors.

Patrick D. Minix

Since 1996, Mr. Minix has developed a wide variety of optical sensors and tactical communication systems as the Vice President for Research and Development for a Defense contractor.  These embedded sensors have gone from the lab to field on tight schedules and budgets. He is a graduate of The Citadel and has unparalleled experience fielding and testing new technologies in austere conditions worldwide.