David Gandini

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Dave is a serial entrepreneur and has spent his career identifying and seizing opportunities in telecommunications, technology, software and automated packaging. In his role at SOBR Safe, he is responsible for capital creation, new business acquisition, business strategy & development and partnership revenue generation.

Dave most recently served as President of IPS Denver, a bank card personalization and packaging entity, where he transformed the company into the leader in the US secured gift market space – growing the company from concept to $46 million in revenue. IPS was acquired by a public company in 2014. Prior to his engagement at IPS, Dave was the COO at First World Communications, a major US internet and Data Center provider, and participated in its successful IPO in 2000, raising over $250 million. Previously, Dave founded Pace Network Services, providing carrier SS7 signaling to US long distance providers and facilitated a successful exit to ICG Communications. He also co-founded Detroit-based Digital Signal in the fiber optic long haul market sector, where he executed a successful exit to SP Telecom.

Dave is a father of three boys, and resides with his wife in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Telecommunications. He was a scholarship NCAA Division I Hockey player, and was a member of the US Junior National Team and a US Junior All-American.

Ford Fay

Director

Ford is an experienced Operations & Engineering executive focusing in business transformation & efficiency improvements across People, Process & Systems. He is currently an executive at Crown Castle International, and learned his craft at Rochester Telephone, building teams, processes and systems across many departments in the Telecommunication space.

Ford went on to executive roles in Engineering, Planning and Network Access at US West, Qwest, tw telecom and Zayo.  While continuing to hone his expertise in People, Process & Systems, he led the technical  aspects of a large $1 B startup within US West, helped Qwest to stave off bankruptcy by saving $100 MM year and led improvements at tw telecom that made it an envied leader in the CLEC sector. He has been engaged in over 40 acquisitions and successful integrations over his career. His career has included significant business dealings internationally, mostly focused in the Americas and Europe.

Ford earned a degree in Operations Research & Information Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from the Simon School of Business, University of Rochester. His interests include skiing, travel, cycling, golf and hockey. 

Steve Beabout

Director

For nearly 20 years Steve served as General Counsel and a Senior Officer of the cable and satellite network Starz, over which time he was promoted from Vice President to Executive Vice President and Secretary. He was part of the strategic senior management team that grew the business from a relative startup to a multibillion-dollar Nasdaq company. He was responsible for the negotiation of multimillion to billion-dollar contracts with the likes of Universal, Disney, Sony, Comcast, Time-Warner, Netflix and more. He was responsible for all legal aspects of the business, including sales, marketing, studio acquisitions, programing, human resources and general corporate operations.  As General Counsel and Secretary he was heavily involved in public company governance. Steve is also an accomplished technology investor, with a focus on potentially disruptive, emerging growth solutions.

Sandy Shoemaker

Director

Sandy has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2021 and serves as Chairperson of the audit committee of our Board of Directors. She retired from public accounting in June 2021 to focus on consulting with small-medium sized companies. Sandy was a partner in the audit service area of EKS&H/Plante Moran and was involved in public accounting since 1990, serving publicly traded and privately held companies. She led the EKS&H SEC practice for several years. Her experience includes initial and secondary public offerings, reverse mergers, annual and quarterly audits of public companies, responses to SEC comment letters, assisting with implementation of new accounting pronouncements, business acquisitions, stock-based compensation, and internal controls. Sandy has provided services to companies in the various industries such as bio-tech, franchising, distribution, manufacturing, medical-device, restaurants and real estate industries. She also has extensive experience in working with employee-owned companies. 

Sandy has numerous professional affiliations including, but limited to, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants (CSCPA), and the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). She received her B.S. in Accounting, graduating cum laude, from Southwest Missouri State University.

Kris Pederson

Director

Kris Pederson is a retired EY and PwC partner and IBM Vice President.  She is currently a board director of the NFL Alumni Association, Harvard Business School, NACD Colorado, and NASDAQ’s Governance Advisory Council. Prior, she was a director on the boards of Great Western Bank, Windward Reports, and the Association of Mechanical Engineers. As the past leader of EY’s Center for Board Matters, Kris supported the firm’s engagement with boards, committees, and directors. Expertise areas are the board’s role in strategy definition, digital transformation oversight, emerging tech and AI policy, risk management, M&A/IPO governance, and board performance.  Kris also has significant operational experience as EY’s Americas Strategy Consulting Leader overseeing 1200 as part of a $4B consulting unit and $250M P&L. As VP at IBM, she ran strategic transformation practices, including the strategy arm of a $7B business unit, and several global management consulting practices with P&L ownership of $300M-$1.5B. Kris was recognized by NACD as a leading governance professional in 2022, 23, and 24. She was awarded Consulting Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and as a Top 25 Consultant in 2007.  She received an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BA from UCLA. She lives in Boulder CO and enjoys golfing, skiing, swimming, and hiking in the mountains with her family.