Leadership

Jason is a strategically-minded executive with 25 years of operating experience in the telecommunications & infrastructure sector.

Over the last 14 years, Jason has held Chief Operating Officer positions at Segra, Crown Castle Fiber Solutions and Lightower Fiber Networks. Prior to his work within fiber infrastructure platforms, Jason held numerous management positions at One Communications and Conversent Communications. In addition to his telecommunications positions, Jason previously served as an Operating Executive at Berkshire Partners.

Jason holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from New England College.

Mr. Coughlin joined FirstLight in February, 2013 and currently serves as its Chief Development Officer, where he is responsible for leading all aspects of corporate development, including M&A, business development, market expansion, corporate strategy and innovation as well as leading the Company’s ILEC division on behalf of the organization. He also serves on FirstLight’s Board of Directors as well as the Vermont Technology Alliance (vtTA) board. Previously, he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Fibertower. From 2005-2009, he served as Vice President of Sales at RCN Metro (formerly NEON Communications and Globix Corporation), where he was responsible for sales and marketing for the entire U.S. and oversaw a sales team comprised of 55 people. Prior to that position, he served as Senior Director of Sales at NEON from October 2001 until December 2005. Mr. Coughlin also served as a Senior Account Executive with NEON and other telecommunications companies, including AT&T and USTelecenters, during which time he was recognized for being a leading sales contributor for major accounts.

Mr. Coughlin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Peter Zarrella joined FirstLight in June of 2023 and holds the position of Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of financial and strategic management as well as driving empowerment by leveraging financial analytics. Prior to FirstLight, Mr. Zarrella was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for Lightpath. Prior to that he was Chief Financial Officer for Segra and VP of Finance for Crown Castle. Mr. Zarrella began his career at Ernst and Young.

Mr. Zarrella earned a BS in Accounting from Bentley University.

Mike Constantino joined FirstLight in September of 2023 as the Chief Operating Officer, where he is responsible for leading all aspects of Engineering, Customer Operations, Network Operations, Construction Services, Service Delivery and Outside Plant. Previously, he held various leadership roles at Crown Castle including VP of Network Engineering, VP Network Programs and VP of Service Delivery. In addition to these roles, he led several company-wide transformation initiatives focused on asset management, automation of the estimation process and combining multiple project delivery platforms into one. Prior to that, he was VP and General Manager of New England Operations at Lightower. He started his career with Broadwing Communications serving in several operations roles.

Mr. Constantino also honorably served in the US Army.

Mr. Leuzzi holds the position of Chief Revenue Officer for FirstLight. In this role, he is responsible for sales management and results as well as marketing and product management. Prior to joining FirstLight, he was Head of Carrier and Wholesale at Crown Castle. Throughout his career he has held management positions of increasing responsibility at several well-known carriers including Lightower, Earthlink and One Communications.

Mr. Leuzzi attended SUNY Geneseo and holds a BS in History and Economics.

Bruce Dyke joined FirstLight in December, 2023 as the Chief Information Officer. Bruce is a highly experienced IT/IS leader and has been materially involved with many telecom mergers, acquisitions & integrations. Bruce has a deep background in the implementation of OSS/BSS platforms and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to improve workflow processes and access to data. Bruce’s experience with IT Stack implementations and his leadership qualities related to an environment of inclusion and positive culture, make him an ideal addition to FirstLight Fiber. Prior to joining FirstLight, he held senior management positions, including Chief Information Officer for Segra, as well as senior IT roles at Crown Castle, Lightower and One Communications.

Mr. Dyke holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Franklin Pierce College and an Associates degree in Computer Information Technology from NH Technical Institute.

Jill Sandford joined FirstLight Fiber in June of 2015 and currently serves as its Chief Legal Officer. Ms. Sandford manages all aspects of legal, regulatory, compliance, safety, and human resources. Ms. Sandford has over twenty-five years’ experience in the telecommunications sector. From 1995-2001, Ms. Sandford served as a section chief in the New York State Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Telecommunications and Energy. From 2001-2014, Ms. Sandford held legal roles at Metromedia Fiber Network, AboveNet and Zayo each with increasing and broad responsibilities. Ms. Sandford serves as a member of the Board of Directors of INCOMPAS and a member of the Steering Committee for the Federal Communications Bar Association, New England Chapter.

Ms. Sandford earned a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University, a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School, and a certification in Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the Information Age from Harvard University.