(Fairfax, Virginia) - The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced today that Johnny Crawford, Executive Vice President of Tower Development at Vertical Bridge, Amanda Freeman, Director of Safety – Tower Assets at Crown Castle, Leticia Latino-van Splunteran, Chief Executive Officer at Neptuno USA, Corp, and Jim Tracy, Co-Founder at Legacy Telecommunications, LLC, have been appointed as members of the organization’s Board of Governors.
In their new roles as members of the Board of Governors, Crawford, Freeman, Latino-van Splunteran, and Tracy will join representatives from a broad cross-section of the industry who are tasked with developing policy and overseeing the activities of the various committees that will serve under their authority.
NWSA, headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, is a national non-profit assessment and certification organization established to provide thorough, independent assessments of knowledge and skills and provide verifiable, ANSI accredited trade certifications to enhance safety, reduce workplace risk, improve quality, encourage training, and recognize the skilled professionals who work on towers and other non-standard communication structures.
“NWSA is thrilled to welcome the expertise and leadership abilities of Johnny, Amanda, Leticia, and Jim to the talented and diverse roster of Governors that we continue to assemble,” stated Executive Director Duane MacEntee. “All four of these leaders come from outstanding companies in the industry and have the necessary relationships, experience and subject matter expertise that will serve to continue helping our credentialing organization scale the number of NWSA certified trade workers in the United States,” added MacEntee.
NWSA currently offers the following industry-wide trade certification programs: Telecommunications Tower Technician 1 (TTT-1), Telecommunications Tower Technician 2 (TTT-2), Telecommunications Tower Foreman and Antenna & Line Specialty Certification Program.
Biographies
Johnny Crawford
Johnny Crawford is the Executive Vice President of Tower Development at Vertical Bridge. He is responsible for overseeing all sales and delivery of build-to-suit opportunities for the company.
Prior to joining Vertical Bridge, Mr. Crawford was Vice President of Business Development, Network Services at SBA Communications Corporation where he was responsible for sales to SBA’s national customers. Additionally, he has served as Vice President of Engineering and Operations for Airgate PCS, a Sprint PCS affiliate and as Director of Engineering and Operations for Sprint, where he launched one of the first PCS markets. Mr. Crawford was also a co-owner of Optima Towers, a South Carolina-based regional tower owner.
Mr. Crawford was recently appointed as a Board Member for Music-Movement.Org, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization that develops and funds music centric programs for children and young adults living with autism.
Amanda Freeman
Amanda Freeman has a Bachelor of Science in Food Science and Nutrition from Florida State University and a Master of Science in Occupational Safety & Health from Eastern Kentucky University. Amanda is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP). She has been a member of the military for over 13 years, and currently serves in the Georgia National Guard. Amanda’s safety experience extends back to her military tenure, and most recently from One Diversified, an audio-visual integration company with 40 U.S. and 8 international locations. At One Diversified, she led the development & implementation of health and safety management programs and culture. Prior to One Diversified, Amanda was a Project Safety Manager at Turner Construction. At Turner, she managed all safety processes for multi-phase $100 million -plus construction projects involving over 600 teammates and vendors.
Amanda is married with a 3-year-old son and a 16-year-old stepdaughter. She is originally from Boynton Beach Florida, and has lived in the Atlanta area for almost 10 years. She enjoys working out, reading, and spending time with her family.
Leticia Latino-van Splunteran
With over 25 years of experience in the telecom industry, Leticia Latino-van Splunteran went from working for Merrill Lynch and Telecom Giant Nortel Networks to accepting the challenge of extending the legacy of establishing her family business in the U.S. back in 2002. Neptuno Group was originally founded by her father in 1972 in South America where they helped deploy some of the first Cellular Networks in the region and where they have built over 10,000 towers. Leticia is a recipient of the Women in IoT award by Connected Magazine, Revolutionary CEO’s by Aspioneer, Most Connected Women in Telecom by Conecta Latam and one of the 30 most influential Leaders in Tech by Insight Success. She served as a full member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Development Advisory Committee (BDAC) and Chaired the Job Skills and Training Working Group for a 2-year term. She is currently appointed to the FCC Equity and Diversity Innovation and access working group and was an FCC Appointed member to the Telecommunications Interagency Working Group that presented a report to Congress on January 2023 on the challenges of the US Telecom Workforce, as required by the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act. She is an avid advocate of Workforce Development, DEI and ESG Initiatives.
In addition, Leticia is a published author, public speaker, mentor to young women and a big advocate of nurturing “Human Connections” through her +200 published episodes Back2Basics Podcast.
Jim Tracy
Jim Tracy is a Co-founder of Legacy Telecommunications, LLC, a wireless infrastructure business. He serves as Senior Advisor and leads the media, industry relations and acquisition efforts for Ontivity, LLC a PE backed national wireless infrastructure family of companies.
Mr. Tracy is a Partner in Legacy Enterprises, Inc., SENL, LLC and Hecla Land Company, Inc. which are family-owned commercial and agricultural Real Estate Holding Companies. He has over 3 decades of experience in Senior Management of commercial construction and development.
Jim is an instrument rated multi-engine Pilot with over 2000 hours of flight time in high performance, complex and jet aircraft. He is an author, speaker, and does keynotes on a wide variety of topics.
Jim is involved in the leadership of diverse and select organizations which include:
- Past Chairman of the Board of NATE – The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association
- Founding President of the Tower Family Foundation (Charitable Trust)
- Founding and Past President of the NWSA, the National Wireless Safety Alliance
Mr. Tracy was inducted into the Wireless History Foundation’s Wireless Hall of Fame in 2021 and recognized with the prestigious Bill Carlson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.