Board director who helps boards get technology right before the money is spent, not after something breaks. Twenty-five years in mission-critical networks, now applied to AI, cyber, and infrastructure oversight.

Current boards

First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority)

Board Member, appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, 2024. The FirstNet Authority is an independent authority within the U.S. Department of Commerce overseeing the nationwide public safety broadband network.

  • Chair, Programs and Future Planning Committee. Oversees long-range network strategy, technology roadmaps, and how current and next-generation capabilities reach first responders.
  • Member, Finance and Investment Committee. Reviews and recommends the annual operating budget, reserves, and network reinvestment funding to the full board.

Official FirstNet Authority board biography

Legends Public Charter School

Board Chair. K-8 public charter school in Prince George's County, Maryland, with more than 900 students. Chairs the board's governance, fiduciary oversight, and charter accountability to the authorizer, families, and community.

Former: Board Member, Kindred Communities (2017 to 2019). Member, Forbes Business Council.

What I bring to a board

I help boards get technology right before the money is spent, not after something breaks. In practice that means three things, each one I do today on the FirstNet Authority Board.

  • Long-range technology strategy. As chair of the Programs and Future Planning Committee, I lead the board's oversight of network strategy and technology roadmaps, and of how new capabilities reach the people who use them.
  • Capital and budget discipline. On the Finance and Investment Committee, I review and recommend the operating budget, reserves, and reinvestment funding before they reach the full board.
  • Oversight in public. Federal board service means statutory duties and public meetings. I ask plain questions early: who is accountable, what could go wrong and for whom, and how we would know.

I treat technology risk as enterprise risk, in the language of the audit and risk committees, and I keep the people a system serves in view when the board weighs cost, speed, and risk.

Governance education

  • UCLA Anderson Board Director Program (NACD-accredited, 2026)
  • NACD Virtual Director Professionalism
  • Georgetown McDonough, Tech Innovator: Mastery & Business Innovation in a Digital Era
  • BoardSource Certificate of Nonprofit Board Education

B.S., Computer Science, Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois), 1999.

Operating background

Founder and CEO, NetAesthetics. Building technology firms since 2005. Founder, Great Dwellings (exited January 2025). Earlier, network architect at Verizon and AT&T and consultant at Accenture and KPMG.

Board resume (PDF)  ·  One-page bio (PDF)

Open to board service

Email rscarlett@netaesthetics.com.