Strople brings a wealth of experience to his new role, having previously served as President of Allstream and Managing Director of Zayo Canada. As a member of the telMAX Board of Directors since July 2022, Strople has played a role in contributing to the expansive growth of the company. He has over two decades of leadership, coupled with extensive experience in technology, IT, operations, customer service and sales, which positions him as an ideal leader to steer telMAX into its next phase of significant growth. “As telMAX continues its substantial growth and expansion, it is a privilege to lead the company into 2024 and beyond, bringing limitless possibilities and lightning connections to the communities that we serve today and in the future. I am confident that telMAX’s dedication to innovation, community engagement and unparalleled customer service sets us apart as a provider unlike any other in Canada,” said Strople. Having commenced his career in research and development, Strople’s professional experience includes strategic and operational M&A expertise, successfully leading complex corporate integrations/ separations and business transformations. His recent role as leader of Allstream showcased his commitment to accelerating business innovation through cloud communications technologies, simplifying customers’ business communications needs. Stuart Roberts, who has guided the company since May 2022, will transition into the role of President and Chief Operating Officer. “I am pleased to hand the reigns of telMAX over to Michael. His skills and talents make a very welcomed – and valuable – addition to the leadership team,” commented Roberts. “I am looking forward to continuing my efforts to grow telMAX in my new role and am looking forward to working with and supporting Michael as our new CEO.” Acknowledging Roberts’s leadership, John Troy, Chair telMAX Board of Directors states: “I want to extend the Board’s gratitude for the tremendous impact Stuart has had on telMAX over the past year and a half and I am confident that Michael’s leadership will build upon these successes, propelling telMAX into the next phase of our expansion.” As telMAX continues its expansion throughout the GTA and Southern Ontario, Strople’s unwavering dedication to driving growth and enhancing customer experiences aligns seamlessly with the company’s mission to become the most customer-centric, communityfocused telecommunications company in Canada. In 2023, telMAX expanded its pure fibre network from Brooklin and Stouffville to Newmarket and has just broken ground in Aurora. They are in the process of planning and approvals for two additional towns which will see construction begin in 2024. telMAX remains committed to providing faster, more reliable, and affordable high-speed fibre internet access to communities, prioritizing superior and local customer service, all achieved without relying on taxpayer dollars. telMAX Announces Michael Strople as CEO Berrett-Koehler Publishers (BK), a mission-driven publishing company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Praveen Madan today as its new CEO and publisher. The decision comes as current CEO and publisher David Marshall retires from BK after 17 years of dedicated service. Madan states, “I am deeply honored and grateful to have this opportunity to serve the global Berrett-Koehler community, which has been a source of profound learning and unwavering generosity.” Madan envisions a new publishing model for BK that continues to deepen its roots as an author-friendly, mission-based book publisher and expands innovation and collaboration with partners. After a successful career as a strategy and transformation consultant for leading companies, Madan moved to the book industry and has become a leader in developing a new model for next-generation community bookstores. As CEO of Kepler’s Books since 2012, he has led a successful turnaround and reinvention of this legendary cultural institution. Madan’s innovative strategies, such as embracing the nonprofit model, implementing community financing and governance, developing new revenue streams, and raising wages to build a strong team, are being replicated by many bookstores around the US. He says his learnings from the BK community have been critical to his success in the book industry. BK founder and senior editor Steve Piersanti states, “Berrett-Koehler is wonderfully fortunate to welcome Praveen as our new CEO and publisher. Praveen brings the best of both outsider and insider experience through his business consulting career, followed by his dynamic independent bookselling leadership, combined with serving from 2009 to 2020 on the BK board of directors, including two years as board chair. Praveen brings intimate knowledge of BK’s business and culture along with fresh, innovative outsider perspectives.” Berrett-Koehler Publishers has been facing financial difficulties over the past year due to several factors, including the lingering effects of the pandemic and market pressures within BK’s areas of publishing. Madan’s vision and turnaround experience will guide the company through these challenges to emerge stronger than ever. BK author and board chair Joyce Roché said, “I have always believed that the right person shows up at the right time and that is the case with our selection of Praveen as BerrettKoehler’s new CEO and publisher. Praveen has the brainpower, book industry experience, and passion for Berrett-Koehler that are needed at this challenging time in the company’s history.” As BK moves forward with new leadership, we welcome support and involvement from anyone who wants to join us in the BK community’s mission of co-creating a world that works for all. Madan said, “One of the reasons why I am accepting this challenge is the urgent necessity to reimagine the relationship between book publishers and bookstores. I would also love to see more publishers, bookstores, and authors adopt the human-first approach that Berrett-Koehler has pioneered. Our collective future is at stake.” Praveen Madan is a nationally recognized leader in reinventing bookselling and building literary communities. As CEO of Kepler’s Books since 2012, Praveen has been leading a community-sponsored initiative to transform Kepler’s into a model next-generation community bookstore. In 2021, he co-convened the Reimagining Bookstores movement with a mission to strengthen communities, deepen literacy, and pay living wages to people working in bookstores. Reimagining Bookstores’ inaugural conference attracted nearly 600 participants from all walks of the bookstore ecosystem and was reported by Publishers Weekly to be “one of the most invigorating gatherings on independent bookselling in a generation.” Praveen is the former chair of the board of directors at Berrett-Koehler Publishers. He holds an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Before moving to the book industry, he spent a decade working at Kearney, the global management consulting firm.
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