FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Grimm – Chris.Grimm@dcimpactgroup.com
Application Developers Alliance Board of Director Confirms Co-Founder and Acting President
Jake Ward as New President and CEO
Ward Succeeds Co-Founder Jon Potter in Developer Association’s Top Leadership Position
Washington, D.C. (October 8, 2015) – The Application Developers Alliance announced today that Jake Ward, an Alliance co-founder, was appointed President and CEO by the Board of Directors. Ward has served as Acting President since co-founder Jon Potter stepped down in September.
“The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Jake Ward is officially taking the Alliance’s reins,” said Geoff Hollingworth of Ericsson, Chair of the Alliance Board of Directors. “As one of the Alliance’s co-founders and leaders since its inception, Jake is the natural choice to succeed Jon and we are all very excited about the vision Jake has presented as we continue our mission of supporting developers as innovators and an essential workforce.”
The Alliance was founded in 2012 to promote developers as creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Since its launch, the Alliance now includes more than 60,000 developers and nearly 200 companies worldwide, with staff in the U.S., London and Brussels.
“I am honored by the Board’s decision and I look forward to leading the Alliance into our next phase,” said Ward. “We are eager to build on our foundation of service to the developer community, and remain committed to our role as the voice of developers on industry and policy issues. In the coming months we will introduce a number of new initiatives to support our members and help developers build better products and businesses, and actively engage on legislative and regulatory issues.”
In the last month, the Alliance has released its first annual Developer Insights Report: A Global Survey of Today’s Developer, hosted its eleventh App Strategy Workshop this year, announced a new Enterprise Development Workshop Series, briefed Congressional staff on the dangers of patent trolls, advocated for upholding the 2000 Safe Harbor agreement between the U.S. and the members of the European Union, and called on Congress to develop a comprehensive plan for managing the wireless spectrum.
“The Board congratulates Jake on his appointment as President,” said Jenny Fielding, Managing Director at TechStars. “Starting a company is no simple task, and building on success can be every bit as daunting. But we know that under Jake’s leadership, the Alliance will grow its base and business while advocating on behalf of entrepreneurs.”
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The Application Developers Alliance is a non-profit global membership organization that supports developers as creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs. We promote app industry growth and advocate on behalf of our members on public policy and industry issues. The Alliance serves more than 36,000 individual members and more than 200 companies, including app publishers, platforms, wireless carriers, hardware manufacturers, ad networks, enterprise tools and service providers.
