Clifton Kagawa
Chief executive officer
Clifton Kagawa is Chief Executive Officer and a director and founder of Broadband iTV, Inc. He is a former board member and Asia Pacific Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for international public relations firm Hill & Knowlton. He held a similar position with international public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and served on parent company Young & Rubicam’s advisory board of directors. Prior to working in Asia with these firms, Mr. Kagawa was majority shareholder of Hawaii-based Communications-Pacific, one of the top 50 independent public relations firms in the U.S. at the time of its acquisition by London-based WPP Group. He has been active in community organizations including serving on the boards of the Rotary Club of Honolulu, Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, Aloha United Way, the Economic Development Corporation of Honolulu, and Chaminade University.
Milton Diaz
chief technology officer, inventor
Milton Diaz is the inventor behind BBiTV’s patent portfolio. As Chief Technology Officer for BBiTV, he oversees the company’s technology development projects, leveraging over 35 years of experience in software and product development and 25 years developing interactive platforms for the lodging, cable and web industries. From 1998-2002, Mr. Diaz was Senior Vice President of engineering and network at StarMedia Network, Inc., the largest operator of community and portal websites in Latin America. StarMedia was acquired, in part, by Yahoo and other web media companies. Mr. Diaz is also the former Vice President of Engineering at GuestServe, a San Francisco company that developed highly advanced, cost-effective interactive TV systems for cable. GuestServe was acquired by SeaChange, a leader in digital video servers. Mr. Diaz holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and a BA in Art history from Columbia University.
Glenn Yamashita
Chief Financial Officer
Glenn Yamashita serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Broadband iTV. He has formerly served in CFO roles in the retail sector with Honolulu Cookie Company, luxury hospitality with Halekulani Corporation, and telecommunications at Sprint Hawaii. Mr. Yamashita also served in financial planning and analysis roles with international data center operator Pihana Pacific, IT services provider Paxca, and the Estate of James Campbell real estate investment trust. Mr. Yamashita holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a BBA from the University of Hawaii, Manoa.
Adrienne Leff
Director of Operations, Corporate Secretary
A graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Adrienne Leff is the director of operations for BBiTV. She handles administrative and accounting activities for the company. She also engages in aspects of IP portfolio development, management, licensing, and enforcement. Ms. Leff additionally serves as Corporate Secretary.
Board of Directors
Jerry Daigle
Jerry Daigle is General Counsel to Advantage Capital Partners, a private equity firm that has raised more than $2 billion in capital for investment in companies that develop or apply innovative technologies or approaches to products, systems and services, including businesses located in communities that are underserved by traditional sources of risk capital. He is primarily involved in structuring the firm’s capital-raising transactions and regulatory compliance and has represented the firm in connection with its investments in numerous portfolio companies.
Les Leff
Les Leff is an investor in a portfolio of technology businesses and serves as a director on the boards of several of those companies. He brings decades of professional experience to BBiTV. He was Co-owner and Executive Vice President of JWS Delavau Co., Inc. and President of Accucorp, contract manufacturers and packagers of vitamins, minerals, and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, prior to co-leading the companies to a successful acquisition. Mr. Leff earned his BS in Pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
Albert Pleus
Albert Pleus is a principal and director of a diverse set of businesses in product security, specialty chemicals, financial services, technology, marketing and wellness, providing financial, strategic consulting and advisory services. He has over 25 years of experience in investment banking, investing, management and business operations in the areas of green tech, agricultural bioscience, software, telecommunications, digital image distribution and healthcare. Mr. Pleus started his career at Morgan Stanley, and has focused on principal investment roles and early stage investment banking over the past decade. He is on circa a dozen boards, including two non profits. He was previously a Managing Partner with V2V Associates and a Managing Director with Bedminster Financial Group. Mr. Pleus earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Stanford University.
Tony Thornley
Tony Thornley served as Interim President and chief executive officer of Callaway Golf Company from June 2011 to March 2012. From 2002 to 2005, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of QUALCOMM Incorporated, the San Diego-based company that pioneered and developed technologies used in wireless networks throughout much of the world. He previously served as QUALCOMM’s Chief Financial Officer beginning in 1994, while also holding titles of Vice President, Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President. Prior to joining QUALCOMM, Mr. Thornley worked for Nortel Networks for 16 years, serving in various financial and information systems management positions including Vice President of Public Networks, Vice President of Finance NT World Trade, and Corporate Controller Northern Telecom Limited. Before Nortel, Mr. Thornley worked for Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Thornley also served as a board member of Transdel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2007 to 2011, Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. from 2010 to 2014, and Cavium, Inc., from 2006 to 2018. Mr. Thornley received his degree in chemistry from Manchester University, England, and qualified as a chartered accountant.