Board of Directors
Stephen G. Wallace, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Stephen Wallace serves as chairman of the board and chief executive officer for Summit Communications Management Corporation. Summit's regional and national clients represent such industries as telecommunications, energy, and consumer products.
Mr. Wallace also serves as senior consultant at ML Strategies, LLC, the consulting arm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C.
Previously, Mr. Wallace served as Undersecretary of Economic Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, appointed by Governor William F. Weld. In this role he oversaw policy, planning, and management for a number of state agencies, including the Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment; the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism; the State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance; and the Massachusetts Office of Film and Video Development. As Undersecretary he also managed the state's marketing and advertising programs for business development and retention and served in an ex-officio capacity on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority and the Massachusetts Corporation for Educational Telecommunications. Mr. Wallace also served Massachusetts as Assistant Secretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, responsible for policy planning, consumer education, and external communications for the executive office and its nine regulatory agencies, including the Massachusetts Cable Commission, Division of Insurance, Division of Banks, Board of Registration in Medicine, Department of Public Utilities, and the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. During this time, Mr. Wallace chaired or served on a number of gubernatorial task forces covering such issues as public health, underage drinking, the environment, and education. He also hosted a statewide cable television program, Consumer Weekly, and was a regular contributor to local newscasts and radio programs.
Before entering government service, Mr. Wallace was a business communications and marketing consultant and served as a political advisor to candidates for U.S. Senator, Massachusetts Attorney General, state senator, and state representative.
Mr. Wallace volunteers his time as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) National organization. Elected to this position in September of 1995, Mr. Wallace plays an active role in establishing and implementing policy for SADD National, representing 10,000 middle school, high school, and college chapters across the country. He also travels frequently, speaking to young people, their families, and the media about adolescent development. He has authored numerous columns, articles, and opinion-editorials, which have been published in local, regional, and national media.
Mr. Wallace has broad experience as a school psychologist and adolescent counselor. He has held positions in the Psychological Services Department of the Palm Beach County, Florida, public schools; the Pupil Personnel Services Department of the Millis, Massachusetts, public schools; and the adolescent Psychiatric Unit of Fair Oaks Hospital in Summit, New Jersey. He has served as a member of the conference faculty for Miami Children's Hospital and has written and lectured widely on the subject of adolescent development. Currently, he is an adjunct professor of psychology at Mt. Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, a member of the board of directors of the National Commission Against Drunk Driving, the Director of Counseling and Counselor Training at the Cape Cod Sea Camps, Inc., and the CEO of the Summit Foundation for Teen Leadership, Inc. Mr. Wallace was recently appointed to serve as a member of a Massachusetts task force on sexual abuse and assault.
Mr. Wallace earned degrees from Susquehanna University and Bucknell University. He currently resides in Boston and Brewster, Massachusetts.
James I. Thompson, Jr., CPA Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer
James I. Thompson, Jr. has served as the Director of Finance and Corporate Services for the past 17 years at ViPS Healthcare Information Solutions, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. ViPS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emdeon Corporation (formerly WebMD Corp.), a public company traded on NASDAQ. ViPS develops complex software products that are marketed to Health Payer organizations in the federal government and commercial insurers. During his tenure at ViPS, Mr. Thompson developed financial controls and reporting systems, instituted budgeting and forecasting processes, created automated time reporting and management procedures, and implemented a cost-accounting system. In 1993, Mr. Thompson actively participated in the acquisition of ViPS by First Financial Management Corporation (FFMC) and again in 1998 in the process of the ViPS acquisition by Cornerstone Equity Investors, LLC. In 2004, Mr. Thompson was also actively involved in the acquisition of the Company by WebMD, later renamed Emdeon Corporation. He continues to serve as the Director of Finance and Corporate Services, directing a staff of 16 professionals.
Prior to joining ViPS, Mr. Thompson served eight months as Senior Staff Accountant before being promoted to Manager of Programs Finance for the Amecom Division of Litton Systems, Inc., College Park, Maryland. From 1985 to 1989, he managed the financial reporting and controls over all Litton Systems' contracts with the federal government, primarily with the Department of Defense. Among his accomplishments Mr. Thompson developed automated reporting systems and analysis tools for monitoring the financial performance of those contracts. He developed a more automated budgeting process by utilizing then-emerging PC technology, and created, developed and implemented the internal audit function.
Preceding his years at Litton Systems, Mr. Thompson was as a Staff Auditor and was subsequently promoted to Senior Auditor for the Big 8 public accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand in their New York/New Jersey offices. While at Coopers & Lybrand, Mr. Thompson managed several audit engagements ranging from small- to large-sized clients that included Fortune 100 companies as well as nonprofits among such industries as manufacturing, telecommunications, healthcare, and insurance. Mr. Thompson became a CPA in 1984.
Mr. Thompson holds a BS in Accounting from Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania and is a member of the AICPA and MACPA.
Sean D. Abbott, Esq., Corporate Counsel
Sean Abbott is a practicing attorney and a co-founder and Principal of Company Counsel, LLC. Company Counsel was founded in 2002 to provide affordable, sophisticated, part-time, general counsel services to growing companies.
Mr. Abbott advises emerging and established companies on a wide variety of legal issues, including general corporate matters, technology licensing, executive compensation arrangements, structuring, negotiating and closing acquisitions, private equity financings, loan transactions, commercial contracts, employment agreements and other third-party contracts. He has extensive experience in the areas of business and commercial law, corporate law, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions and secured transactions. In addition to representing operating companies, he has represented commercial lenders and private equity funds in numerous debt and equity financings and has counseled private equity funds on fund formation, transaction structure and exit strategy.
He is a member of the Merrimack Valley Venture Forum, the North Shore Technology Council, and the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations. Prior to founding Company Counsel, Mr. Abbott practiced in the corporate departments of Keegan, Werlin & Pabian and Hutchins, Wheeler & Dittmar, both in Boston, and at Harris, Beach, & Wilcox in New York. He received his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Syracuse University and his Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison University. Mr. Abbott is admitted to the bars of Massachusetts and New York.