About - Global Peering Forum

Global Peering Forum

The Global Peering Forum (GPF) builds on an effort started by multiple commercial organizations over 15 years ago. GPF is an independent, non-profit organization designed to advance the business interests of individuals involved in peering and interconnection. GPF is a 501(c)(6) non-profit corporation operating as a business league. The current board consists of nine elected representatives from organizations who have supported the event for a number of years.

About GPF

This page includes required public disclosures, meeting minutes, and additional information benefiting the understanding of our members and event attendees.

Fiscal 2022 GPF Election Information
GPF Code of Conduct
Global Peering Forum Bylaws
Global Peering Forum Corporate Resolution COVID-19
Global Peering Forum Articles of Incorporation

2018 IRS 990 Filing
2017 IRS 990 Filing
2016 IRS 990 Filing
Global Peering Forum Montana Business Entity Search
2021 GPF Members

The GPF Board of Directors can be reached from the form below:

Name

Message

Fiscal 2022 GPF Board of Directors

Ben Hedges – Board President
Petra Wensing- Board Vice President
Nicole Kangas – Board Treasurer
Ester Paal – Board Secretary
Josh Snowhorn
Katsuyasu Toyama
Michele McCann
PJ Gallagher
Milko Ilari

Introducing Fiscal 2024

GPF Board of Directors

PJ Gallagher

President

PJ Gallagher

President

Fastly Inc. Manager | Network Strategy

Wouter Van Renterghem

Secretary

Wouter Van Renterghem

Secretary

Wouter Van Renterghem has been a member of the Global Peering Forum organizing committee since 2013 during his role as Global Business Development Director at NL-IX, and is a founding board member of Global Peering Forum Inc, established in 2015. On January 1st 2018, Wouter joined DE-CIX as a Global Business Development Manager and took a break from the GPF Board from 2018-2019 (re-elected in June 2019) and from 2022-2023 (re-elected in June 2023). Wouter loves his kids, partner, traveling, music and playing drums.

Ben Hedges

Treasurer

Ben Hedges

Treasurer

Ben Hedges has been a member of the Global Peering Forum organizing committee since 2011 during his role as CMO of the London Internet Exchange (LINX), and is a founding board member of Global Peering Forum Inc, established in 2015 and was appointed President of the organization in 2020. From 2019-2022 Ben was interim Executive Director of the IND-DCA, and worked for Hurricane Electric (AS6939). Since 2022 Ben has been Vice President of Interconnection and Peering at data center operator Cyxtera.

Petra Wensing

Board Member

Petra Wensing

Board Member

Petra Wensing is working as Marketing, Communication and Events Manager at AMS-IX for nearly 10 years. She has been a GPF Board member for almost 5 years and she is also one of the organisers for EPF. Petra fulfilled in the past roles in the fields of Sponsorship, CSR, PR and Communications mostly at mobile Telecom operators. She studied Dutch Language and Literature at the university in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Ester Paal

Board Member

Ester Paal

Board Member

Ester recently joined the Flexoptix’ Evangelical Optician team and she is the lead for the CEE region. She previously worked at the NIX.CZ Association from 2013-2022, as an Accounts and Communication Manager/Peering Coordinator. She was responsible for communication with the Association's members and customers, and also the main organiser of the annual Peering Days conference. She also represented the Association at domestic and international fora and conferences. Prior to joining the Czech Neutral Internet Exchange, she worked as a Liaison Manager for EURid, the registry of the .eu top-level domain. Ester has joined the GPF board in 2021 and is currently the board secretary.

Milko Ilari

Board Member

Milko Ilari

Board Member

Along the past 15 years he has been working in the European telecom industry (Data and IP). He is an engineer by education and a networker by DNA. He had a chance to work in different roles over the years - network engineering, business development and carrier relations. Currently, he is working as Product, Peering and Network Manager at RETN. He is also a Co-Founder of HUBILITY, a startup business focused on supporting Italian infrastructure providers, and member of ITNOG association.

Richard Petrie

Board Member

Richard Petrie

Board Member

Chief Technology Officer LINX

Tom Hodgson

Board Member

Tom Hodgson

Board Member

Tom has worked for Lumen Technologies since 2018, where he is currently serving as Director of Interconnection Strategy with responsibility for Lumen’s global strategic interconnection relationships. Over his 20 year career in the industry he has worked for several service providers ranging from small to large in roles covering network engineering, architecture and strategy. Based in the UK, Tom joined the GPF board in 2023