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Our Team
Careers
Contact

Our Team

Home • Our Team

Andrea Childs

CEO, Board Member

Andrea Childs

Andrea is the founding CEO of Fortitude Mining and has been active in the bitcoin mining industry since 2018.

Before Fortitude Mining’s spin-off, Andrea joined Foundry in January 2020 as its second employee. There, she played a pivotal role in developing the mining, operations, and marketing functions. Over the past six years, Andrea has cultivated deep expertise in the mining sector and established strong connections with key industry players.

Before entering the digital asset space, Andrea began her career as a chemist and spent a significant part of her career at a scientific distribution company in product development, product and category management, and brand manager roles. She holds a master’s degree in chemistry and an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and an undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky.

Maya Sethi

VP, Head of Legal

Maya Sethi

Maya is an experienced attorney who has spent almost twenty years developing her legal expertise and assisting organizations to solve complex problems. She has served been in both private practice and in a general counsel role and worked in a number of heavily regulated industries. She began her legal career as a litigator for two different Boston area law firms, primarily defending clients in commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense matters.

Following her law firm experience, she spent three years as Litigation Counsel (in-house) with Hospital Corporation of America, the country’s largest for-profit health care management system, before joining Rocketship Education, a national nonprofit network of charter schools. After starting as Assistant General Counsel, she became General Counsel and served at Rocketship for more than seven years. While at Rocketship, Maya successfully navigated many local, state and federal regulatory challenges and operational issues.

Her most recent experience has been back in private practice, where Maya assisted both non-profit and for-profit clients with various needs, including corporate and non-profit incorporation formation, corporate governance challeneges and complicated employee matters.

Maya’s diverse background is a tremendous resource for Fortitude, offering the perspective of a seasoned litigator, business executive, and nonprofit leader. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family (husband, two children and their two dogs), exercising, and investing in crypto.

She holds a JD from Boston University School of Law and a BA from Wellesley College.

Kevin Russell

Director of Operations

Kevin Russell

Kevin oversees Mining Operations for Fortitude Mining and is responsible for maintaining uptime of the miner fleet. Through analysis of performance metrics, electrical capacity maximization, process development, and implementation of miner management software, we strive for peak efficiency. Previous technical roles in the renewable energy industry provide a solid foundation for his work in the crypto space.

Ryan Walpole

Senior Financial Analyst

Ryan Walpole

Ryan joins Fortitude Mining as a Senior Accounting Analyst following his 2.5 year tenure with Foundry. He is responsible for the accounting and financial analysis to ensure the success of the mining operation. Ryan obtained his bachelor’s degree in accounting from University of Miami’s Herbert Business School in 2021. It was during his studies that discovered his interest in cryptocurrency and his desire to help transform the future of the financial industry. In his free time, Ryan enjoys golfing, traveling, and cheering on his favorite sports teams.

Jackie Wambach

Senior Accounting Manager

Jackie Wambach

Jackie oversees daily financial activity – cash flow, banking, and custody of assets. Jackie got her start in crypto at Foundry, a digital asset infrastructure company and home to the world’s #1 Bitcoin mining pool, where she closely supported the CFO and other key internal and external stakeholders. Previously, Jackie held versatile finance and banking roles, supporting the motor racing, health care, scientific research, and commercial real estate industries. She began her career as an Accountant at the University of Rochester. Jackie is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester.

Joel Shoemaker

Fleet Agent

Joel Shoemaker

Joel is an experienced Mining Technician, having worked in the space since 2017. He is responsible for the maintenance and performance of mining equipment on a day-to-day basis. Prior to his work with Fortitude, Joel worked for four years at SavageIO, a small miner hosting facility in Rochester, New York, where he assisted with the build-out and management of three separate mining facilities.

Tong Vang

Fleet Agent

Tong Wong

Tong has worked in cryptocurrency for 3+ years, focusing on maximizing miners’ uptime and ensuring smooth fleet logistics. Tong is critical to the team’s overall success, optimizing operations, and staying attuned to the dynamic and evolving cryptocurrency landscape. Tong’s goals include continuously improving operational efficiency and staying ahead of technological advancements.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Simon Koster

Fortitude Board Member

Simon Koster

Simon Koster is the Chief Strategy Officer at DCG, the most active investor and incubator in blockchain, digital assets, and other decentralized technologies. As CSO, Simon leads the investment team, managing the portfolio comprised of digital assets, wholly owned subsidiaries (Grayscale, Foundry, and Luno), and more than 250+ companies early stage companies in over 35 nations across the world. Prior to his current role, Simon was the CEO of Real Estate at DCG, spearheading both internal and external real estate ventures. Previously, he served as CEO of The Collective and brings a decade of real estate experience from JDS Development Group, where he was instrumental in the acquisition and development of top-tier residential, hospitality, and mixed-use projects in New York City and Miami. He is a graduate of Rutgers University (B.S.) and holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Matt Kummell

Fortitude Board Member

Matt Kummell

Matt Kummell is a Senior Vice President at Digital Currency Group, the most active investor and operator in the blockchain sector. In this role, Matt leads the business’s post-investment efforts, including investment operations and value creation with regard to DCG’s portfolio of more than 200 companies around the world.

Prior to joining DCG in 2021, Matt was the Head of North America for Citi’s Business Advisory Services team, a strategic consulting practice focused on institutional investor clients in Citi’s Markets division. Matt has also held strategic and front-office leadership roles in the hedge fund industry at Citadel, Balyasny Asset Management, and S.A.C. Capital Advisors, the predecessor to Point 72 Asset Management. Earlier in his career, Matt served in a leadership capacity at Bain & Company in its Boston office.

Matt is an Adjunct Professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College where he co-teaches the Client Project Management course. He holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mike Colyer

Board Observer

Matt Colyer

Mike joined Foundry as its founding CEO in October 2019. Foundry focuses on empowering decentralized infrastructure with over 200 employees and runs the largest Bitcoin mining pool in the world. Previously, Mike concentrated on business development at Core Scientific, which is now one of North America’s largest AI / cryptocurrency miner and hosting company. Mike has spent the last 7 years navigating the large-scale mining space, building strong relationships with key industry participants. Before his pivot into the crypto industry, Mike was an operational and commercial executive for manufacturing and distribution firms for more than two decades, often serving at the behest of private-equity backers. Mike started his career at GE. In 2007, Mike and his wife, Lisa, co-founded the Clairebear Foundation, a non-profit that supports families with sick children. Mike graduated in 1996 from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and an MBA in Corporate Finance.