John Garcia

John Garcia has spent 31 years in the high tech telecom industry as a recognized leader of innovation and successful general management. He has been one of the driving forces in the explosive growth in wireless voice and data with global leaders in the telecom industry. Most recently he was President of Sprint’s CDMA 3G Business Unit with direct responsibility for its P&L and strategic direction. While in this position he led major branding, product, and service initiatives including the “Now Network” campaign, the launch of the “Instinct” touch screen handset, the all inclusive “Simply Everything” rate plan, and the revolutionary “Ready Now” service offering.

While at Sprint, Mr. Garcia also held the position of Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for the development and execution of the company’s national marketing strategy including branding, media, sponsorships, pricing, product development, marketing research and CRM.

Previously, Garcia was senior vice president of Sprint Product Management & Development (PM&D), where he was responsible for designing, developing and managing Sprint's product lifecycle. His team's mission was to re-assert Sprint’s industry leadership in useful product innovation, giving customers what they really want.

Prior to his role as head of PM&D, Garcia served as president of Sprint’s joint venture with Comcast Corporation, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications. He led the effort to build a comprehensive strategy around the convergence of mobile communication, information and entertainment services.

Garcia was one of the earliest employees hired into Sprint’s Wireless group in 1995. In his first role as vice president of Marketing, he managed many of the strategies used to launch Sprint PCS into the marketplace.

Garcia then spent seven years leading Sprint’s sales organization, serving first as regional president for the Southwest Area in 1996 before he stepped up to become senior vice president of the company’s national sales organization in 1998. During this time, Sprint became the fastest company in U.S. history to reach $10 billion. Garcia maintained responsibility for business and consumer sales, including company-owned stores, national retailers, e-commerce and telesales. He also initiated the company’s MVNO wholesale strategy, leveraging the strengths of other companies in a mutually profitable way. Sprint now leads the industry with MVNOs, including partnerships with Virgin Mobile, Qwest and Embarq.

Prior to joining Sprint, Garcia was regional president for GTE Mobilnet (acquired by Verizon). Earlier in his career, Garcia held a variety of management positions within AT&T’s Consumer Products Group. John serves on several civic and philanthropic boards. He graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Marketing, he and his wife Mari Lynn have a daughter and live in Leawood Kansas.