01/09/2026
🤩 Happy Friday! Meet Taanya French!
🔥 1. Describe leadership in 3 words? Listen, Empower, Deliver
🔥 2. Where have you seen the most growth in your own leadership journey?
The area where I’ve grown the most as a leader is in how I lead people. I have shifted from command-and-control in law enforcement and individual contribution as an IT analyst to leading multiple divisions as an Assistant Chief Information Officer and serving as FNA President. I’ve learned to listen more, delegate better, and create space for others to lead, and I continue to work on improving in each of these areas every day.
🔥 3. What is your current toughest leadership challenge in your industry?
As the Assistant Chief Information Officer over the City of Albany’s Technology and Communications (TAC) department and its Telecom CLEC division, I find it equally challenging to drive aggressive fiber expansion in a competitive market and, on the municipal side, keep pace with cybersecurity demands while protecting critical infrastructure and maintaining reliable services.
🔥 4. What leader (dead or alive) would you love to have coffee with?
A leader at EPB Fiber Optics in Chattanooga, Tennessee, would be my choice. They’ve grown a municipal utility-based ISP into one of the most innovative fiber providers in the country, scaling from a local operation to community-wide multi‑gig service, the kind of growth many of us aspire to in our own market.
Through FNA (Fiber Network Alliance), I am fortunate to have access to their team and front-row seats to hear about their journey, but I would love a true “day in the life” with their leadership to see the behind-the-scenes decisions, tradeoffs, and culture that made that transformation possible.
