Essential Utilities Inc. announced the appointment of two new members to the company's executive leadership team: Jeanne Russo joins the company as vice president, communications, and Sumit Nair will assume the role of vice president and chief information officer. In her newly created role, Russo will oversee all internal and external communications across the enterprise. She joins Essential with more than 25 years of experience that spans diverse industries, including broadband infrastructure and services, hospitality and retail.

Most recently she served as director of financial communications at Qurate Retail Group. Russo also held senior communications positions with Commscope, ARRIS, Google, Motorola and Comcast. A Philadelphia-area native, Russo received her B.A. in advertising and public relations from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, as well as a business certificate in marketing.

In his role, Nair will oversee 130 IT professionals and execute strategic and operational imperatives to drive Essential's overall success. Nair previously served as the chief information officer for GeoBlue, a global insurance licensee of Blue Cross Blue Shield, overseeing all information technology functions including technical infrastructure, application development, project management office, information security and disaster recovery. Nair joins Essential as a seasoned global IT executive with nearly 30 years of experience, including positions at GeoBlue, De Lage Landen and Ikon.

He holds a master of science in information systems from Penn State University and a bachelor of engineering in computer science and engineering from Bangalore University in India. He was recognized as a Corporate Finalist by the 2022 Philly CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards for his leadership and management at GeoBlue. Nair's appointment fills the role previously held by former CIO Kellett, who was promoted to SVP in August.

Kellett was also the winner of the 2022 Philly CIO of the Year Enterprise Award.