Chief Executive Officer

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 seven 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.

Chief Financial Officer

Erik Ellingson

Erik Ellingson is the Chief Financial Officer of Fortitude Mining, with over a decade of experience spanning finance, M&A, and digital infrastructure. He brings deep domain expertise in bitcoin mining and digital asset investing, with a background that bridges both traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem.

Before joining Fortitude, Erik served as CFO and Board Member of Block Mining, where he led the company through a successful sale to Riot Platforms in 2024. Previously, he was a partner and fund leader at a Chicago-based digital asset investment firm, focused on infrastructure and growth-stage investments across the crypto sector. Earlier in his career, Erik held roles in traditional finance at Wells Fargo, where he led strategic portfolio acquisitions within the asset-backed finance group, with a focus on industrial and energy markets. He then joined Lincoln International as an investment banker, advising on and executing M&A, Special Situations and Debt Capital Markets transactions.

Erik holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BS from Elmhurst University.

Chief Human Resources Officer

Stephanie Marchioni

Stephanie serves as Chief Human Resources Officer at Fortitude Mining, joining the company in May 2026. In her role, she leads Fortitude’s human resources function, overseeing people strategy, organizational effectiveness, talent development, and culture initiatives that support the company’s continued growth and evolving business objectives.

Before joining Fortitude Mining, Stephanie spent more than five years at Foundry Digital, where she played a key role in developing and scaling HR operations within the digital asset and emerging technology sectors. Throughout her career, she has built and led HR functions across organizations ranging from large corporate enterprises to family-owned businesses and start-ups.

With more than 20 years of human resources experience, Stephanie brings a strong blend of strategic leadership and hands-on operational expertise, helping organizations build effective teams and align people strategies with business goals.

Stephanie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Senior Vice President, Mining Operations

Ben Thomison

Ben Thomison is the Senior Vice President of Operations at Fortitude Mining, having joined the company in April 2026. He brings extensive experience in leading large-scale mining infrastructure, site operations, repair functions, fleet management, construction coordination, and operational optimization.

Ben has held senior leadership roles across the mining sector, including Director of Operations at BGIN / IceRiver, Vice President of Mining at Mawson Infrastructure, and Operations Director at Phoenix Group.

Throughout his career, Ben has led multi-site mining operations, supported new site deployments, developed operational systems, improved miner performance, and built scalable processes across field operations, repair, inventory, construction, and network teams.

He brings a hands-on, execution-focused leadership style rooted in field operations and accountability. His focus is on building reliable, efficient mining operations that enhance uptime, maximize asset performance, and support long-term growth.

Head of Power and Infrastructure

Ryan Lowery

Ryan leads the Power and Infrastructure division at Fortitude, driving the development of energy strategies that support the company’s Bitcoin mining operations. With extensive experience in utility-scale energy procurement, site development, and data center infrastructure, Ryan plays a critical role in ensuring access to reliable, cost-effective, and scalable power solutions.

His expertise spans power purchase agreements (PPAs), grid interconnection, and the integration of renewable and stranded energy assets—key to optimizing mining efficiency and long-term sustainability. Ryan also oversees the buildout of high-density electrical infrastructure and works closely with utilities, regulators, and local partners to support compliant, energy-efficient operations across multiple jurisdictions.

Senior Director, Strategy & FP&A

Patrick O’Hara

Patrick O’Hara is the Senior Director of Strategy and Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) at Fortitude Mining, bringing over a decade of experience across finance, M&A, capital markets, and digital infrastructure.

Before joining Fortitude, Patrick served as an investment banker at XMS Capital Partners, advising clients on strategy, M&A, and equity and debt capital raising, with a focus on digital assets and digital infrastructure.  Since 2015, he completed advisory assignment for clients including Aon, Core Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, Federal-Mogul, Riot Platforms, Veritiv, and others.  He also served as Vice President of Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition II Corp., a SPAC which successfully merged with AirJoule Technologies.

Patrick graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a supplemental major in Applied and Computational Mathematics.  Patrick has also passed all three levels of the CFA Program examinations

Director of Marketing & Communications

Alexis Brock

Alexis is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Fortitude Mining, having joined the Company in April 2026.

Before joining Fortitude, Alexis served as Director of Executive Communications at Flex, a global contract manufacturing company and leader in cooling and compute infrastructure for AI/HPC data centers. Prior to Flex, Alexis led Communications at Riot Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIOT) from 2022 through 2025, a Bitcoin-driven industry leader in the development of large-scale data centers and Bitcoin mining applications in the United States, with over 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of total available capacity. Alexis oversaw brand strategy, public relations, and served as an Associate supporting Riot’s power development initiatives.

Prior to Riot, Alexis worked in private wealth management, helping advisors move off traditional wirehouses and build more independent, decentralized practices using modern portfolio management systems. Through that work, she was introduced to digital assets.

Alexis holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from the University of California, San Diego, with a concentration in East Asian Studies focused on business methods, regional economics, and international relations. She also holds a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Public Policy.

Executive Business Partner

Lindsay Ciccoricco

Lindsay is the Executive Business Partner at Fortitude Mining, where she works in close partnership with senior leadership to support enterprise execution and operational effectiveness. With over 12 years of experience across finance, administration, and operations, she delivers high-impact support that strengthens decision-making, continuity, and organizational performance.

Lindsay manages critical projects, coordinates cross-functional efforts, and ensures operational priorities are executed efficiently. She holds a master’s degree in education, which underpins her clear communication style and ability to operate effectively within the crypto and mining sector.