Ciena appoints Mary Yang as chief strategy officer

Ciena appointed Mary Yang as senior vice president and chief strategy officer with responsibility for driving Ciena’s overall corporate strategy as well as execution of corporate development activities, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and related integrations.

“Mary brings an exceptional combination of business acumen and strategic insights in the technology arena, specifically around driving leading-edge innovation and new technologies to market. Through deep analysis of market trends and industry dynamics, Mary will help accelerate Ciena’s strategy and further solidify our industry leadership position in delivering solutions that address the world’s connectivity needs,” said Gary B. Smith, president and CEO.

Yang brings more than 25 years of experience in technology through a career focused on advising companies on strategic investments, alliance opportunities and global M&A activity. Before joining Ciena, she served as vice president of corporate and business development at NIO, a leader in the design and development of smart, high-performance electric vehicles. She previously held senior leadership roles in strategy and corporate development at leading communications companies, including Fortinet, Cisco and Nortel.