(WIN) Appoints Jeannie H. Diefenderfer, Larry Laque to Board of Directors

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 11, 2016  — Windstream Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:WIN) announced today the appointments of Jeannie H. Diefenderfer and Larry Laque to the company’s board of directors. The appointments are effective immediately.

Diefenderfer and Laque qualify as independent board members under Nasdaq-listing requirements. Diefenderfer will serve on the board’s governance committee, and Laque will serve on the audit committee.

“I am very pleased to welcome Jeannie and Larry to the board. Both have deep experience in communications and technology. Their expertise and insight will be beneficial to Windstream and our shareholders,” said Tony Thomas, president and chief executive officer of Windstream.

Jeannie Diefenderfer, 54, is founder and chief executive officer of courageNpurpose, LLC. She has nearly 30 years of technical and operational leadership experience with Verizon Communications. She served as senior vice president of customer care and operations for Verizon Business from 2010 to 2012. She also held senior leadership positions in global network engineering, planning and procurement at Verizon.

Diefenderfer is an independent director on the boards of MRV Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVC) and Westell Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSTL), an advisory board member of Vasona Networks, Inc. and a member of the Accenture Network Advisory Council. She also is a trustee of Tufts University.

She holds a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from Tufts University, and an MBA from Babson College.

Larry Laque, 57, serves as executive vice president of global real estate and facilities for Discovery Communications, Inc. With more than 30 years of experience in technical planning and operations, Laque is currently responsible for developing and implementing workplace strategy, including technical facility infrastructure across 82 offices in more than 35 countries for the global media company.

Laque previously served as executive vice president and co-chief information officer and co-head of enterprise operational services for Discovery, where he oversaw global IT infrastructure for the company.

Prior to joining Discovery, Laque served in various leadership positions in network planning, operations and customer service at MCI Communications Corporation.

Laque also serves on the board of Shepherd’s Table, a Silver Spring-based nonprofit organization that provides basic services to homeless and in-need individuals in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

Laque holds a bachelor of arts in business administration from North Carolina State University and an MBA from The George Washington University.

The company also announced that Judy K. Jones and William A. ‘Bill’ Montgomery will not stand for re-election in May and depart the board when their current terms expire. Jones and Montgomery have served as directors of Windstream since its formation in 2006.

“Judy and Bill have provided exceptional guidance while steering the company through tremendous change in our industry. They have been valuable contributors to Windstream’s success, and we appreciate their decade of service on our board,” said Jeffrey T. Hinson, chairman of the board of Windstream, on behalf of the board.

About Windstream

Windstream Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:WIN), a FORTUNE 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions for consumers, small businesses, enterprise organizations and carrier partners across the U.S. Windstream offers bundled services, including broadband, security solutions, voice and digital TV to consumers. The company also provides data, cloud solutions, unified communications and managed services to business and enterprise clients. The company supplies core transport solutions on a local and long-haul fiber-optic network spanning approximately 125,000 miles. Additional information is available at windstream.com. Please visit our newsroom at news.windstream.com or follow us on Twitter at @WindstreamNews.

Media Contact:
David Avery, 501-748-5876
david.avery@windstream.com

Investor Contact:
Mary Michaels, 501-748-7578
mary.michaels@windstream.com