FCC National Broadband Plan Staff Workshop
Diversity and Civil Rights Issues in
Broadband Deployment and Adoption
Friday, October 2, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
Agenda:
9:00 a.m. Opening Remarks, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell
9:05 a.m. Workshop/Panel Introduction, Mark Lloyd, Moderator
9:10 a.m. Panelist Presentations: What are the gaps in broadband access and adoption? And what is the best way to measure those gaps?
Mark Pruner, President and co-founder of the Native American Broadband Association
Catherine Sandoval, Assistant Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law
Jorge Reina Schement, Dean of the School of Communication & Information and Professor II in the Bloustein School of Public Policy, and in the Department of Latino-Hispanic Caribbean Studies, Rutgers University
Jim Tobias, President, Inclusive Technologies
9:45 a.m. Panelist Discussion and Responses to Questions
10:55 a.m. Closing Statement, Moderator
11:00 a.m. Break
11:10 a.m. Panel Introduction, Mark Lloyd, Moderator
11:15 a.m. Panelist Presentations: What does the law compel or limit regarding government action to close gaps in broadband access and adoption?
Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania
Geoffrey Blackwell, Director, Strategic Relations and Minority Business Development, Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc.
Mara Einstein, Associate Professor of Media Studies, Queens College and adjunct Associate Professor, Stern School of Business, New York University
Allen S. Hammond IV, the Phil and Bobbie Sanfilippo Law Professor, Director of the Broadband Institute of California, Santa Clara University
Thomas J. Henderson is a Principal of the Henderson Law Firm in Washington, D.C.
David Honig, Executive Director, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
Noon Panelist Discussion and Responses to Questions
12:55 p.m. Closing Statement, Moderator
1:00 p.m. Break
2:00 p.m. Panel Introduction, Mark Lloyd, Moderator
2:05 p.m. Panelist Presentations: What works now to close the gap in broadband access and adoption?
Patricia Bransford, President, The National Urban Technology Center
Antoinette Cook Bush, Partner in charge of the Communications Group, Skadden Arps
Laura L. Efurd, Vice President and Chief Community Investment Officer, ZeroDivide
Jonathan Glass, is a Principal of Council Tree Investors
Heather Dawn Thompson, is a Partner at the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
3:00 p.m. Panelist Discussion and Responses to Questions
3:55 p.m. Closing Statement, Moderator
4:00 p.m. Adjourn
FCC Moderating Panel:
Wizipan Garriott, Policy Advisor, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior
John Horrigan, Consumer Research Director, Omnibus Broadband Initiative, FCC
Maureen Lewis, Director of the Minority Telecommunications Development Program, National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Public Input
The Commission seeks public input regarding questions to ask at the workshop. Questions can be e-mailed to the Workshop Coordinator prior to the workshop at . During the workshop, audience members—both in the room and online—will have the opportunity to suggest questions in writing. Questions will be reviewed and, time permitting, could be asked by the moderator. Additionally, there will be an opportunity to submit written comments in response to the staff workshops.
Participant Biographies
Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Berry received her Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan and JD from the University of Michigan Law School. She is the author of nine books, including most recently, And Justice For All: The United States Commission On Civil Rights And the Struggle For Freedom in America (2009). From 1980 to 2004, Professor Berry was a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and from 1993-2004 served as Chair. Between 1977 and 1980, Dr. Berry served as the Assistant Secretary for Education in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). She has also served as Provost of the University of Maryland and Chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1990-91 she was President of the Organization of American Historians.
In recognition of her scholarship and public service, Professor Berry has received 32 honorary doctoral degrees and many awards, including the NAACP's Roy Wilkins Award, the Rosa Parks Award of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Ebony Magazine Black Achievement Award. She is one of 75 women featured in I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America. Sienna College Research Institute and the Women's Hall of Fame designated her one of "America's Women of the Century."
Professor Berry teaches the History of American Law, and the History of Law and Social Policy. She also advises students in African American History.
Geoffrey Blackwell, Director, Strategic Relations and Minority Business Development, Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc.
Mr. Blackwell identifies strategic business opportunities for Chickasaw Nation Industries' multiple operations, which include manufacturing, communications infrastructure, and IT, medical, aviation, and logistics services. He has managed federal contracts and represented CNI in the energy, defense, and technology industries. His responsibilities emphasize integration of emerging technologies. From 2000 to 2005, Blackwell was a senior attorney and the liaison to tribal governments for the Federal Communications Commission. He coordinated FCC tribal outreach and provided counsel on tribal matters involving telephony and broadcast services, including rulemakings, adjudicatory proceedings, and enforcement actions. Blackwell is an advocate and recognized expert on tribal economic development and communications policy.
Mr. Blackwell chairs the Telecommunications Subcommittee of the National Congress of American Indians, and he serves on the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age. He also serves on the National Small Business Association board of trustees, and the advisory council of Native Public Media, a National Federation of Community Broadcasters project. He represented tribes at the 2005 United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society. In 2007, Blackwell provided congressional testimony on the future of tribal public radio and broadcast media. Blackwell is of Muscogee (Creek), Omaha, Choctaw and Chickasaw heritage. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law.
Patricia Bransford, Founder and President, The National Urban Technology Center.
Ms. Bransford is an expert in using technology to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of delivering education and vocational services to low-income communities. She is the author of the Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) educational curricula that transforms the conventional classroom into an interactive learning environment for youth 10 to 17. In conjunction with creating the YLA curriculum Ms. Bransford developed a “turn-key” process for building state-of-the-art computer training centers in multiple countries across the country. This process, called SeedTech, has been adopted by the Department of Justice, Weed and Seed, for transferring technology skills to inner-city communities. The National Urban Technology center has built more than 700 computer centers across the country.
Prior to establishing The National Urban Technology Center, Ms. Bransford worked at IBM for more than 20 years in a career in technology. During her years at IBM she directed IBM’s $100 million business with New York City including strategic planning, marketing and implementation of large-scale information systems projects in the areas of social services, criminal justice housing and finance. As an economic development consultant, Ms. Bransford assisted government officials in developing economic development and differentiation strategies for the 21st century and was instrumental in turning a former IBM manufacturing facility into the largest minority employee-owned compute manufacturing company in the world.
Ms. Bransford received the 2007 Freedom Hero Award for innovation, involvement and intervention that provides options and opportunities for education for disadvantaged at-risk youth and for working as a catalyst for change and encouraging others to learn, grow and contribute; and in 2008, she was recognized by The Network Journal as one of the 2008 “25 Influential Black Women in Business” for achieving significant levels of success in business and for myriad contributions to the community. Governor David Paterson recently appointed Ms. Bransford to the State Hospital Review and Planning Council to make recommendations and decisions to improve the quality, efficiency and economy of health care in New York State.
Ms. Bransford has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and a Master’s Degree from the N.Y.U. Stern School of Business Administration.
Antoinette Cook Bush, Partner in charge of Communications Group, Skadden Arps.
Ms Bush originally joined Skadden in 1993, where she practiced until 2000. She returned in 2003 and represents companies in administrative, legislative and transactional matters involving communications issues as well as other legislative matters. Her clients include entities involved in the broadcast, cable, satellite, telephone and mobile communications business. She also represents a number of not-for-profit companies. Specifically, Ms. Bush’s clients have included News Corporation, Viacom Inc., Virgin Mobile LLC, Univision Communications Inc. and Border Media Partners. Ms. Bush chairs the broadband subcommittee of the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age.
Ms. Bush served as the executive vice president of Northpoint Technology Ltd. and BroadwaveUSA, Inc. from 2000 to 2003, where she oversaw the legal, regulatory, legislative and business development aspects of Northpoint operations. Prior to joining Skadden, Arps in 1993, Ms. Bush served as senior counsel to the Communications Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. The subcommittee has oversight responsibility for the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and public broadcasting. She was the principal staff person responsible for legislation involving communications issues, including the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 and the Public Telecommunications Act of 1992, which authorized funding for public broadcasting.
From 1981 until she joined the U.S. Senate Committee staff, Ms. Bush practiced communications law in Washington, D.C. Ms. Bush remains active in communications policy issues and frequently speaks to companies and organizations regarding developments in this area. Ms. Bush has been repeatedly selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. She also was listed in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2008 and The Best Lawyers in America 2010.
Laura L. Efurd, Vice President and Chief Community Investment Officer, ZeroDivide.
ZeroDivide is a California based foundation which invests in community enterprises that leverage technology to benefit people in low-income and other underserved communities. Ms. Efurd is responsible for the foundation’s grants, initiatives and policy work. Prior to joining ZeroDivide, Laura was Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison in the Clinton Administration. Prior to her tenure at the White House she was Associate Director of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor. Laura also served as Legislative Director to the late Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink of Hawaii. She is a recipient of the Women's Information Network Young Women of Achievement Awards and a 2002 Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute Fellow. She also served on the Federal Communications Commission Consumer Advisory Committee (2006 – 2007).
Mara Einstein, Associate Professor of Media Studies at Queens College, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Dr. Einstein has a doctorate in media ecology from New York University, she holds an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern and a BFA from Boston University. She has been working in or writing about the media industry for the past 20 years. She has enjoyed stints as an executive at NBC, MTV Networks, and at major advertising agencies working on such accounts as Miller Lite, Uncle Ben’s and Dole Foods.
Einstein is the author of Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age. Her first book, Media Diversity: Economics, Ownership and the FCC (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004), was the cause for much debate when research from this work was used by the FCC as the basis for redefining the media ownership rules. In addition, Dr. Einstein has written for Newsday, Broadcasting & Cable as well as academic journals. She is currently working on a new book called The Price of Compassion: How Corporate America Co-opts Caring, which examines the growing trend of promoting and selling consumer products as a means to fund social causes and effective social change.
Jonathan Glass, is a Principal of Council Tree Investors.
Council Tree Investors is a private equity firm with a portfolio that has surpassed $1 billion in value. Council Tree is developing investments primarily in the fields of communications and energy. Mr. Glass joined Council Tree in 2003. From 1996-2003, he had been with TD Securities in the M&A Group, most recently as a Vice President. At TD, Mr. Glass was active in the wireless, tower, telecom, TV and other media and communications sectors, and was involved in transactions totaling over $9 billion. Prior to TD, Mr. Glass worked at UBS Securities in equity research. Mr. Glass received his Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University in Montreal and his MBA from Columbia University.
Allen S. Hammond IV, Phil and Bobbie Sanfilippo Law Professor, Director of the Broadband Institute of California, Santa Clara University.
At Santa Clara Law since 1998, Prof. Hammond is former President of the Alliance for Public Technology, director of the Law and Public Policy Program at the Center for Science Technology and Society at Santa Clara University, and is a board member and past chair of the AT&T Telecommunications Consumer Advisory Panel. He is the author of many articles and the editor, with Barbara S. Cherry and Stephen S. Wildman, of Making Universal Service Policy: Enhancing the Process Through Multidisciplinary Evaluation (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999). He earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, his M.A. from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, and his B.A. from Grinnel College.
His prior positions include: Attorney and Program Manager, Minority Telecommunications Development Program, NTIA (1977-79); General Counsel, WJLA-TV (1979-82); Lecturer, Howard University (1982-83); Visiting Associate Professor of Law at Syracuse University College of Law (1983-85); Senior Attorney, Media Access Project (1983-85); Senior Attorney, MCI Communications Corporation/Satellite Business Systems (1985-87); Assoc. General Counsel, MCI Communications Corp. (1988-89); and Director, New York Law School Communications Media Center, and Professor at New York Law School (1989-1997).