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Save the Date and Book Your Reservations
for October 9 and 10, 2019, in Washington, DC!
October 9, 2019 - MMTC's "Future of Privacy Forum and Entrepreneurship Summit"
October 10, 2019 - FCC's Supplier Diversity Forum
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MMTC Presents on Tech Diversity Best Practices
at the FCC Advisory Committee on
Diversity
and Digital Empowerment Meeting
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On June 24th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held its
Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) meeting. During the ACDDE meeting,
MMTC President and CEO
Maurita Coley and Board Chair and Treasurer Ronald Johnson, Chief Subject Matter Expert - Diversity and Inclusion, Wireless Infrastructure Association, participated in the Tech Diversity Best Practices Report presentation on hiring, promotion, and retention of women and minorities in the tech industries. They are members of the ACDDE's Diversity in Tech Working Group.
Also,
MMTC President Emeritus and Special Advisor David Honig presented a summary report on the ACDDE March 7, 2019, broadcast symposium, "Exploring Strategies That Have Advanced Media Diversity," on behalf of the Broadcast Diversity and Development Working Group.
Watch the full video and download a copy of the Diversity Best Practices Report here.
Apply to serve on the FCC's Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment by July 10, 2019 - here.
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MMTC Appreciates
FCC Commissioner
Brendan Carr's
Efforts
to Expand
Telemedicine
for
Underserved Communities
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MMTC appreciates FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's efforts to expand telemedicine for underserved communities. We are excited to learn more about the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) - "Promoting Telehealth for Low-Income Consumers" at the FCC's Open Meeting on July 10th.
Read the agenda for the FCC July Open Meeting and watch it live here.
Go here for more information about the NPRM -
"Promoting Telehealth for Low-Income Consumers."
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MMTC Leads Coalition in Sending Privacy Letter
to Maine Governor Janet Mills
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In June, MMTC, the National Organization of Black County Officials, the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, and the OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates, sent a joint letter to Maine Governor Janet Mills expressing their concerns regarding Maine's recently-passed LD 946 "Act to Preserve the Privacy of Online Customer Information." In the letter, the coalition expressed "concerns that half-measures will only result in consumer confusion and harm. LD 946 is certainly well-intentioned, but it is unfortunately an incomplete effort that will fail to protect online consumer privacy. We urge you to take action next session to enact comprehensive online privacy legislation that will truly protect all citizens in Maine."
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MMTC Vice President Dr. Rikin Thakker
Appointed to New FCC Broadband
Deployment Advisory Committee and
Workforce Development
Working
Group
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In May, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai appointed
members including the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC), to serve on the re-chartered Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). Dr. Rikin Thakker, MMTC Vice President of Telecommunications and Spectrum Policy, represented MMTC at the re-chartered BDAC's first meeting on June 13th. During the meeting, FCC Chairman Pai announced Dr. Thakker's appointment as the Vice Chair of the BDAC Working Group on Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Job Skills and Training Opportunities. In his new leadership role, he will work with Leticia Latino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Neptuno, who will chair this working group, on ways to make more widely available and improve job skills training and development opportunities for the broadband infrastructure deployment workforce.
Read more about the BDAC here.
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U.S. Department of Labor
Equity Apprenticeship Lead Partner
National Urban League Testifies
at
House Small Business
Subcommittee Hearing
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On Tuesday, June 4, 2019, the House Subcommittee on Small Business on Innovation and Workforce Development convened a hearing titled, "Mind the 'Skills' Gap: Apprenticeships and Training Programs" at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC.
The purpose of the hearing was to discuss how private industry and the government could partner to meet the workforce needs of small businesses today and to address the future of work. Ronald Marlow, Vice President for Workforce Development at the National Urban League (NUL), testified about the highlights and success stories from NUL's Equity Contract on Apprenticeships with the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL). The full list of witnesses at the hearing includes:
- Ronald Marlow, Vice President for Workforce Development, National Urban League
- Joshua Broder, CEO, Tilson Technology Management
- Tim Herbert, Senior Vice President, Research & Market Intelligence, CompTIA
- Talbot H. Gee, CEO, HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International)
Since 2016, NUL and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) have worked in a partnership under a Department of Labor contract to cultivate apprenticeship opportunities in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector and beyond. Other partners under this initiative have included the Wireless Infrastructure Association, Jobs for the Future, and Chicago Women in Trades, among others. Branded the "Urban Apprenticeship Jobs Program" (UAJP), NUL has worked with 12 of its Affiliates and MMTC to recruit and train over 1,000 individuals into registered apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship, and preparatory training opportunities. These individuals have joined programs operating across a number of occupations in the following industries: construction, telecommunications, information technology, manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare."
NUL reaches nearly 2 million people nationwide through direct services, programs, and research through its network of 90 professionally-staffed affiliates serving 300 communities in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
Modernizing the U.S. Registered Apprenticeship System
In 2017, the Registered Apprenticeship system experienced a major change in trajectory through a White House executive action that led to the formation of a Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, with the mission to "identify strategies and proposals to promote apprenticeships." NUL CEO Marc Morial, a member of this task force, worked with Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta a nd other apprenticeship task force members to come up with recommendations to modernize the apprenticeship system. One of the key recommendations of the Task Force, provided to the President, and as highlighted by NUL Vice President Ronald Marlow in his testimony, "supported the creation of an Industry-recognized Apprenticeship Program or IRAP, which as its name implies, would rely on industry trade organizations to take on the responsibility of sponsoring of designing and implementing industry-led apprenticeship programs that would operate parallel to the Registered Apprenticeship system but that would also be free from the regulatory requirements that undergird the operation of the Registered Apprenticeship system.
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The U.S. members of Congress and staff presenting at the hearing included:
- Rep. Jason Crow
- Rep. Troy Balderson
- Rep. Abby Finkenauer
- Meagan Sunn, Technology Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
Special thanks to Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman of the Committee on Small Business, and Rep. Steve Chabot, Ranking Member, for acknowledging the importance of apprenticeships, holding this hearing, and inviting NUL to serve as an expert witness.
the event.
All resources developed by NUL and MMTC during the
last three years of the USDOL contract can be accessed
here
.
Read the full testimony of Ronald Marlow, Vice President for
Workforce Development, National Urban League,
here
.
Catch the key highlights of the hearing at our Wakelet blog
here.
Watch a video recording of the hearing
here.
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Photo (Left to Right): MMTC summer fellows Simone Smith, a rising third-year s
tudent at the University of Miami School of Law, and Jamila Flomo, a rising
second-year student at the University of Miami School of Law; MMTC Vice President
Dr. Rikin Thakker; NUL Senior Legislative Director Suzanne Bergeron;
NUL Vice Presudent Ronald Marlow; and MMTC President Maurita Coley
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MMTC President and CEO Maurita Coley
Speaks About 5G and Communities of Color
at Washington Informer Town Hall
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On June 13th, MMTC President and CEO Maurita Coley participated in a panel discussion on "5G & Communities of Color: What You Need to Know" hosted by The Washington Informer at THEARC Black Box Theatre in Washington, DC. Her co-panelists included Clint Odom, Senior Vice President for Policy and Executive Director of the National Urban League's Washington Bureau; Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee, Fellow, Center for Technology Innovation, Brookings Institution; Trayon White,
DC Ward 8 City Councilman; and Delano Squires, Director, Connect.DC, DC Office of the Chief Technology Officer.
Denise Rolark, Publisher of The Washington Informer, moderated the discussion.
During the discussion, Coley
outlined the history of MMTC's advocacy, from ensuring diverse radio and TV ownership in the 1980s, to closing the
digital divide
and connecting communities of color, and providing them with 21st century jobs, a
pprenticeships, and
workforce development today.
Watch the full video
here.
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MMTC Interviews NAMIC
President
A. Shuanise Washington
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MMTC Chief Social Media Officer recently interviewed A. Shuanise Washington, President and CEO
of the
National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) about her leadership role and recent honor as one of Cablefax's 100 influential professionals in the media, cable, and broadband industry. Washington also discussed NAMIC's 2019 programming including its 33rd Annual Conference that will be held on September 17-18, 2019, in New York City. The conference theme is "Breaking Barriers: The Multicultural Media Agenda." To learn more about NAMIC, visit http://namic.com. Follow @NAMICNational on Twitter.
Listen to the full episode
here.
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MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers Interviews
Midway Broadcasting Corp Chairman
Melody Spann Cooper for Radio World
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Melody Spann Cooper, Chairman of Midway Broadcasting Corp., was recently featured in an Radio World interview about her unique challenges as a woman in broadcasting, how to build and keep a deep pool of talent, and social media's impact, and more. Suzanne Gougherty, Director of MMTC Media and Telecom Brokers, conducted the interview.
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Learn More About
MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers
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Founded in 1997, MMTC Media and Telecom Brokers is the nation's only minority owned, and only non-profit, media brokerage. Our core mission is to assist minorities, women and new entrants in broadcast ownership. We have worked with television, radio and spectrum transactions, on our own or in partnership with other brokerage firms, with those broadcast groups that were interested in diversifying ownership.
About Us:
- Our core focus is to serve minorities and women to become broadcast owners/operators.
- At MMTC we built our business on listening to our clients and helping them to achieve their goals.
- Our team understands the changing landscape of the media business.
- We have successfully completed transactions with large public companies and small family owned operations.
- With more than 100 years of experience in broadcasting and media law business - we are here to help every step of the way.
- We have been actively involved in buying and selling - Radio, Television, towers and other media assets.
- One of our team members is bi-lingual.
- MMTC is a member of National Association of Media Brokers.
Want to learn more about MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers?
Contact Suzanne Gougherty at
sgougherty@mmtconline.org
or David Honig at dhonig@mmtconline.org.
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Register for MMCA Media Diversity Innovation Summit and Reception on July 10th in DC
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Don't miss the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association's (MMCA) Media Diversity Innovation Summit on July 10th from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC. The Summit will consist of four panel discussions and two fireside chats. It will conclude with a reception
to honor Members of Congress and journalists of color from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Capitol View at 400.
T
he reception will h
onor journalists Dorothy Gilliam and Helen Zia, and civil rights activist Ronald J. Brown. It will also feature book signings for Gilliam's "Trailblazer," Zia's "Last Boat Out of Shanghai," and Brown's "You Can't Go Wrong Doing Right." MMTC is serving as a media partner for the event.
Register for the Summit here.
RSVP for the reception: info@mmcadc.org
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Have you seen
MMTC TV yet? Go
here to watch videos of MMTC's Broadband and Social Justice Summits and Access to Capital and Telecom Policy Conferences.
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MMTC's April and May Social Media Highlights
Learn more about MMTC's work by visiting our Wakelet Blog:
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Help Expand MMTC's Work in Media, Telecom & Tech!
With our nonpartisan values of diversity and inclusion, MMTC continues to pursue our work with great determination notwithstanding our modest resources.
We
offer our sincere appreciation for support in helping us deliver our world-class advocacy, convenings, and policy leadership in industries regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.
TO SUPPORT MMTC, YOU CAN DONATE IN TWO WAYS:
- Fellowship: Help the next generation of media and telecom lawyers and policy professionals to advocate on behalf of our nation's multicultural, women, and underserved communities by investing in the new Henry M. Rivera Fellowship. Other fellowships you are invited to support are the Cathy Hughes and Earle K. Moore fellowships.
- General: Make a donation to general support.
MMTC is recognized by the IRS under 26 U.S.C. ยง501(c)(3). All contributions are tax-deductible.
Your support makes it possible for MMTC to serve as an advocate for diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in the nation's most important industries. Thank You!
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The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) is a non-partisan, national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and preserving equal opportunity in the mass media, telecom and broadband industries, and closing the digital divide. MMTC is generally recognized as the nation's leading advocate for multicultural advancement in communications. We strongly believe that the breathtaking changes in communications technology and the new global forms of media partnerships must enhance diversity in the 21st century.
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