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Invest in MMTC and Help
U
s Train the
Next Generation
Leaders, Workers, and Entrepreneurs!
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In honor of Black History Month, MMTC celebrates past and present FCC Chairs and Commissioners: FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks; first African American woman FCC Commissioner and Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn; first African American FCC Commissioner Benjamin Hooks; Former FCC Commissioners Andrew Barrett and Tyrone Brown; and Former FCC Chairmen Michael Powell and William Kennard.
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MMTC Improves Strategic Focus for Better Advocacy:
2020 Mission, Vision, and Values
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In January, the MMTC Team took a deep dive into a strategic plan prepared by the
Columbia University School of Professional Studies'
Nonprofit Management Master's Degree Program with the goal of better serving our stakeholders and partners and fulfilling our mission.
To create a fully connected, educated, healthy, and
empowered society in which
all communities thrive.
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You can invest in the "2020 Reimagined MMTC" to support our important work with a charitable contribution
here.
Stay tuned for more news about our strategic plan and how we implement it this year!
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MMTC Upcoming Speaking Engagements
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Come hear MMTC staff share their thought leader-ship at the following events.
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MMTC Special Report on Media Diversity:
Coley Testifies to Advance Legislation on Tax Certificate, EEO, and Diversity Studies
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On January 15, 2020, MMTC President Maurita Coley delivered testimony during the "Lifting Voices: Legislation to Promote Media Marketplace Diversity" hearing held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. Clint Odom, Senior Vice President, Advocacy & Policy & Executive Director, Washington Bureau National Urban League; Catherine J.K. Sandoval, Associate Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law; and D
iane Sutter, President and CEO, Shooting Star Inc., also provided testimony during the hearing.
For more information, read MMTC's Special Report on Media Diversity here.
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MMTC
Executive Board Member Ari Fitzgerald
Featured in Bloomberg Law Article, "
What's at Stake for
Telecom
Policy in the 2020 Election"
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Among Fitzgerald's predictions for three hot-button issues:
- Legislation could finally resolve and provide stability on net neutrality;
- The Wheeler administration's privacy rules for ISPs could be restored; and
- The FCC could revise or eliminate the financial cap on the Universal Service Fund.
Fitzgerald also predicts that two enormously critical issues will likely continue to be developed on a bipartisan basis:
- acceleration of 5G development, and
- optimization of the use of spectrum.
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Davis Wright Tremaine Kicks Off
MMTC 2020 Training with "History of
the
Telecommunications Industry"
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Davis Wright Tremaine (DWT) conducted a training on the history of the telecommunications industry for DWT associates and MMTC staff and fellows on January 23rd. Featured DWT speakers included
Danielle Frappier, Partner and Chair, Products Counseling Team;
Chris Savage, CIPP/US and CIPT/US, Partner;
David Gossett
, former Deputy General Counsel, FCC, and Partner, Products Counseling Team. DWT associates, Katori Copeland and Jonathan Mark, participated in the training. MMTC's Maurita Coley, David Honig, Dr. Rikin Thakker, Dorrissa Griffin, Marcella Gadson, and Ananda Leeke; and MMTC fellows, Max Ateba, Savraj Gill, and Cierra Pettiford attended the training.
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MMTC Alumni and Fellows News
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Meagan Sunn, former MMTC Earle K. Moore fellow, recently
joined the Goodfriend Group, a D.C. public policy and lobbying firm specializing in tech, telecom and media, as senior director and counsel for public policy and government affairs. Previously, Sunn served as the technology and telecommunications counsel to Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez and the majority staff of the House Small Business Committee.
DeVan Hankerson, former MMTC Research Director, has accepted a position as an Institute Associate at the Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to joining the Institute, Hankerson served as the Senior Director of Public Policy and Government Relations at Goodfriend Group.
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Welcome MMTC Spring Fellows!
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Blaire Lakatos
, MMTC Earle K. Moore fellow, is a third-year student at Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law. Lakatos
left her career at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pursue a future in policy advocacy and to further improve the lives and well-being of those who have been systematically oppressed. She serves as Vice President of the
FAMU Law's Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter.
Savraj Gill
, MMTC Henry M. Rivera fellow, is a second-year student at Syracuse University College of Law. Gill is a member of the
Travis H.D. Lewin Advocacy Honor Society
and serves as the second-year student representative for the
South Asian Law Student Association.
Cierra Pettiford, MMTC Cathy Hughes fellow, is a third-year law student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Pettiford has served as the 2018-2019 Vice President and Secretary of the W. George Allen Chapter of the Black Law Students Association. Also, she served as a Senior Editor to the Southern Journal of Policy and Justice, Vol. XIII.
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MMTC Senior Fellow Max Ateba Participates
in
J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
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J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is the largest and most coveted annual convening on healthcare investment worldwide. Participants include leaders in the healthcare and life sciences sector, emerging companies with innovative technologies and solutions, along with members of the investment community and advisory services. This past January, MMTC's Max Ateba, Senior Fellow for Corporate Development and Tech Investment Advisory, participated in the conference in San Francisco. Ateba met with leaders about minority ownership and access to capital in the healthcare tech investment space;
the lack of diversity at the executive ranks; drug pricing; big tech's march into the sector; the missing patient voice; and access to capital for Black founders in healthcare technology.
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Calling All MMTC Alumni and Fellows!
We Need Your Help in 2020!
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Please share your updated contact information and career news with Dorrissa Griffin, MMTC Chief of Staff, at dgriffin@mmtconline.org.
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MMTC Vice President Dr. Rikin Thakker Speaks at Wireless Infrastructure Association's Training
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Dr. Rikin Thakker, MMTC Vice President of Telecommunications and Spectrum Policy, conducted a January training session on behalf of the Wireless Infrastructure Association's
Telecommunications Education Center initiative for their member company, Vertical Bridge, in Florida.
Dr. Thakker's session provided an overview of In-building Wireless Solutions for 5G including the overview of the Citizens Broadband Radio Services band.
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Upskilling Tomorrow's Workforce:
National Urban League's Traci Scott
Speaks
at Skills Summit 2020
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The National Skills Coalition hosted the Skill Summit 2020
on February 3-5, 2020, in Washington, DC. The Summit brought together workforce leaders and more than 500 participants in the engaging discussion of skills priorities, need of inclusion and diversity in the future workforce, and policy movement on Capitol Hill. MMTC's partner National Urban League (NUL) was represented by Traci Scott, NUL Vice President of Workforce. Scott joined a panel/podcast on Skills Development at the Summit.
Read the Wakelet blog
here.
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MMTC Co-Hosts Dr. King Birthday Reception Honoring Congressman John J. Conyers, Jr. and
Film Screening of "MLK: The Making of a Holiday"
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In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, on January 15, 2020, MMTC co-hosted a film screening and tribute honoring the longtime, trailblazing Detroit Congressmember, the late John J. Conyers, Jr. (D-MI). Congressmember Conyers, respectfully dubbed "the Dean of the House Judiciary Committee," served 52 years. He died at age 90 on October 27, 2019. Conyers, the longest-serving African American congressman and a co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, successfully championed many initiatives and legislation including the bill that established the
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Holiday
in 1983. During his career, he also served as the chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
The event was chaired by Hon. Hank Johnson (D-GA). The following members of Congress attended and gave tributes: Congressmembers Karen Bass (D-CA), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Eddie Bernice Johnson D-TX), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Danny Davis (D-IL), Barbara Lee, Al G
reen (D-TX), Rashida Talib (D-MI), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), among others.
The organizer of the event was Thomas Hart, Jr., producer of the "
MLK: The Making of a Holiday
" documentary film that was screened during the event. The film highlights the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the movement, led by Congressman Conyers, that led to the passage of congressional legislation to create a national holiday in his honor.
Read more about the event here.
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MMTC Chief of Staff Dorrissa Griffin
Attends National Action Network's Annual
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Breakfast
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MMTC Chief of Staff, Dorrissa Griffin, attended the National Action Network's (NAN) 2020 Martin Luther King (MLK) Day Annual DC Breakfast on January 21st. Martin Luther King III and his family presented former President Bill Clinton with the MLK Day Lifetime of Excellence in Public Service Award. During his acceptance speech, Clinton touted universal, affordable broadband as the one thing that could bring our country together.
Honorees also included media mogul and MMTC named fellowship, Cathy Hughes, Founder and Chairperson of Urban One, who received the NAN Entrepreneur & Pioneer Award. NAN also presented Joan Mulholland from Freedom Rider (Civil Rights Movement) with the MLK Day Peace and Freedom Award; Karine Jean-Pierre, MSNBC analyst and MoveOn.org senior advisor, with the MLK Day Visionary Award; Kenneth E. Rigmaiden, General President at IUPAT, with the MLK Day Labor Leader of the Year Award; and Aalayah Eastmond a Parkland Shooting Survivor with the MLK Day Youth Award.
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MMTC Henry L. Rivera Fellow Savraj Gill Attends
Federal Communications Bar Association's Inaugural Women's Summit
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On January 29th, MMTC Henry L. Rivera fellow Savraj Gill, a second-year student at Syracuse
University College of Law, attended the Federal Communications Bar Association's Inaugural Women's Summit. The Summit's theme was "
Leading Together: Connecting and Empowering Women in Technology, Media, and Telecom Law and Policy" at Samsung's offices in Washington, DC. According to Gill, "the Summit was an engaging gathering that focused on not only helping women break into the tech, media, and telecom space, but also how to empower them to aspire to leadership roles in these fields as well. Much of the discussions were focused on women gaining the training and temperament to allow themselves to advance up the ladder, which touches on MMTC's goal of mentoring, building a next generation pipeline, and upskilling the current and future workforce."
Featured speakers included FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, fomer FCC Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, Kathy Grillo of Verizon, Anna Gomez of Wiley Rein, Dr. Nicol Turner Lee of the Brookings Institution, Jamile Kadre of the FCC, and Brita Strandberg of Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis (all featured in photos above).
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Special MMTC 20% Discount
Entrepreneurs Register for March 28th
Raising Money Equity Crowdfunding
Masterclass Led by
Crowdie Advisors and Axes and Eggs
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Join
Maureen Murat, Esq. of Crowdie Advisors and Professor Samson Williams of Axes and Eggs in their upcoming
Raising Money Masterclass
on March 28th in Baltimore, Maryland. They will
help you understand how to use equity crowdfunding to raise startup capital for your business. Raising Money is the most
comprehensive equity crowdfunding masterclass in the DMV
.
Are you a startup or business looking to raise money to grow your business? Join us for our next crowdfunding masterclass to understand:
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JOBS Act Equity and Debt Crowdfunding
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The intersection of Blockchain, Tokens and Cryptocurrencies with crowdfunding and your goals of raising money for your business
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How Title III of the JOBS Act can be used to raise up to $1.07M dollars under Reg CF crowdfunding.
Go
here
to register for the event and use the special code MMTC2020 for a 20% discount.
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MMTC 2020 Census Resources
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This year, MMTC is continuing its commitment to close the digital divide by helping communities of color prepare for, understand, and participate in the first-ever digital 2020 Decennial Census with census resources published on our website.
Go
here
to access MMTC's 2020 Census Resources.
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Download, Share, and Support
MMTC's
Jumpstart Tech
Career and Business Guides
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MMTC created the
Jumpstart Your Tech Career Guide
and Jumpstart Your Tech Business Guide to support those who are looking to start or strengthen their careers and businesses in the tech industry.
The
MMTC Jumpstart Your Tech Career Guide
provides a four-step process along with resources to help you develop and execute your tech job search strategy. The four steps include:
- Step 1: Do relevant work.
- Step 2: Listen to the buzz.
- Step 3: Start applying.
- Step 4: Identify conferences and tech weeks to attend for training, resources, information sharing, and networking.
Whether you're a student, a recent graduate, or a mid-level or seasoned professional exploring tech entrepreneurship, the MMTC Jumpstart Your Tech Business Guide provides a five-step process along with resources to help you develop and execute a strategy to launch your business. The five steps include:
- Step 1: Launch Your Tech Business
- Step 2: Fund Your Tech Business
- Step 3: Target Funders Who Support Diversity
- Step 4: Partner with Corporate Supplier Diversity Programs
- Step 5: Identify Peer Groups, Continuing Education Opportunities, Conferences and Events
Download the FREE guides and share then with your network.
- Go here to get a copy of the MMTC Jumpstart Your Tech Career Guide
- Go here to get a copy of the MMTC Jumpstart Your Tech Business Guide
Help MMTC expand the 2020 guides with a year-end donation. Go here to donate.
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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 December and January Social Media Highlights
Learn more about MMTC's work by visiting our Wakelet Blog:
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Help Expand MMTC's Work in Tech, Media & Telecom!
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. §501(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 tech, media, and telecom 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.
About MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers
As the nation's only nonprofit media and telecom brokerage, we invest time and effort in training a new generation of media and telecom entrepreneurs. Our brokerage services have expanded to include consulting. So please think of us if you have a client or a friend looking to enter the broadcast business that needs a seasoned brokerage firm. We are dedicated to our cause of promoting diverse broadcast ownership in media, telecom, and tech.
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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