MMTC Needs Your Help During COVID-19!
Invest in MMTC on Giving Tuesday Now!
Dear MMTC Partners and Friends,
  
This year, we are participating in Giving Tuesday on May 5th (moved from its usual date of the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) to encourage support for nonprofits NOW, due to the impact of COVID-19.
 
The COVID-19 crisis has not slowed us down one bit, if anything, it has strengthened our commitment to our vision of " a fully connected, educated, healthy, and empowered society in which all communities thrive. "
 
MMTC’s Winter/Spring and Summer Fellowships Continue: Notwithstanding COVID-19, we have maintained our commitments to continue the next generation pipeline through our fellowship program for law students.  We mentored and trained seven winter and spring fellows, and our six summer fellows started on April 24 th . Learn more about our next generation below.
 
COVID-19 Advocacy : Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have continued our advocacy work in the tech, media and telecom sectors. We demonstrated our support for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's "Keep Americans Connected" pledge; we filed letters in support of the FCC’s Lifeline program for low income communities; we supported the FCC’s proposal to open up 1200 MHz of spectrum in the 6GHz band for the unlicensed Wi-Fi use; we joined 217 other groups in urging Congress to support affordable broadband access in COVID-19 stimulus bills; we delivered a presentation on what the media and telecom sectors are doing to assist consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic during a webinar held by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Education Fund. Our COVID-19 web portal and Wakelet blog capture the FCC's COVID-19 response and commitments, congressional and industry leaders' responses, and resources for consumers, communities and small businesses. MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers specifically reached out to radio and television station owners to provide helpful information about small business loan programs and advice on how to apply for the loans to keep their stations on-the-air and serve the public. Read the Lifeline letter here. Go here to read the 6GHz letter. Visit the COVID-19 Portal here .
 
Your continued support will help us continue our work to bridge the digital divide, and improve the overall well-being of our most vulnerable students, workers, families, and communities in these challenging times. Please support us today by making a contribution on Giving Tuesday.
 
Sincerely,
 
Maurita K. Coley
 
President and CEO, MMTC
Meet MMTC Spring 2020 Fellows
Max Ateba, MMTC Senior Fellow, Corporate Development and Business Strategy and FinTech and HealthTech Advisory , is a Corporate Development, Strategy and Finance professional with years of experience as a Management Consultant at Deloitte and a Banker at J.P.Morgan. Ateba earned a Master of Business Administration from
St. John's University, The Peter J. Tobin College of Business. While at MMTC, he provided strategic planning coaching to  implement MMTC's Strategic Plan developed with the assistance of Columbia University's Capstone Program,  and advice on establishing an accelerator for entrepreneurs, and several grant proposals. Currently, he is serving during the COVID-19 crisis as a Medical Logistics Specialist in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps where he supervises his supply squadron on needs assessment, inventory management, and quality control to ensure mission readiness of materials.
Dr. Sarah Diekman, MMTC Earle K. Moore Fellow , is a third-year student at Florida A&M University College of Law.

Nicholas Poppell, MMTC Earle K. Moore Fellow , is a third-year student at Florida State University College of Law.

Margeling Santiago, MMTC Henry M. Rivera Fellow , is a third-year student at Florida State University College of Law.

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.

Danielle Davis, Of Counsel at MMTC and former MMTC 2018 Earle K. Moore fellow , is a graduate of Barry University - Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law (2018). Davis is currently working as the Tech and Telecom Policy Fellow at the National Urban League. Previously, Davis served as the Tech and Telecom Fellow at the National Council of Negro Women, Inc.
Meet MMTC 2020 Summer Fellows
Oscar Draughn is a first-year student at Florida A&M University College of Law. Prior to law school, Draughn was employed with the Arizona Department of Health Services as an enforcement specialist. He earned earned a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University. 

Amber Edney is a first-year student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Edney received the Ethos of Excellence Scholarship and serves as the Director of Communications for the Entertainment and Sports Law Society. She is also active in Art Law Society and Black Law Students Association. 

Robert Gallinar is a second-year student at Florida International University (FIU) College of Law. Gallinar received the Dean’s Merit Scholarship, He serves on the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Executive Board; FIU Law Negotiation and Mediation Team; International Law Students Association; and Business Law Society Executive Board.

Ashton Hampton is a third-year student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Hampton is also a Master of Arts in Mass Communication at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. She has co-authored two law review articles as a Graduate Research Fellow for the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project. As a graduate research assistant at the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, she also investigated First Amendment issues of public access and analyzed developments in media law and policy. Currently, she serves as Vice President of the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Association and Vice President for Entertainment of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society.

Nick Owen is a second-year student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Owen was awarded the Governor's Scholarship and is a member of the Journal of Technology Law and Policy.

Marissa Zink is a first-year student at the Florida International University College of Law. Zink was awarded the Dean's Scholarship and the CALI Award of Excellence, Legal Skills and Values. She is a member of the Women's Law Society and the Business Law Society.

Special Gift for Donors
In appreciation for your support, MMTC will send you copies of the Jumpstart Your Tech Career Guide and Jumpstart Your Tech Business Guide that were released during the Access to Opportunity Conference in October 2019. The Guides were created to support those who are looking to start or strengthen their careers and businesses in the tech industry.