FCC Announces Intern and Early Career Staff Diversity Initiative

In a joint effort by Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the FCC has created the Early Career Staff Diversity Initiative to advance equitable opportunities for underrepresented undergraduate, graduate, and law school students. The Early Career Staff Diversity Initiative has the following components:

• Beginning in January 2021, the FCC will provide a select number of paid internships to law, graduate, or undergraduate students each semester and summer. These internships should create opportunities for students who may otherwise be financially unable to participate in unpaid internships at the FCC.
• The FCC will invest additional resources to recruit students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and other Minority Serving Institutions to increase the diversity of the applicant pool for the FCC’s internship, Attorney Honors, and Honors Engineering programs.
• The FCC will increase recruitment efforts with affinity groups, such as chapters of the National Black Law Students Association and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, to increase awareness about available internship and career opportunities.