Chairwoman Rosenworcel Appoints Native Nations Communications Task Force Members

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appointed twenty-one Tribal members and five FCC members to the FCC’s renewed Native Nations Communications Task Force. The Task Force is comprised of elected and appointed leaders, or their designees, from a broad cross section of Native Nations, as well as senior staff and decision-makers from across the FCC.  Chairwoman Rosenworcel named Bambi Kraus, Chief of the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy, as Task Force Co-Chair.  A Tribal Co-Chair will be elected by the Tribal members of the Task Force. The Task Force will help the FCC fulfill its commitment to increase access to broadband and other communications infrastructure deployment and services on Tribal lands. The Task Force’s mission is to provide guidance, expertise, and recommendations to specific requests from the FCC on a range of telecommunications issues that directly or indirectly affect Tribal governments and their people. 

Tribal Task Force members are: Tiffany Circle, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Washington Sam Cohen, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation Fred Corey, Mi'kmaq Nation Guthrie Ducheneaux, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Lee Fine, Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana Melissa Francis, Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point Anthony Giacobbe, Seneca Nation Sharon Hildebrand, Tanana Chiefs Conference Donald Long Knife, Fort Belknap Indian Community Marissa Merculieff, Aleut Community of St. Paul (ASCPI) Will Micklin, Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians Allyson Mitchell, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Jason Neilitz, Sokaogon Chippewa Community Robert Pollard, Blue Lake Rancheria Kevin Shendo, Pueblo of Jemez Josh Snow, Chickasaw Nation Paula Starr, Cherokee Nation Teresa Taylor, Lummi Nation Sherry Treppa, Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Tribe Jonathan Walters, Samish Indian Nation Jason Williams, Chugachmiut.

FCC members are: Allison Baker, Associate Bureau Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau; David Furth, Deputy Bureau Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau; Bambi Kraus, Chief, Office of Native Affairs and Policy, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, and FCC NNCTF Co-Chair; Janet Moran, Associate Division Chief, Competition and Infrastructure Policy Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau; and Lisa Scanlan, Deputy Division Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau.