Lerman Senter Represented on FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment

The Federal Communications Commission’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) held its last Public Meeting under the current charter on June 24, 2021. At that meeting, S. Jenell Trigg, a Lerman Senter Member who serves as the firm’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, presented the report on the ACDDE’s Digital Empowerment and Inclusion Working Group’s Digital Empowerment Subgroup.

Trigg has served as Co-Lead of ACDDE’s Digital Empowerment Subgroup. Under her leadership, the FCC and the ACDDE co-presented two successful events: the Tech Supplier Diversity Showcase in October 2020 and the Tech and Communications Diversity Opportunity Symposium and Virtual Fair in April 2021. Both events provided small and diverse businesses in the information, communications and tech sectors with important information and resources concerning new and alternative sources of capital; Tier I and II procurement opportunities; apprenticeship and incubator programs; and training and employment programs. The Virtual Fair was the first of its kind and provided one-on-one networking opportunities for more than 80 small and diverse communications businesses with major communications and tech companies, trade associations, and local, state and federal government agencies.

Anna M. Gomez, ACDDE Chair, remarked that “Jenell showed tremendous leadership and dedication to supporting small and diverse businesses. The Committee benefited greatly from her expertise, contacts, and enthusiasm.”

Heather Gate, ACDDE Vice-Chair, added: “I have had the pleasure of working with Jenell on the last 2 charters of the ACDDE over a four-year period. Throughout our tenure, Jenell played a critical leading role in guiding our strategy for empowering and increasing economic opportunities for small and diverse communications businesses. Not only was she a strategic leader, but she also led in executing and ensuring that we successfully accomplished the goals we set out to achieve. Thanks to her hard work, we had the potential of engaging over 2.7 million people via virtual events and social media.”

Trigg was appointed to the ACDDE in 2019 by former FCC Chairman Pai, and has worked with prior FCC Diversity Committees since 2001 as a subject matter expert or as a member of other working groups and task forces.

The video and reports from the ACDDE Public Meeting, as well the video of the October Showcase and April Symposium and various other resources and information regarding the ACDDE, can be found at https://www.fcc.gov/advisory-committee-diversity-and-digital-empowerment.