Meet The Women Transforming the Broadband Industry: Seven Women Driving Digital Inclusion

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I write about the internet for a living, and in my time reviewing internet service providers, I’ve rarely encountered a woman CEO.

In fact, of the 15 ISPs that each cover 2% or more of the country, I can only count one company with a woman CEO. According to the Women Business Collaborative, only 10% of Fortune 500 companies have women CEOs.

The broadband industry is constantly evolving. New developments in internet connectivity, from Li-Fi to 5G internet, have changed how we get online over the years. But as far as leadership goes, most authority positions in broadband still belong to men.

Even while male leadership tends to make most of the decisions regarding broadband deployment and policy, notable women have been making strides in digital equity -- often working to contribute to the growing demands of the digital divide with minimal recognition or representation.

“I've been doing work within the realm of what we now call the digital divide for 27 to 28 years -- a long time,” said Angela Siefer, the executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a nonprofit focused on promoting digital equity.

Other women, like Gigi Sohn or Jessica Rosenworcel, previously held positions at the Federal Communications Commission, where they promoted policies that favored the consumer rather than just the company providing internet service.

In honor of Women’s History Month, I’ve compiled a list (in no particular order) of seven outstanding women in broadband who have contributed to internet accessibility over the years. From government officials to lawyers to leaders of grassroots organizations, these women have made a tangible impact on the internet over decades of work.

1. Jessica Rosenworcel, former FCC Chairwoman

Jessica Rosenworcel was the FCC’s first chairwoman. Although she has since stepped down, Rosenworcel made a tremendous impact on the telecom and broadband industry with her rulings on net neutrality, her stance on monopolies and her commitment to broadband accessibility. Before the pandemic worsened the state of internet connectivity, Rosenworcel coined the term "homework gap," or the gap that emerges between students with access to the internet and computers students without. The homework gap intensified during the pandemic, and Rosenworcel pushed to expand the FCC's E-rate program to include Wi-Fi hotspots and a cybersecurity program.

"Out of crisis is opportunity," Rosenworcel told CNET while she was chairwoman. "We've ended the days where we talk about broadband as a 'nice-to-have.' Policymakers everywhere now understand it's a 'need-to-have' for everyone across this country."

2. Jordana Barton-García, Connect Humanity

Jordana Barton-García is a senior fellow at Connect Humanity and the director and co-founder of the Texas Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition. Barton-García is dedicated to keeping rural and low-income communities in South Texas online by developing broadband deployment and digital inclusion plans. The coalition recently announced its Broadband and Digital Opportunity Plan, an initiative to secure each "home, business and community anchor institution" in the Rio Grande Valley with access to affordable high-speed internet.

Barton-García has contributed to Connect Humanity's 2024 achievement of helping source $112 million in funding for broadband development and adoption programs for communities from Appalachia to the Rio Grande Valley.

3. Gigi Sohn, American Association for Public Broadband

Gigi Sohn is the executive director of the American Association for Public Broadband, an advocacy group for public and community-owned broadband networks. Sohn is a voice for community-owned and operated broadband and played a key role in Bountiful, Utah’s recent launch of an open-access network.

Sohn has over 30 years of experience advocating for consumer-friendly policies. For 12 years, Sohn served as a counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and was the co-founder and former CEO of Public Knowledge, a public interest group focused on digital equity and technology policy.

4. Anna Gomez, FCC commissioner

Anna Gomez is a commissioner of the FCC committed to rural broadband and keeping the telecommunications industry competitive. Gomez has served at the FCC for over 12 years in different capacities and has over 30 years of experience in domestic and international law and policy. Gomez has been a voice for net neutrality, affordable internet and the resurrection of the Affordable Connectivity Program.

"The ACP is the most successful tool Congress has ever provided to close the digital divide," Gomez wrote in a statement urging funding for the ACP.

5. Shirley Bloomfield, NTCA's Rural Broadband Association

Shirley Bloomfield is the CEO of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association -- a position she has held for nearly 15 years. Bloomfield has over 35 years of experience in the telecom industry, specifically championing rural broadband initiatives and helping secure funding for independent, rural ISPs. The NTCA represents around 850 independent ISPs.

In addition to advocating for local, rural broadband, Bloomfield and the NTCA advocate for consumer privacy and universal service with affordable, fast internet. Bloomfield has also advocated for the Universal Service Fund, which funds programs like Lifeline and E-Rate. The USF is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether the program is unconstitutional, and if it is struck down, the NTCA argues that rural broadband prices would skyrocket.

6. Kathryn de Wit, Pew Charitable Trusts

Kathyrn de Wit is the project director of the Broadband Access Initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts. The initiative focuses on improving broadband access and affordability by producing research with data on the state of internet access. The work often informs state and federal policy and addresses current broadband access research gaps. De Witt has over 10 years of experience in public policy and research and has testified in Congress on the state of broadband accessibility multiple times.

Most recently, de Wit has advocated for a more transparent BEAD funding process to ensure that broadband deployment is consistent and not slowed down by "unnecessary and constricting mandates."

7. Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance

Angela Siefer is the executive director and one of the founders of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a nonprofit organization with the unilateral goal of digital equity and inclusion. The NDIA has been one of the most prominent voices in the fight for digital equity and partners with over 2,000 affiliate organizations, as well as policy-makers and researchers. Siefer has advocated for the digital divide since 1995 and founded the NDIA in 2015. Beyond deploying internet infrastructure, Siefer and the NDIA advocate for ensuring that the internet is affordable and people are equipped with digital navigational skills. NDIA hosts digital inclusion conferences and hosts digital equity toolkits, and research inventories on its website.

"If we get broadband in every community, it does not mean that we have bridged the digital divide," Siefer told me. "It means the infrastructure is there and now we need to help people understand how to use it safely and do great things in their lives with it."

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