WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hundreds of media and telecom industry experts, insiders and entrepreneurs will gather tomorrow (7/19) and Thursday to highlight the most far-reaching issues affecting minority entrepreneurs and underserved communities, as the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) holds its 15th annual Access to Capital and Telecom Policy Conference, “Financing America’s Future.”
The conference is devoted to ways to encourage financing media and telecom businesses using venture capital, angels, incubators, accelerators, crowdfunding, FinTech, and other alternative financing sources.
With respect to telecom policy, the MMTC gathering will discuss such topics as net neutrality, 5G, broadband deployment, procurement, the nation’s infrastructure, consumer privacy, EEO, broadcast media incubators, the FCC’s Minority Tax Certificate Policy, and digital equity.
There’s also a second annual Capital Pitch competition, giving “idea phase” and early stage multicultural startups in the areas of media, telecom, and tech an opportunity to grow.
This year’s conference kicks off Wednesday with an open meeting of MMTC’s Telecom and Internet Policy Task Force, featuring a primer on “4G vs 5G: Next-Gen Apps, Wired and Wireless Technology Take Us to the Future.”
Overall conference highlights include one-on-one conversations with FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael O’Rielly and former Chairman Richard “Dick” Wiley; and video remarks from newly-appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) and Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) will also be on hand.
Additionally, MMTC is rolling out its Santana Initiative, MMTC’s resolution in honor of Feidin Santana, “Encouraging MMTC Members to Become Proficient in Using Mobile Video to Document Public Events Including Voter Protection and Encounters with Law Enforcement.”
During the Congressional Luncheon on Day 2, representatives from MMTC, the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative (NOBEL) Women, theLeague of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), NAACP, and Rainbow PUSH Coalition Founder Rev. Jesse Jackson, will all deliver remarks on the historic initiative.
