{"id":7358,"date":"2023-07-18T19:28:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T23:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zayo1.burbledev.com\/?post_type=resources&#038;p=7358"},"modified":"2024-02-29T16:13:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T21:13:56","slug":"zayos-kitty-oconnor-brings-business-background-government-experience-to-the-shlb-board","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/resources\/zayos-kitty-oconnor-brings-business-background-government-experience-to-the-shlb-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Zayo\u2019s Kitty O\u2019Connor Brings Business Background, Government Experience to the SHLB Board"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shlb.org\/news\/shlb\/2023\/07\/SHLB-Coalition-Welcomes-Kathryn-OConnor-Kitty-to-the-Board-of-Directors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Schools, Health, &amp; Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition welcomed Zayo Head of Healthcare and E-rate Compliance Kitty O\u2019Connor to their board of directors<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A public interest group focused on advocacy, SHLB works with government policymakers to develop programs and legislation to bring communities high-capacity broadband throughout the U.S. Its focus is on anchor institutions \u2013 places like schools, libraries, healthcare providers, public housing, and community recreation centers \u2013 and the surrounding communities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTraditionally, anchor institutions have been left out of the broadband conversation,\u201d John Windhausen, Executive Director of SHLB tells us, \u201cThe government tends to focus on either residential or business users alone. Our aim is to be the voice of anchor institutions in DC and with state broadband leaders.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the past few years, SHLB has taken on many successful regulatory and policy-related projects. During the pandemic, they convinced the FCC to extend E-rate deadlines and funding for rural applicants, pushed for gift rule waivers, and worked with schools and libraries to extend wireless broadband networks to the home for remote learning.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coalition also worked tirelessly to get anchor institutions built into the <a href=\"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/resources\/transforming-broadband-the-infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act\/\">Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act<\/a> framework, passed in 2021. Thanks in part to SHLB\u2019s hard work and advocacy, thousands of anchor institutions will get enhanced broadband connections under the Act.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More recently, the group has been working with the White House to improve the quality of wireless networks, with an aim to serve low-income consumers in a more affordable way. SHLB supports what it calls deploying broadband \u201cto and through\u201d anchor institutions to provide affordable last-mile connectivity to unserved households.&nbsp; SHLB\u2019s motto is \u201cto solve the digital divide one anchor institution at a time.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The expertise and background Kitty brings to the SHLB board will significantly contribute to the group\u2019s success. Formerly a staffer to United States Senator Lamar Alexander during his tenure as Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, O\u2019Connor brings a diverse, deep background in policy and business and a passion for SHLB\u2019s mission to her new role.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to joining the SHLB board to help achieve digital equity,\u201d Kitty shares, \u201cMaking sure that all people have access to technology is the mission of SHLB, and being part of furthering that is exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a member of the board, Kitty will help elevate SHLB\u2019s visibility and effectiveness in advocacy. \u201cKitty will be an enormous asset to SHLB,\u201d Windhausen shares, \u201cShe\u2019s a great spokesperson for SHLB and Zayo and has great credibility with policymakers on Capitol Hill. She knows how to get things done.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zayo, too, remains committed to closing the digital divide. With $92.9 million recently awarded as part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) federal grant program, Zayo aims to bring critical middle-mile connectivity to underserved communities across the country. <a href=\"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/resources\/zayos-plan-to-connect-communities-using-the-ntia-middle-mile-grant\/\">Learn more about our new federally funded routes and how these routes support healthcare, education, and other anchor institutions nationwide here.&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SHLB advocates for high-capacity broadband, focusing on anchor institutions like schools and libraries. With Kitty&#8217;s expertise and background, they aim to achieve digital equity for all. Learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7359,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"3919,2822,3948,1667,4004,3970","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","resource-post-excerpt":"SHLB advocates for high-capacity broadband, focusing on anchor institutions like schools and libraries. With Kitty's expertise and background, they aim to achieve digital equity for all. Learn more.","footnotes":""},"resource-topics":[],"displayed":[],"resources-categories":[44],"industry":[27],"services-amp-solutions":[],"class_list":["post-7358","resources","type-resources","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resources-categories-blog","industry-public-sector"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/7358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resources"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/7358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource-topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topics?post=7358"},{"taxonomy":"displayed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed?post=7358"},{"taxonomy":"resources-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources-categories?post=7358"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=7358"},{"taxonomy":"services-amp-solutions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zayoustrans.burbledev.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/services-amp-solutions?post=7358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}