FCC Committee Recommends Annual Supplier Diversity Event, Contemplates End of Charter

The workshop and “one-stop shop” web information portal would make it easier for minority-owned suppliers and vendors to access information about and make contact with telecom companies, said Rudy Brioche, Comcast vice president and member of the ACDDE’s Digital Empowerment and Inclusion Working Group. The committee held a supplier diversity workshop in June.

Some companies in the communications industry operate through “the old boy network,” said ACDDE member and Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council Senior Advisor David Honig. “The way you learned about procurement opportunities, you learned about it from your friends who already had these opportunities,” Honig said. “If you were a minority- or woman-owned company, you never heard.”

Honig pushed for the ACDDE recommendation to include a cover letter that made it clear the workshop and web portal shouldn’t be used as substitutes for more-robust procurement rules that have been supported by MMTC. The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and MMTC challenged the FCC’s incubator program in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 1810300014), and “non-action” on stronger procurement rules is part of the petition. Honig doesn't want the agency to be able to argue that the ACDDE’s recommendation addressed the issue, and the committee unanimously approved language saying its recommendation isn’t intended to “impact the merits of any FCC initiatives.”

The recommendation included language urging the FCC consult on all future supplier diversity workshops with the ACDDE. That led members to note the body’s charter expires in July. “This committee is finite,” said former Commissioner and ACDDE member Henry Rivera, saying the diversity committee had spent years on hiatus under previous administrations. The committee’s meeting Monday was opened with a speech from Pai praising the work of the committee, highlighting accomplishments. “Your work is very much appreciated and you are helping step by step, report by report, make this country a more diverse and inclusive place,” Pai said.

Brookings Institute Fellow Nicol Turner-Lee mentioned “fear” the ACDDE wouldn’t be rechartered. Afterward, she told us she's “confident that Chairman Pai will recharter the federal advisory committee given the substance of the recommendations and the activities completed to date.” Any change in leadership “should not call into question the merits of this advisory committee when considering rechartering,” she said. The ACDDE’s designated federal officer, Jamila-Bess Johnson, said she has received no indication from Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey that the group won’t be rechartered. The chairman’s office didn’t comment.

The Diversity in Tech working group reported on a series of confidential meetings on industry diversity its members had with representatives from Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Uber. Sensitive diversity information from the companies was shared with the committee and will have to be handled carefully, said ACDDE member Ronald Johnson of the Wireless Infrastructure Association. “Dealing with a very sensitive set of data probably has not allowed us to drive this proposition as quickly as we would.”

The meetings showed diversity efforts in the tech industry are largely driven by individuals at those companies, and every company is different, said ACDDE Chair Diane Sutter, also a broadcaster. National Urban League Telecom Fellow Gavin Logan said there are more such meetings being scheduled, and the working group plans to issue a report in 2019. Pai praised the meetings as a step toward addressing tech industry inclusion. “I'm told that what they learned from this roundtable will form the basis of a best practices report that all of us can benefit from,” Pai said. "That is something I would encourage and I think is a positive step forward.”