The woman who has served as President/CEO of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) is no longer in the role.
Effective today, Maurita Coley has retired from the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.
Her replacement is immediately taking over her position.
With Coley stepping aside, the MMTC Board of Directors selected Robert Branson as her
successor.
Branson is of counsel for Empire Consulting Group, and for nearly 16 years until his December 2018 departure served as a counsel for Verizon.
He is also a former Past President and Member of the Federal Communications Bar Association Executive Committee.
That said, Branson is a D.C. veteran who was Chief Legal Counsel for Post-Newsweek Stations from February 1993-April 2000; a senior FCC legal counsel from 1983-1993; and an Assistant General Counsel at the NAB from 1986-1989.
Speaking for the organization, MMTC Board Chair and Treasurer Ronald Johnson said, “MMTC extends our deepest appreciation and many thanks to Maurita Coley who has, since 2012, served us admirably, with unparalleled integrity and transparency … Maurita has amplified our role as a respected and influential thought leader, known for our commitment to minority business, consumers, and underrepresented communities.”
Coley joined the MMTC as Chief Operating Officer and since 2018 was in her most recent role.
MMTC’s co-founder and President Emeritus David Honig expressed that he is “eternally grateful to Maurita for taking such great care of my baby – MMTC – and helping to usher it into the next 35 years of excellence. While she is stepping down from the President and CEO role, Maurita will forever be a part of the MMTC family.”
Coley added, “I take great pride to have served with such a talented and committed board, advisors, investors, and staff of an impactful organization that is focused on a shared goal: advancing policies that create equal opportunities for underrepresented communities and talent.”
She said that her proudest accomplishment was the completion of MMTC’s first official
strategic plan and framework for the modernization of the group’s mission and vision, with the assistance of the Columbia University Capstone Program’s School of Nonprofit Management, Bridge Philanthropic Consulting, and MMTC staff and boards.
Plus, Coley is “absolutely thrilled with the board’s selection of Bob Branson to lead MMTC into its 35th year, and I will support him in any way I can. I plan to take some time for my personal creative interests, but I will stay close to the MMTC family.”
Coley has served on the External Diversity and Inclusion Councils of Charter Communications and T-Mobile, and on the FCC’s Advisory Committee for Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) where she focused on promoting tech employment best practices and on building a pipeline of diverse students into the tech workforce. Under Coley’s leadership, MMTC embraced a “community-centered framework,” including faith-based outreach, and she oversaw the contract to support the National Urban League’s “Urban Apprenticeship Jobs Program.
Prior to joining the MMTC, Coley served as the executive director of DC’s Capital Area Asset Builders, a nonprofit focused on financial equity and inclusion. She is a former partner with the Davis Wright Tremaine and the Cole, Raywid & Braverman law firms and an executive with BET Holdings Inc. (now within ViacomCBS).
