Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives have grown substantially in the U.S. private sector over the last two years. Now, the FCC has added a Senior Advisor for DEI matters while also welcoming a Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Tuesday (9/6) confirmed the addition of Brad Barry for the diversity role and the naming of Deena Shetler as Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration.
Barry will coordinate the agency’s anti-digital discrimination efforts, working in partnership with the Task Force to Prevent Digital Discrimination, which is led by D’wana Terry and Sanford Williams, each Special Advisors to the Chairwoman; and Alejandro Roark, Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. Roark who oversees engagement with stakeholders to ensure that task force recommendations reflect the needs of historically unserved and underserved communities.
“This work touches almost every part of the agency, and I am pleased we have a dedicated team to work on these important issues,” Rosenworcel said. “We can’t connect everyone, everywhere if we are not honest about the barriers many faces to access modern day communications and what we can do to prevent such circumstances. I thank Brad for lending his expertise to this important mission and look forward to working with him.”
Barry is a familiar face to many FCC veterans, as he served as Deputy Chief of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau from 1999 to 2002 and directed many of the Bureau’s early local competition and consumer protection investigations. More recently, he has served as General Counsel at the NAACP and as Vice President at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, each civil rights organizations.
Shetler will focus on administrative matters for the Commission. She was most recently Deputy Chief of the Office of Economics and Analytics and before that was Deputy Managing Director. She previously held several leadership roles in the Wireline Competition Bureau, including Associate Bureau Chief and Deputy Chief of the Pricing Policy Division. Prior to that, Shetler served as a Legal Advisor to former Commissioner Gloria Tristani. Shetler first joined the Commission in 1996 as an attorney in the Common Carrier Bureau. Prior to joining the FCC, she was an associate at Howrey and Simon in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.
