Tech Supplier Diversity Opportunity Showcase
The Digital Empowerment and Inclusion Working Group of the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) and the FCC’s Media Bureau held this showcase virtually as a Zoom webinar that was available to the public via the Internet Association website at https://internetassociation.org/. See the Public Notices for registration information and agenda.
The event was co-hosted by the Internet Association, a member organization of the ACDDE. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Internet Association Interim President and CEO Jon Berroya, and National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial delivered remarks.
Through its ongoing work, the ACDDE recognizes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diverse communications businesses and their increased need for financial support from the government, as well as from the private sector, to weather the current economic crisis and preserve and grow their businesses. These businesses need various forms of financial support, including short and long-term loans, grants, contracting, angel investing, and private equity/venture capital. The Tech Supplier Diversity Opportunity Showcase provided information, resources, and support to diverse communications businesses, including those focused on legacy communications industries (e.g., radio, television, telecommunications, and satellite), as well as those engaged in more technology-oriented industries that wish to do business with tech and communications companies or government agencies as vendors, suppliers, or partners. The showcase also provided resources to businesses seeking to upgrade their own operations technologically.
The showcase included two information-packed panels. The first panel, Show Me the Money: Traditional and Alternative Sources of Capital, featured representatives from FinTech, tech sector companies, community banks and organizations, private equity/venture capital entities and the Small Business Administration (SBA), who discussed traditional and alternative sources of capital. The second panel, How to Pivot in a COVID-19 World: Opportunities and Reinvention Strategies for Diverse Communications Businesses, examined the resources, strategies and future technology trends that will enable diverse communications businesses to pivot today and plan for tomorrow.
Related Materials
- Chairman Pai's Remarks
- Agenda
- Showcase Announcement and Registration Information
- Watch the Showcase Live Video Stream
- ACDDE Home Page
Materials from Showcase Participants
- Speakers’ Bios
- Business Center for New Americans
- Comcast
- PayPal
- T-Mobile
- US Small Business Administration Funding Programs
- Verizon
- Year Up