The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau’s Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division is responsible for reaching out to many of our underserved communities. We are always looking for new and innovative ways to meet the needs of the diverse communities we serve.
Toward that end, on Monday, July 22, 2013, we were pleased to host the first roundtable for leaders of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community at the FCC’s headquarters. We were honored that Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn opened the roundtable, which was also attended by Commissioner Ajit Pai who is now the Commission’s representative on the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders. FCC policy makers gave presentations relevant to this community: low-power community FM radio stations; small business opportunities; Lifeline; broadband; digital literacy; health initiatives; public private partnerships; connect2compete; Everyone On; [MW2] incentive auctions; and many consumer issues such as bill shock and cramming.
The ensuing discussions between the participants and FCC speakers were lively and intense, so much so that our meeting ran over the allotted time! But it was time well spent because the FCC and leaders of the AAPI community forged a partnership that envisions an overarching framework of information exchanges to be supplemented by smaller committees to achieve specific goals – such as how to better address the need for culturally sensitive outreach materials in multiple languages.
It was very exciting to hear so many positive comments from our participants. We’ve waited too long for this discussion to take place, and now with a renewed commitment to work together, we see a great future in collaborating and working with the AAPI community.
We want to give a special thank you to Jason Lagria, Senior Staff Attorney, Media and Telecommunications, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Courtney Chappell, Senior Advisor, White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for helping us prepare for this occasion.
We plan to continue to host roundtables, webinars, conference calls, and regular meetings. Stay tuned for other exciting roundtables featuring the Asian American and Pacific Islander community as well as other groups in the coming months.