Contributing Writers

Marcella Gadson is the Editor in Chief of the Broadband and Social Justice Blog and Director of Communications for MMTC. Marcella has served as MMTC’s Research Director and Associate Media Broker, having conducted research on EEO compliance in telecom, “No Urban” and “No Spanish” Dictates in advertising, and minority representation on corporate boards. An experienced community organizer, Marcella organized outreach for the FCC’s Broadband Field Hearings.

Marcella earned her Bachelor’s of Business Administration in International Business, with a Concentration in Legal Studies, from Howard University’s School of Business Executive Leadership Honors Program in 2008.

Henry Rivera is the Chair of MMTC and a Partner at Wiley Rein, LLP. He specializes in representing telecommunications and media companies in legal matters before the FCC, Congress, the NTIA, and the White House.

President Ronald Reagan appointed him Commissioner of the FCC. He was the first Hispanic FCC Commissioner. Mr. Rivera has served as a chair and member of FCC and State Department Advisory Committees as well as a member of U.S. delegations to international telecommunications conferences.

Rivera received his B.A. in Economics from the University of New Mexico, and his J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law, where he was Editor of the Natural Resources Journal. He also received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Albuquerque.

Rivera, who is a Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Bronze Star, currently resides in Arlington, VA with his spouse, Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, Ph.D.

David Honig co-founded the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) in 1986. MMTC currently represents over 70 minority, civil rights and religious national organizations in selected proceedings before the FCC and other agencies, and it operates the nation’s only full service, minority owned media and telecom brokerage.

Mr. Honig serves MMTC as President and Executive Director, and as General Counsel of the Broadband Opportunity Coalition (BBOC), through which the nation’s leading civil rights organizations advance broadband adoption, literacy, and ownership diversity.

Mr. Honig has practiced communications and civil rights law since 1983, specializing in electronic redlining and race discrimination cases. He has taught and written extensively about issues in the intersection between civil rights and international and domestic communications. The National Law Journal has named Mr. Honig one of the thirty most influential communications lawyers.

Mr. Honig chairs the Constitutional Issues Subcommittee of the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age, and he serves pro bono as Special Counsel for Civil Rights for the Florida State Conference of the NAACP. He holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Oberlin College, an M.S. in Systems Analysis from the University of Rochester, and a law degree cum laude from Georgetown University.

Sandra Whittington was born and raised in Roanoke Rapids, NC. Eastern Shore, Maryland, is where she lives with her family that she adores.

As President and Founder of ThinkSmartNow, LLC she provides a vision of doing business the smart way in both the commercial and government environment. The vision is supported by her husband, Santo Whittington, as they both have experience that spans over 25 years in the technology arena.

Linda Lawson is a veteran journalist of television and print. Her work has appeared in Black Enterprise, Black Elegance and Upscale Magazines. She is living her dream as founder and executive director of Angel Helper, a philanthropic journalism organization that does online stories to help those in need nationwide. She is host of Blogtalk Radio’s Conversations With Linda, a holistic lifestyle show. She also currently is a contributing writer to politic365.com.

She is currently writing a book, Handmade Miracles, profiling miracle stories across the country. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism from Howard University. She plans to pursue her Master’s Degree as soon as she finds time.

Lucette Pierre-Louis is a recent graduate from Florida A&M University College of Law. She is an attorney who strives to serve the public good and represent the less fortunate. In law school, Lucette earned the title of Senior Editor of the Southern Region Black Law Journal and have authored articles ranging from Abortion to Rape in Third World Countries.

Lucette is a Haitian American who has a strong passion for broadcast and television with hopes to diversify the industry.

Janis D. Hazel was appointed by the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census to manage the Washington, DC Decennial 2010 Census operations.

A political scientist trained at the University of Michigan and Institut de Touraine in Tours, France, she is a native of Detroit, MI, and has served as Legislative Director to Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI).

An advocate for strong and financially sound noncommercial television and advanced digital services for the American people, she has served as a lobbyist for the Association of Public Television Stations representing the nations 350 PBS stations, Director of Development and Communications for Howard University Television (the nation’s only Black owned PBS station) and Executive Director of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

She is a contributing writer for Real Times Media Who’s Who Publications (the nation’s largest African American directory publisher) authoring tributes to America’s trailblazers and legends. She served for 10 years on the MMTC Board of Directors and is currently on the MMTC Board of Advisors residing in Washington, DC.

Latoya Livingston, Esq., is a Washington-D.C.-based attorney with years of legal experience working in the private and public sector. She joins the team at the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council after a year of performing pro bono work for the organization, which included research and writing on topics that range from the National Broadband Plan, the Broadband Stimulus, and the DTV Transition, among others. Before working at MMTC, Ms. Livingston worked with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. She is excited to embark on this new and challenging sphere of her young legal career.

Attorney Livingston is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Villanova University School of Law.

Ava L. Parker of Jacksonville, Florida, is the president of Linking Solutions Inc., a business-development and community-outreach firm, and a partner in the law firm of Lawrence & Parker, PA., and the voice of The AvaView, a blog on digital action and consumer protection.

As chair of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and a former lawyer with the Florida Department of Transportation and aide to the Florida Public Service Commission, she has extensive experience in telecommunications, energy and transportation issues.

Parker serves as counsel for the 11th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and is the founder of FISH Kids Inc., an Internet-based ministry for African-American youth. She is an active advocate for higher education, having served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Central Florida and as counsel for Edward Waters College. Currently, she is chair of the Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida.

Parker received her journalism degree and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida. She is a member of the Links Inc. and of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Parker is married to State Representative Joseph “Joe” Gibbons and she has twins born last year – a girl, Bailey, and a boy, Parker.

Asian C. Udoh is an attorney licensed in the states of California and Illinois and currently works in Washington D.C. She graduated with a Juris Doctor Degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law with a certification in the area of International & Comparative Law and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has written articles on international legal issues that have appeared in the Daily Journal and the Los Angeles Lawyer.

Kenya L. Stevens, is a BBSJ contributing writer and a Maryland attorney. As a graduate of the David A. Clarke School of Law, she is committed to issues that serve the public interest and matters of social justice.

Elle Mahoney has an extensive background that ranges from working in the entertainment industry to training law enforcement professionals. Her experience in several different industries gives her a unique view of how information technology and the online world play a significant role in politics, education, business, and nearly every facet of our lives. As such, she has capitalized on opportunities to participate in ventures that enable her to help others succeed in the new computer-based era.

She currently works with a government law enforcement agency, developing and instructing courses. Additionally, she teaches for two major online universities, and is the Director of Operations for an online television network. She has managed to find a way to blend her love of technology with her passion for educating others.

Jacqueline Clary is the John W. Jones Fellow at the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. In this position, she focuses on a variety of policy issues to advance minority participation in the media and telecommunications industries. Ms. Clary earned her B.A. from John Carroll University, her J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law, and is a member of the New York State Bar.

Joycelyn F. James, Esq., is a graduate of the Institute for Communications Law Studies at the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law. She currently serves as the Cathy Hughes Fellow for the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, where she works on matters that focus on the advancement of minority and women’s entrepreneurship in the nation’s media and telecommunications industries.

Dorrissa D. Griffin is a third year law student of Florida A&M University College of Law. She currently serves as Law Clerk for Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, where she works on matters that focus on the advancement of civil rights for minorities and women in the nation’s media and telecommunications industries.

Britton Loftin is a Political Strategist and Director of a Legislative & Government Affairs firm.

Jorge Bauermeister is a former Commissioner of the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board and a former Member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. In 2005, he was appointed as Chairman of NARUC’s Consumer Affairs Committee before opening his private practice in San Juan. His blog, Latino Internet Justice, focuses on telecommunications and Internet law.

Innis Buggs is a legal intern at the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. This fall, he will be entering his third year at Rutgers University School of Law.