U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo appointed 11 public safety, technology, and finance leaders to serve on the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) Board. Stephen Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, SC, was named the FirstNet Authority’s new board chair.
With the newly appointed members, including current Board member Karima Holmes, the FirstNet Board is fully staffed, with 12 non-permanent members selected by the Department of Commerce and three permanent seats occupied by the U.S. Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
“I am proud to announce the selection of these highly qualified Board members, whose experience in public service and the private sector will ensure that the FirstNet Authority continues to provide a world-class communication network that emergency responders need,” Secretary Raimondo said in a press release. “Their backgrounds and experience reflect the diversity of FirstNet network users and will enable the Board to look to the future for investment opportunities and sound financial management to maintain the only public-private nationwide public safety broadband network.”
Raimondo appointed seven new members to the FirstNet Board for three-year terms:
- Stephen Benjamin, Board Chair, mayor of Columbia, SC
- Alexandra Fernandez Navarro, the commissioner for the Puerto Rico Public Service Regulatory Board
- Kristin Graziano, sheriff of Charleston County, SC
- Peter Koutoujian, sheriff of Middlesex County, MA
- Warren Mickens, retired vice president of CenturyLink Communications
- Sylvia Moir, retired police chief of Tempe, AZ
- Jocelyn Moore, New York Consultant/Venture Capital; Board of Directors, DraftKings
Raimondo reappointed the following members to serve a second three-year term:
- Richard Carrizzo, chief of the Southern Platte Fire Protection District, Kansas City, MO
- Brian Crawford, Louisiana EVP, and chief administrative officer of Willis-Knighton Health System
- Billy Hewes, mayor of Gulfport, MS
- Paul R. Patrick, division director for Family Health and Preparedness at the Utah Department of Health
