Voqal Says Farewell to Hollis Hope
April 25, 2019 This month, Voqal says farewell to longtime philanthropy advisor, Hollis Hope, as she leaves us to begin the next phase of her life in France. For nearly a decade, Hollis has served as Voqal’s senior philanthropy advisor and has been responsible for strategy, program development and impact assessment for Voqal. Throughout the Read More
Voqal Submits Letter About EBS and Rural Broadband to Senate Commerce Subcommittee
March 22, 2019 Chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet, U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), recently convened a hearing titled “The Impact of Broadband Investments in Rural America.” The hearing focused on ways to improve the quality and expand the availability of rural broadband. Voqal, in conjunction with Read More
Another Great Year at SXSW EDU
March 8, 2019 A cold front was not the only thing to descend on Austin this week. Thousands of teachers, administrators, Ed-tech companies, policy-makers and venture capitalists, among others, also arrived for the annual SXSW EDU Conference and Festival. Armed with winter coats and notepads this community of lifelong learners – including several Voqal board Read More
Discussing the Future of EBS at Annual NEBSA Conference
February 20, 2019 The annual conference for the National Educational Broadband Service (EBS) Association (NEBSA), was held in Tampa this week. This year’s conference offered a variety of panels related to EBS regulatory policy, wireless technology, the wireless industry and the good EBS is doing. Voqal’s own John Schwartz participated in a panel titled “Washington Read More
Telecommunications Policy Update: Unleashing the Power of EBS in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
February 15, 2019 Voqal has long been an advocate for using Educational Broadband Service (EBS) to empower communities and connect the unserved and underserved. All Americans deserve an opportunity to participate in digital society. Unfortunately, far too many Americans lack true broadband access. According to the FCC’s 2018 Broadband Deployment Report, about 24 million Americans Read More
BISC Looks to the Road Ahead in 2019
February 11, 2019 Last week, the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) held its annual Road Ahead conference at the Park MGM in Las Vegas. Not only was it the biggest conference in BISC’s history, but it also took a bold new approach to make the event a valuable and insightful experience for the attendees. This year’s Read More
2018 Annual Report Spotlight: Protecting the Public Airwaves
February 6, 2019 In the last installment of our ongoing series featuring stories from Voqal’s FY 2018 Annual Report: Be Nimble, we take a look at our efforts to ensure the country’s telecommunications resources are benefiting the public. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a duty to the public – the airwaves belong to the Read More
Telecommunications Policy Update: EBS Auction Event Raises Important Questions
February 1, 2019 Last week, the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) hosted an event titled “Can a Voluntary Auction of the 2.5 GHz EBS Spectrum Help Close the Homework Gap?” The event featured a fireside chat with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who has advocated for conducting an incentive auction to recapture EBS licenses, sell them to Read More
2018 Annual Report Spotlight: Investing for Impact with Peekapak
January 31, 2019 As part of our ongoing series featuring stories from Voqal’s FY 2018 Annual Report: Be Nimble, we take a look at one of the Voqal’s Educational Opportunity Project investees, Peekapak and their innovative work to help address the educational opportunity gap. Leo the Hedgehog is a tinkerer and loves to learn how Read More
Happy National Inventors Day: Celebrating Voqal Fellows
January 25, 2019 In this month’s entry in Voqal’s grantmaking blog series, Director of Grantmaking Brenda Sears looks forward to National Inventors Day by highlighting three past Voqal Fellows and their projects focused on advancing social change. Storm from the X-Men was right when she said “we live in an age of darkness, a world Read More
