CETF Issues A Warm Farewell As Senior Vice President Departs
To Steward Opportunities In Biden Administration
Today, the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) announces the departure of Senior Vice President Susan Walters to become the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Regional Director of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) with responsibility for the States of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Hawaii. Susan Walters was a founding team leader when CETF began operations in 2006. Walters contributed to strategic policy and grantmaking in order to guide augmenting financial resources and agreements negotiated as public benefits from corporate consolidations. Walters led multiple projects including CETF achieving success in the first decade (ending 2017) reaching of 98% broadband deployment and 80% home Internet adoption and, the same milestone goals ahead of the 2022 year. Most recently, Walters also collaborated with Los Angeles County to enroll as many residents as possible in the first ever federally funded affordable home Internet subsidy, establishing regional leadership within the county and across cities. Finally, Walters advanced CETF in collecting more than 5,000 supporters for the Digital Equity Bill of Rights.