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Advisory Council Members

Advisory Council Members

We have the best and brightest from academia and industry to develop a responsible, thoughtful framework for AI policies.

Current Advisory Council members

The AICC was established as an entity within INCOMPAS’ Competition and Innovation Foundation (a 501 (c) 3 non-profit). The AICC’s work will be guided by an Advisory Council representing the geographic diversity of the country and will include leaders from both industry and academia.

Mignon L. Clyburn

Former Commissioner | Federal Communications Commission

Mignon L. Clyburn

Former Commissioner | Federal Communications Commission

Mignon L. Clyburn served as Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2009 to 2018, and acting chair from May to November of 2013. During her nearly nine years at the FCC, Commissioner Clyburn was committed to closing persistent digital and opportunities divides that continue to challenge rural, Native and low wealth communities. Specifically, she pushed for the modernization of the agency’s Lifeline Program, which assists low income consumers in defraying the cost of voice and broadband service, championed diversity in media ownership, initiated Inmate Calling Services reforms, emphasized diversity and inclusion in STEM opportunities, and fought to preserve a free and open internet.

Previously, Clyburn served 11 years on the South Carolina Public Service Commission. Prior to that, she was the publisher and general manager of the Coastal Times, a family-founded, Charleston-based weekly newspaper focusing on issues affecting the African American community. She is currently the principal of MLC Strategies, LLC. Clyburn is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and holds a BS in banking, finance and economics.

Colin Crowell

Managing Director | The Blue Owl Group

Colin Crowell

Managing Director | The Blue Owl Group

Colin Crowell is the Managing Director of The Blue Owl Group. Colin is an international tech policy consultant and the former Vice President of Global Public Policy, Government, & Philanthropy at Twitter. During his 8+ years at Twitter, Colin built an award-winning philanthropy program and engaged with global policymakers and civil society on a range of Internet policy issues.

Prior to joining Twitter, Colin worked as Senior Counselor to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and previously spent more than two decades on Capitol Hill drafting telecommunications and Internet laws on the committee staff of then-U.S. Representative (now Senator) Ed Markey (D-MA). He is a graduate of Boston College with a BA in Political Science and a minor concentration in Computer Science.

Rob Hale

President and CEO | Granite Telecommunications

Rob Hale

President and CEO | Granite Telecommunications

Robert (Rob) T. Hale, Jr is co-founder and President of Granite Telecommunications, LLC, a communications company headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts. Established in 2002, Granite has grown rapidly and consistently and now supplies over 1.75 million business lines, has annual revenues exceeding $1.8 billion and employs over 2,500. The company provides voice and data communications products and services to over two thirds of Fortune 100, including 18 of the top 20 retailers in the United States and many of the country’s largest financial services, health care, real estate and public utility companies. Granite is one of nine companies eligible to supply next generation voice and data communications services and products to federal agencies and other governmental customers under GSA’s $50 billion Enterprise Information Systems contract. Granite was recognized as the most philanthropic company in Massachusetts, contributing over $52.5 million to local organizations in 2022. Philanthropy is a passion for Rob. The Chronicles of Philanthropy and Forbes Magazine have recognized Rob and his wife, Karen, among the top 25 largest donors in the US. In fact, Forbes chronicled Rob and Karen’s 52 Weeks of Giving in a 2022 cover story for the Forbes 400 issue.

Rob has held leadership roles at Boston Children’s Hospital, The Massachusetts Soldier’s Legacy Fund, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Deerfield Academy, Connecticut College, and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Rob and Karen received the Boston Red Sox Jimmy Fund Award for his long-time commitment to the lifesaving mission of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Among other recent awards and recognition that the Hales have received are the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s Carolyn Lynch Humanitarian Award, Brigham and Women's Hospital’s Heritage Key Award, Partners Healthcare’s Jack Connors Philanthropic Leadership Award, Deerfield Academy’s Heritage Award and Connecticut College’s Goss Award. The Boston Globe awarded Rob and Karen Honorable Mention for 2022 Bostonian of the Year for their “philanthropic creativity.”

Rob is currently recognized as a leading entrepreneur by several organizations and publications. He has been repeatedly recognized by Boston Business Journal– Power 50, which salutes the 50 most powerful people in Boston. He has also received the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and has been saluted as one of the 25 most influential people in American telecom multiple times. Rob owns FoxRock Properties, a Boston-based real estate firm with over five-million square feet of commercial space. He also founded Copley Equity Partners, a private equity firm that invests in small and middle market businesses with significant growth prospects. Copley owns 20 growth companies with 5,000 teammates. Rob is an owner and Director of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. Rob and Karen live in the Boston area. They have three children.

Dr. Richard J. Harknett

Professor and Director of the School of Public and International Affairs | Chair of the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy

Dr. Richard J. Harknett

Professor and Director of the School of Public and International Affairs | Chair of the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy

Dr. Richard J. Harknett is Professor and Director of the School of Public and International Affairs and Chair of the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy at the University of Cincinnati. He co-directs the Ohio Cyber Range Institute, a state-wide organization supporting education, workforce, economic, and research development in cybersecurity. He is Board member and Faculty Liaison for the Portman Center for Policy Solutions. He served as Scholar-in-Residence at U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency. He has presented both policy briefings and academic research in 11 countries, on Capitol Hill, and to various US Federal and State government agencies.

Professor Harknett has held two Fulbright Scholar appointments: in Cyber Studies at Oxford University, UK and in International Relations at the Diplomatic Academy, Vienna, Austria, where he holds a professorial lecturer appointment. He has authored over 60 publications including the co-authored book Cyber Persistence Theory: redefining national security in cyberspace (Oxford Univ Press, 2022) and has contributed to raising over $50 million in institutional and research grant and philanthropic support.

Milo Medin

Former Vice President, Access and Wireless Services | Google

Milo Medin

Former Vice President, Access and Wireless Services | Google

Milo Medin recently left Google after almost 11 years where he was last Vice President of Access Services at Google, where led Google’s spectrum activities, including spectrum sharing and the development and fielding of the CBRS, the Google CBRS SAS, cloud based planning tools, as well as other efforts in wireless services. Milo also led the Google Fiber program during its initial years and through deployments in multiple cities.

Before Google, he was co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of Excite@Home, where he led the development of the company's national infrastructure, and helped deliver the first large scale residential broadband access service in partnership with major cable operators, including the development of the DOCSIS cable modem standard. Prior to @Home, Milo led development of Internet technology and global science program networking as the Branch Chief of the NASA Science Internet Project Office at Ames Research Center. There he worked on Internet routing protocols and managed the primary West Coast Internet interconnect, as well as managing NASA’s Internet network.

Milo majored in computer science at UC Berkeley, and has served on the FCC’s TAC, and on the DoD’s Defense Innovation Board, where he co-authored the DIB’s report on 5G risks and opportunities, Principles for Ethical use of AI by the DoD, and other major recommendations. He has served on several National Academy of Sciences panels, testified in front of Congress multiple times, and has held DoD TS/SCI and DOE Q security clearances.

Chip Pickering

CEO | INCOMPAS

Chip Pickering

CEO | INCOMPAS

Chip Pickering has been CEO of INCOMPAS since January 2014. During that time, INCOMPAS has achieved significant growth with leading internet, backbone, business broadband, wireless, and international companies. Under his leadership, INCOMPAS has led numerous public policy campaigns promoting competition through an open internet and in the business broadband market.

Pickering was a six-term Congressman representing Mississippi’s Third District. During his time in the House, he served on the Energy & Commerce Committee, where he was vice chairman from 2002 to 2006 and a member of the Telecommunications Subcommittee. He also was co-chairman and founder of the Congressional Wireless Caucus and an assistant minority whip of the House. Previously, Chip worked for Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and served as a staff member on the Senate Commerce Committee, where he helped shape the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Because of his role in drafting the 1996 Act, he became well known as a Congressional leader on telecommunications issues.

While in Congress, Chip served as chair of the subcommittee overseeing the transition to the commercial internet, the establishment of domain names, registries, and internet governance. He also successfully led a bipartisan legislative effort to codify net neutrality principles through the House in 2006. Prior to joining INCOMPAS, Chip was a partner with Capitol Resources LLC, a public affairs and government relations firm, where he represented an array of telecom clients, including wireless, cable and competitive broadband providers, as well as non-profits and companies specializing in education, energy, technology and defense.

Michael Punke

Vice President for Global Public Policy | Amazon Web Services

Michael Punke

Vice President for Global Public Policy | Amazon Web Services

Michael Punke is Vice President for Global Public Policy, Amazon Web Services, and lives with his family in Montana. He has more than 25 years of experience in international trade and regulatory issues. Punke served from 2010 to 2017 as Deputy US Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. He had lead responsibility for international trade negotiations including the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the Trade in Services Agreement, the Environmental Goods Agreement, and all negotiations under the auspices of the WTO. Punke also led the negotiations resulting in the 2013 Trade Facilitation Agreement, the first fully multilateral agreement in the WTO’s twenty-year history, and the 2015 Information Technology Agreement, the first WTO tariff reduction agreement in seventeen years.

Punke served previously in government as Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (1995-1996); Director for International Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council/National Economic Council (1993-1995); and International Trade Counsel to Senator Max Baucus (1991-1992), then chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade.

Punke is the author of the novel, The Revenant, basis for the Academy Award-winning film, as well as two works of narrative nonfiction and several screenplays. The Revenant has been translated into more than twenty languages and was an international bestseller, including four weeks as a #1 New York Times bestseller. Punke received his BA with distinction in International Relations from George Washington University and his JD with Specialization in International Legal Affairs from Cornell Law School, where he was elected editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Law Journal. Punke is married to Traci Silk Punke and they have two children. He is an active sportsman and outdoorsman.

Dr. Robert C. Robbins

Former President | University of Arizona

Dr. Robert C. Robbins

Former President | University of Arizona

Dr. Robert C. Robbins assumed his position as the 22nd president of the University of Arizona on June 1, 2017. Previously, he served as president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston from 2012 to 2017. In this role, he significantly enhanced TMC's commitment to collaboration, introducing five cross-institutional research initiatives centered on innovation, genomics, regenerative medicine, health policy and clinical research.

Prior to his time in Houston, Dr. Robbins served as professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, founding director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, president of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, president of the Western Thoracic Surgical Association, president of the American Heart Association Western States Affiliate, president of the Bay Area Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and chair of the American Heart Association Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia Council, among other roles. An internationally recognized cardiac surgeon, Robbins has focused his clinical efforts on acquired cardiac diseases with a special expertise in the surgical treatment of congestive heart failure and cardiothoracic transplantation. His research work includes the investigation of stem cells for cardiac regeneration, cardiac transplant allograft vasculopathy, bioengineered blood vessels, and automated vascular anastomotic devices.

Robbins is the author of more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and a former guest editor of the Circulation Surgical Supplement. While at the University of Arizona, Dr. Robbins has led the creation and implementation of a strategic plan focused on the opportunities and challenges presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the convergence of biological, digital and physical technologies and sectors. Designed to amplify Arizona’s competitiveness on the world stage, the plan emphasizes the university’s strengths as a public, land-grant research university with global reach and a rich history of international collaboration.

In addition to leading the University of Arizona, Dr. Robbins serves on the boards of the Arizona Commerce Authority, Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. He is also a member of the Chairman’s Circle of Sun Corridor, Inc., and a member of Greater Phoenix Leadership. While at TMC, Robbins served on the Houston branch of the Dallas Federal Reserve board and the board of directors of the Welch Foundation. In 2016 he was president of the American Heart Association Southwest Affiliate. He served on an independent blue ribbon committee to evaluate the Veterans Affairs health system, and the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston honored him as the 2016 International Citizen of the Year.

His educational background includes a B.S. in chemistry from Millsaps College, a medical degree from the University of Mississippi, general surgical training at the University of Mississippi, cardiothoracic training at Stanford University, postdoctoral research at Columbia University and the National Institutes of Health, and congenital heart surgical fellowships at Emory University and Royal Children’s Hospital.

Joe Stradinger

Founder | EdgeTheory

Joe Stradinger

Founder | EdgeTheory

Joe is founder and CEO of EdgeTheory, an AI-driven narrative intelligence company. He graduated from Mississippi College in 1991, and began his career as a financial consultant/CPA with Arthur Andersen in Dallas, later working in Budapest on privatization projects in Eastern Europe. In 1998, Joe co-founded Musicforce.com, a pioneering online music retailer and an early adopter of online chat rooms for e-commerce. He sold Musicforce and Lightsource to Gaylord Entertainment in 1999, where he led business development and created Gaylord Digital.

Leaving in 2001, he returned to Mississippi to start a family with his wife Catherine. Over the last 20 years, Joe has invested in various technology ventures, focusing on EdgeTheory for the past decade. EdgeTheory serves global leaders in sectors like national security and healthcare, offering cutting-edge solutions in business intelligence, risk analytics, and national security.

Jeff Uphues

CEO | DC Blox

Jeff Uphues

CEO | DC Blox

Jeff leads DC BLOX, where he is responsible for setting and leading the company’s strategy, vision and execution in designing, building and operating a fabric of interconnected, highly secure, Tier III rated data centers across the Southeast. DC BLOX currently owns and operates data centers in five Southeast markets of which all have become the defacto Connectivity Exchanges within their respective market for agile, efficient, resilient cloud connectivity and best-in-class infrastructure for digital services. Jeff, a 30-year veteran in the information technology industry, is a tireless tech-savvy executive and business strategist having held C-suite leadership roles for Liquid Web, Cbeyond, Bandwidth, ACSI Network Technologies, MCI and WilTel. Jeff serves as an active board member in several technology firms. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, Rice University’s Jones School of Business Executive Education program in Finance and Accounting and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Arlington. Jeff lives in Alpharetta, Ga., with Aimee, his wife of 22 years. They have two daughters. When not working, he can be typically found road cycling, playing golf or on a lacrosse field with his youngest daughter.

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