Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel believes that the future belongs to the connected. She works to promote greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services in order to ensure that all Americans get a fair shot at 21st century success. She believes strong communications markets can foster economic growth and security, enhance digital age opportunity, and enrich our civic life. Jessica was the first woman confirmed to lead the agency in its almost-100 year history.
From fighting to protect an open internet to ensuring broadband for students caught in the Homework Gap, Jessica has been a consistent champion for connecting all. She is a leader in spectrum policy, developing new ways to support wireless services from Wi-Fi to video and the internet of things to commercial space launches. She also is responsible for developing policies to map and to help expand the reach of high-speed internet to schools, libraries, hospitals, and households across the country.
The FCC under Jessica’s leadership focused on making communications more just for more people in more places and adopted a forward-looking vision, with actions like the creation of the first-ever Space Bureau and the U.S. CyberTrust Mark, a first-of-its-kind consumer labeling program for connected devices. From the launch of texting to 988 and wireless emergency alerts in more than a dozen languages to building safe connections for survivors of domestic violence, millions of people can more securely connect to the resources they need to thrive in today’s modern world. Jessica shared the lessons learned from these initiatives with her international counterparts and secured a position for the United States on the United Nations Broadband Commission.”
As the first leader of the FCC to address Artificial Intelligence, Jessica guided the agency’s efforts to prevent voice cloning fraud and kicked off initiatives to explore the opportunities of machine learning to improve dynamic spectrum allocation and network resiliency.
Jessica put national security front and center. Whether it was updating the agency’s data breach policies and rules governing submarine cables for the first time in decades, launching the Nation’s first-of-its-kind program to replace insecure equipment from our networks, or publishing the first-ever list of equipment and services that were deemed a threat to national security, as a result of her service America’s communications networks face fewer risks from those who wish to do us harm.
Named as one of POLITICO's 50 Politicos to Watch and profiled by InStyle Magazine in a series celebrating "women who show up, speak up and get things done," Jessica brought to the FCC over two decades of public service and communications policy experience. Prior to joining the agency, she served as Senior Communications Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, under the leadership of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV and Senator Daniel Inouye. Before entering public service, Jessica practiced communications law in Washington, DC.
She is a native of Hartford, Connecticut. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and New York University School of Law. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two children.