Staff

Robert E. Branson. Esq. is the President and CEO of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC), a non-partisan, national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and preserving equal opportunity and civil rights in the mass media, telecom and broadband industries, and closing the digital divide.

Prior to joining MMTC, Branson served as Of Counsel at Empire Consulting Group a strategic business and public policy firm serving leading technology, wireless, broadcast and other industry clients. He brings his unique perspective as someone who has worked inside and outside government and who understands the challenges ahead in the diverse world we are creating in corporate America.

In his corporate career, most recently, he was an Associate General Counsel with Verizon Communications. In that position, he had various responsibilities, including the 5G rollout in the Washington, DC area, privacy regulations, and relationship building with leaders in the federal and state governments.  He also coordinated with trade associations and internally with other legal, public policy and business groups.

He has been the General Counsel of the Association of Local Television Stations, Chief Legal Counsel of Post-Newsweek Stations and an Assistant General Counsel at the National Association of Broadcasters. He also has worked at the Federal Communications Commission as a Senior Legal Advisor to a Commissioner.

Branson has served as President of the Federal Communications Bar Association where he has gotten to know many of the leaders at the FCC, NTIA, FTC and other federal agencies.  He is a two-time recipient of the FCBA Distinguished Service Award. He has championed diversity and inclusion in the Bar and has lead several efforts to expand the pipeline my mentoring and working to assist the careers of numerous people in the industry and government. In part based on these efforts, he has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from MMTC.

He has served on the Board of Trustees at Simmons University in Boston and was named an Honorary Trustee after his service. He was a member of the Boards of the Ridley Scholarship Fund at the University of Virginia and the Hayride to Help Others in Washington, DC.

Branson received his law degree from Harvard University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Fallon Wilson, Vice President, Policy

Dr. Fallon Wilson, Vice President, Policy, leads MMTC’s work on three focus areas in the tech, media, and telecommunications (TMT) sectors. The sectors include: Technology, Data Privacy, Artificial Intelligence, and Civil Rights in the Digital Age; Infrastructure, Broadband Connectivity, and Digital Inclusion; and Multicultural Media Ownership and Content Diversity.

Prior to joining MMTC, Dr. Fallon Wilson co-founded #BlackTechFutures Research Institute and is the former Research Director of Black Tech Mecca. At Black Tech Mecca, Dr. Wilson created the Smart Black Tech Ecosystem Assessment to support local city leaders with building a thriving black tech ecosystem. Recently, she was awarded a Kauffman Foundation’s 2020 Open Knowledge grant to launch #BlackTechFutures Research Institute. #BlackTechFutures Research Institute builds a national network of city-based researchers and practitioners conducting research on sustainable local black tech ecosystems.

She is a member of the Federal Communications Commissions’ Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment. Dr. Wilson is a 2019 TEDx Speaker (e.g. Stop Ignoring Black Women and Hear of Our Tech Prophecies). She is a Board Member of the State of Tennessee’s Future of Work Taskforce and Co-Chairs Nashville’s smart city plan, Connected Nashville. Given her tech activism, she is a 2017 recipient of the ISTE Digital Equity Award. Dr. Wilson’s research on first generation black college students’ alternative tech pathways and black tech ecosystems has garnered notable research grants from Kapor Center for Social Impact & Kauffman Foundation. During the pandemic, Dr. Wilson launched Nashville’s Digital Inclusion and Access Taskforce to address the effects of the pandemic and the digital divide on communities of color. In seven months, she raised and launched a mixed method city assessment of digital inclusion in Nashville. Because of her great work to support tech equity, Venture Beat as the modern day Fannie Lou Hamer for tech equity. Dr. Wilson chairs the Tennessee Higher Education Commission’s HBCU Success Board. Dr. Wilson has a BA from Spelman College and MA/PhD from the University of Chicago. As a public interest technologist, she discusses race, gender, faith, and civic tech issues. Follow her on Twitter @SistahWilson.

Ananda Leeke, Chief Social Media Officer

Ananda Leeke, MMTC’s Chief Social Media Officer, leads and develops MMTC’s digital strategy and helps shape and communicate MMTC’s policy positions in the media, telecom, and tech sectors. Leeke’s career has focused at the intersection of law, finance, project management, and digital communications, with a strong emphasis on social justice. Most recently, she served as the Digital Communications Director of Law Students in Court (LSIC). Prior to joining LSIC, she established two tech inclusion initiatives: Digital Sisterhood Network, a women’s media channel and online community, and Digital Citizenship Project. She authored “Digital Sisterhood,” a social media and technology memoir. She is experienced in helping private and nonprofit organizations to develop content and implement social media strategies that tell stories about their mission and work, build online communities, and engage the public around important causes. The White House recognized her as a thought leader and invited her to provide social media storytelling at conferences and events during the Obama Administration. She is a frequent speaker at conferences sponsored by AT&T, Automattic, BlogHer, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Howard University, Latinos in Tech Innovation and Social Media, Nonprofit Technology Network, Serve DC, and Spelman College. She regularly shares her social media expertise on The Daily Drum, a radio program that airs on WHUR 96.3 FM.

A graduate of Morgan State University, she earned her law degree from Howard University School of Law, and Master of Laws in Securities and Financial Regulation from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Kenley Joseph, Policy Counsel

Kenley Joseph joins the Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council after beginning his career with Willkie Farr & Gallagher as an associate in the Communications & Media practice group.  As an associate, he handled a number of matters ranging from program carriage complaints, local franchise renewals, and wireless spectrum proceedings before local franchise authorities and the Federal Communications Commission.  He also maintained a robust pro bono practice representing incarcerated persons in compassionate release motions.

Kenley obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and philosophy from Florida Atlantic University before graduating, cum laude, from Howard University School of Law.

Alexandria Dirl, Digital Navigator Coordinator

Before joining the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) as their Digital Navigator Coordinator, Alexandria served as the Business Services Associate and Nashville Office Ambassador for Claritvate Analytics, a healthcare research company. While at Claritvate Analytics, Alexandria planned and executed all office events, developed skills in Salesforce, provided office management, and served as executive assistant to senior leadership. Since joining the MMTC team, Alexandria has assisted with project-managing events such as Black Churches 4 Digital Equity’s (BC4DE) Day on the Hill and BC4DE’s National ACP Impact Day.

Alexandria received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she involved herself in service organizations, internships, and worked as a resident assistant during the summers.

Brian Dunmore, Consultant

Brian Dunmore works as a Consultant for the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC). His primary focus is assisting in managing the MMTC law fellowship program. The Fellowship program trains law students to become practitioners in the Civil Rights arena and the Telecommunications world. Dunmore has a unique and varied background in corporate law, sports marketing and licensing, and small business ownership which he brings to MMTC’s advocacy and to the Fellowship students. He began his career as an associate attorney in two law firms in Washington, D.C., specializing in transactional law, before joining the Reebok corporate counsel’s office, where he handled all legal matters related to advertising, marketing, sponsorships and endorsements. He then transitioned to sports marketing at Reebok where he negotiated and managed several of its key sponsorship, endorsement and licensing relationships. He continued his sports marketing career at Sprint, where he ran its corporate sponsorship marketing department. He then worked in the corporate sales and licensing groups at The PGA TOUR, before running a small business for 13 years.

Dunmore received his law degree from Yale Law School and his undergraduate degree from Harvard University.