WASHINGTON, D.C.—Federal Communications Commission acting chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced senior staff changes to the Office of Managing Director and the Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO).
As part of the changes, Sanford S. Williams has assumed a senior leadership position in the Office of Managing Director as deputy managing director and Joy M. Ragsdale, currently field counsel in the agency’s Enforcement Bureau, will now lead the Office of Communications Business Opportunities as director.
“I want to thank both Sanford and Joy for their years of service to the Commission,” Rosenworcel said. “Both of their teams have benefited greatly from their expertise, and I look forward to continuing to work with them as they pursue new opportunities within the agency."
Prior to his new role, Williams served as the director of the Office of Communications Business Opportunities, which promotes competition and innovation in telecommunications and information services and supports opportunities for small, women-owned, and minority-owned communications businesses, the FCC said.
As leader of the Office of Communications Business Opportunities, Williams spearheaded work to promote digital empowerment, inclusion, equity, and diversity in the tech sector as part of the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment; launched OCBO’s “Did You Know” public education video series spotlighting small, minority, and women-owned businesses and the various functions of the Office; and spoke publicly at numerous nationwide events to promote competition and innovation, and facilitate opportunities for small businesses.
Williams will continue to serve as a special advisor to acting chairwoman Rosenworcel with a focus on agency efforts to identify and expand opportunities for communities that have been historically underserved, the FCC said.
Ragsdale, who is joining the Office of Communications Business Opportunities as director, had served since March 2018 as field counsel in the agency’s Enforcement Bureau’s Office of the Field Director.
In that role, she collaborated with field agents dedicated to resolving complex investigations involving public safety, interference mitigation, and broadcast matters, the FCC said. Her cases involved enforcement of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Commission rules governing television and radio station operations, Emergency Alert System regulation, Global Positioning Systems, terminal doppler weather radars, communications towers, and protecting against pirate radio stations. She also helped a noncommercial education broadcasting station with Emergency Alert System regulations compliance enabling the station to continue serving its community in Alaska during an earthquake and tsunami.
Previously, Ragsdale served as an attorney advisor in the Enforcement Bureau’s Investigations and Hearings Division resolving complex investigations that involved media, cable, and telecommunications issues. In this role, Ms. Ragsdale was involved in an investigation into a major communications company’s billing practices resulting in a multi-million-dollar settlement.
Ms. Ragsdale joined the Commission in 2008 serving as an attorney advisor in the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau’s Policy Division, working on the 800 MHz spectrum rebanding and the National Broadband Plan. She was also detailed to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program as a program officer.
