User:Fatema

Fatema Kothari brings her experience and skills as a technologist from the service provider side of the telecommunications industry. A highly accomplished professional, Fatema has a spent a decade delivering successful connectivity based projects for Tier 1 network operators. She has also worked extensively on building business cases for new technology implementation and network deployments in Latin American markets. A keen interest in policy and avid advocacy for expanding affordable internet access led Fatema to the SF Bay Area Internet Society (SF Bay ISOC), where she currently serves as Vice President. Currently, she is serving on the Federal Communication Commission’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment. Fatema holds a Master’s degree in Telecommunications from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Fatema’s non-profit work is fueled by her personal passion for gender diversity and parity in technology. She serves on the board for the global non-profit Girls in Tech SF, empowering women in technology to build their start-ups by connecting them to resources and a network ready to help. Fatema is also an advisor to women-founded start-ups in Africa and the Middle East, and has guided them through a seed grant award from the U.S. Department of State.

Tuned into the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem, Fatema is eager to build conversation around digital empowerment and push the envelope for women, especially women of color, to successfully reap the benefits of digital dividends and drive socio-economic change in their local communities. Having experienced first-hand the life changing effects of the Internet, Fatema is determined to bridge the digital divide, and ensure future equity by expanding access to the opportunities that connectivity brings.