Comcast RISE business grant winner shoots through an equity lens to support community

By Nina Huang
Northwest Asian Weekly

Melissa Ponder self portrait

Melissa Ponder has led a career dedicated to promoting equity and eliminating disparities—first in the education and nonprofit fields, and now through her photography.

Ponder is a Korean American army brat. She was born near her father’s hometown in southern Missouri and moved around with her family growing up. Her mother was one of the first Korean wives of the U.S. GIs. Their family had lived in air bases in Missouri, South Korea, and Germany.

Given her unique childhood and experiencing inclusivity and cross-cultural communications, she’s able to see things through an equity lens.

Ponder used to work in education, including conducting equity diversity training. She has also worked for International Community Health Services in program management, serving diverse populations to reduce diabetes disparities.

She made the pivot from the education and nonprofit sector to pursuing her hobby of photography.

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Nitel Founders Move to Board Observers Post-Private Equity Investment

Nitel founders Rick Stern and Ron Grason have vacated their leadership roles two months after announcing a private equity investment.

Stern, the former CEO, and Grason, formerly president, have moved to board observer roles at the technology services provider. According to a news release, they remain “investors in the business.”

Shaw, Margi_Nitel

Nitel’s Margi Shaw

Margi Shaw has moved from chief operating officer to CEO. The company also promoted Mikail Shomade to chief operating officer and Mark Dickey to chief revenue officer.

Nitel announced its partnership with London-based private equity firm Cinven in November.

“Now, with the additional firepower of Cinven and an elite leadership team at the helm, we are poised to more tightly align with the needs of customers through growth and expansion,” Shaw said.

Shaw joined the Chicago-based company in 2020. Her past employers include Comcast Business, where she led engineering operations, and Illinois-based First Communications, where she was 

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Comcast Expands Digital Equity Efforts: Installs Free WiFi at 1,000th Lift Zone Community Center

PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Comcast announced today that it has installed free WiFi in its 1,000th Lift Zone in St. Paul, Minnesota at The Sanneh Foundation’s Seton Center. The company plans to mark the occasion with a $50,000 grant to help support the organization as it rebuilds after being set back by an arsonist. The company also set a new goal to install 250 additional Lift Zones before the end of 2022. Lift Zones are part of Project UP, Comcast’s comprehensive, ten year, $1 billion commitment to help build a future of unlimited possibilities.

Originally intended as a multi-year effort, earlier this year the company accelerated its roll-out plans in response to overwhelming public support. Lift Zones came along at a critical time, providing free WiFi access within select recreation, community, and senior centers, as well as public housing computer labs. Students used them for remote learning, even when schools

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Comcast Expands Digital Equity Efforts to Recognize National Veterans and Military Families Month

PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–To help recognize National Veterans and Military Families Month, Comcast today announced it would install free WiFi in up to 100 veteran-focused facilities as part of its expanding Lift Zones program. Lift Zones provide free WiFi access outside the home in neighborhood community centers. They complement Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, which provides low-cost broadband to eligible consumers, including veterans, inside the home. Both efforts are part of Project UP, Comcast’s comprehensive, ten year, $1 billion commitment to help build a future of unlimited possibilities.

Data around digital equity and veterans is clear. In 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs experienced a 1000% increase in telehealth video appointments due to the pandemic, an example of the importance of the Internet for veterans to access benefits, education and career opportunities, and social connections. (Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs).

“The Internet is a fundamental tool to participate

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US equity futures are trading lower ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell following Monday’s gains

U.S. equity futures are trading lower ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell following Monday’s gains led by shares of industrial and financial stocks, which tend to be sensitive to changes in the economic outlook.
 

Stocks in this Article

$33876.97

+586.89 (+1.76%)

$14141.480379

+111.10 (+0.79%)

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the economy is growing at a healthy clip, and that has accelerated inflation. In written testimony to be delivered at a congressional oversight hearing Tuesday, Powell reiterated his view that inflation’s recent jump to a 13-year high will prove temporary.

Powell’s remarks follow a meeting of the Fed’s policymaking committee last week, when central bank officials signaled they were prepared to raise rates earlier than they had previously suggested.

POWELL SAYS ECONOMY GROWING RAPIDLY, INFLATION UP ‘NOTABLY’

On Monday, the S&P 500 snapped 1.4% higher, to 4,224.79, recovering nearly three-quarters of its worst weekly loss

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