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Julie Wenah Appointed to Federal Communications Commission

Julie Wenah was recently appointed to the board of the FCC, Federal Communications Commission. The associate general counsel and product lead for Civil Rights with Meta, formerly Facebook, is an attorney for Meta with seven years of technology experience focused on anti-discrimination efforts and integrating product remediations and product mitigations as technical solutions. As a representative of the trade association Encompass, she advocates for laws and policies promoting competition, innovation, and economic development. “I am honored to serve on the FCC and in this capacity and I think of my late parents who emigrated from a small village in Nigeria with no access to broadband and bandwidth,” she said.

Published

11 months ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Julie Wenah, Associate Genersl Counsre and Product Lead for Civil Rights with Meta (formerly Facebook). Photo courtesy of Julie Wenah.

By Carla Thomas

Julie Wenah was recently appointed to the board of the FCC, Federal Communications Commission.

The associate general counsel and product lead for Civil Rights with Meta, formerly Facebook, is an attorney for Meta with seven years of technology experience focused on anti-discrimination efforts and integrating product remediations and product mitigations as technical solutions.

As a representative of the trade association Encompass, she advocates for laws and policies promoting competition, innovation, and economic development.

“I am honored to serve on the FCC and in this capacity and I think of my late parents who emigrated from a small village in Nigeria with no access to broadband and bandwidth,” she said.

Wenah explained that her parents’ village was reminiscent of the rural communities she advocated for during her time with the federal government for a decade, where she led a manufacturing agenda in rural communities across the United States.

Wenah boasts a resume that includes stints with the Obama Administration, Airbnb, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Through the Tahirih Justice Center Advisory Council, she is dedicated to supporting human trafficking survivors.

As a board director for Women In Product, she equips women in product management careers with equitable opportunities to thrive and shape the industry. Role by role, Wenah has used her gifts to change the world and is unstoppable.

Last year, she initiated Project Height, a partnership that provided nearly 30 college students with scholarships of $10,000 each and an invitation to participate in Meta-sponsored programming designed to further explore technology through a civil rights lens in the areas of data science, product management, and inclusive design and user experience.

The scholarship is named after the late Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, who served as the president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) for more than 40 years. The funding is the joint initiative of NCNW, the Dorothy Irene Height Education Foundation (DIHEF), and Meta.

Dorothy I. Height Education Foundation President Alexis Herman said the scholarships awarded “represent an investment in their ongoing education, and these scholars represent a collective investment for increased innovation and a more hopeful future of our world.”

“It was thrilling to partner with the Dorothy I. Height Education Foundation and the National Council of Negro Women to announce the Project Height Scholarship award recipients,” said Wenah. “Our hope is that our joint commitment to investing in the next generation of leaders committed to the intersection of civil rights and technology will spark the minds that build a more inclusive and equitable society.”

Wenah says Dr. Height has always been a source of inspiration to her. “Dr. Height lived her life for the betterment of others,” said Wenah. “She stood in the face of racism and unfairness fearlessly and tirelessly, and we stand on her shoulders,” said Wenah.

Wenah’s fight for equity and justice to offset racism, discrimination, and marginalism continues with her work on the board of the Digital Civil Rights Coalition. In this role she and her team seek to transform regulations and advance an inclusive digital technology ecosystem. “With law as a vehicle, we hope to transform the technology ecosystem at its core and equalize outcomes in the future that everyone deserves.”

When Wenah is not on the front lines in court fighting for an expanded playing field for the underserved or overlooked, she leads a growing collective through the Album and the Mixtape, her way of giving a voice to passionate creatives looking for an outlet to share their fire.

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Oakland Post: Week of July 2- 8, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 2 – 8, 2025

Published

5 days ago

July 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

Published

1 week ago

July 3, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.

The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.

“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.

“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.