Narrator: You're listening to Public Safety First, a podcast to help you learn about the First Responder Network Authority and how you can be part of the future of public safety technology.

And now, your host.

Molly Hahn: Welcome to the Public Safety First podcast and "At Its Core." I am Molly Hahn, a Public Affairs Specialist here at the FirstNet Authority, and I am here to detangle and demystify all of the technical and difficult topics that make up the FirstNet network and the FirstNet Authority. I am very excited for our guest here today, Jenn Watts, who is our Board Secretary, to talk about the FirstNet Authority Board, and what they do, and why we have them here. Jenn, welcome. If you would like to take a minute and introduce yourself to everybody.

Jenn Watts: Hi, Molly. Yes, thanks so much for having me. It's a great opportunity. I always like to share with folks, you know, about the Board and about all the great work we do at the Authority. I have been in the federal government for over 20 years at various agencies but landed with the FirstNet Authority about seven years ago and have been always involved and engaged in working with our Board members but just started in this role as Board Secretary about a year ago.

Molly Hahn: Excellent. And you said you've been at a couple of different agencies. So have I, and when I joined the FirstNet Authority it was fascinating to me that we have a Board. Why do we have a Board, Jenn?

Jenn Watts: Yeah. This is very unique for a federal agency to have a Board. We have legislation that created our agency coming out of recommendations from the 9/11 report. You know, our agency was created to build and oversee the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network for public safety. And this network, the intent is, you know, for it to best equip first responders to save lives and protect local communities. So, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act was the legislation that created our agency. And in that legislation, it also specifically details the creation of a Board and what that Board should look like and their role in the agency and in oversight of the network.

Molly Hahn: I have to be honest with you, I did read into the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act to prep for this podcast, and it had a lot more detail than I thought it would in there about the Board and what makes up the Board. But it's a law and that is confusing. Could you demystify who's on the FirstNet Authority Board?

Jenn Watts: So, the Board is comprised of 15 individuals. Three of the Board members are permanent members. These permanent members are the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General of the United States, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. However, each of these positions always provides a designee to the Board. So, these individuals we do not see on the Board and participating, they designate other folks from their bureaus to participate on their behalf.

The other 12 members serve a three-year term from their date of appointment. They can be renewed, so you can serve two three-year terms. The Board chair and those 12 individuals are selected by the Secretary of Commerce. And then, the Board chair has the ability to pick his or her vice chair, as well as to assign which Board members should serve on which committees of the Board itself.

Molly Hahn: Before we get into those committees, Jenn, when it comes to picking people to be on the Board and the Secretary of Commerce appoints them, what kind of qualities is the Secretary looking for? What do they need to bring to the Board in terms of their resumes?

Jenn Watts: Yeah. So, it's interesting, the legislation actually talks about how the membership should be comprised. So, some of the members should be public safety officials themselves or have knowledge and expertise in technology or telecom network. We also should have Board members who have a background in finance. They're also looking for representation of state, local, territory as well as rural and urban areas so that we get a good cross-section of public safety and geographically, of the United States. The intent of the legislation and the Authority and the network is that this network is for public safety. So, it is actually required that some of the Board members are current public safety officials. So, we try to get a good cross-section of folks, not only by public safety discipline, but then also with those areas of expertise and that geographical representation that we mentioned. I'm always just blown away by the expertise and quality of individuals that get selected.

Molly Hahn: To me it sounds like it's got 12 people on this Board that hit all of the parts of what FirstNet and the FirstNet Authority have to do, right? We are for public safety, but we also have to manage a very technical network and even balance a budget internally, as well as manage a contract. And correct me if I'm wrong, Jenn, those 12 people kind of need to bring a balance of all of those needs and work areas within our organization. Is that right?

Jenn Watts: Yeah. That's correct, and I think it is unique with the federal agency having a Board. They actually, through Board resolutions that are voted on at their meetings, they approve the agency's operating budget. They approve the funds that are used to be reinvested into the network and what those investments are. So, they really do have a lot of influence and really work in partnership with the Authority in, you know, doing oversight of the network, expanding the network, all of these things.

Molly Hahn: And so, we also have these committees that are comprised of the individuals that have those expertise. There are four committees: Advocacy, Finance and Investment, Governance and Risk, and Programs and Future Planning. Could you break down a little bit what those committees do and their role in the Board and their interactions with the FirstNet Authority?

Jenn Watts: Certainly. So, starting with the Advocacy Committee, this is really focused on how the Authority, you know, does outreach to state, federal, rural and Tribal users of the network, how those users are served on the network. We usually use these Board members as well to really engage with public safety. As you can imagine, membership of this committee usually includes most, if not all, of our public safety Board members. And this is really that committee that focuses on making sure public safety's needs and feedback are really heard and incorporated in the decision making of the Board and the Authority.

The Finance and Investment Committee is really focused on the annual budget. Not only the operational budget for the Authority, but also management reserve and then our reinvestment funds. So, the money that comes into the network by law has to be reinvested into the network itself, and that decision of where that money is invested and how is decided by the Board itself through resolutions.

The Governance and Risk Committee is more of a committee focused on structure of the organization, of the Board, of those risk factors, whether it's to the network, secession planning, you know, all of those type of things, you know, just making sure that the Authority is a healthy agency, that the Board and the network that everything is running correctly.

And then, Program and Future Planning Committee is where we really discuss with the Board those medium and long-term technology strategies, the plans and research and development activities, kind of where is the network going? How is the network performing? Are there concerns in our oversight of the network and our contract partner? So, this committee is really where we have a lot of our technical and telecom experts and kind of look at trends and where are we going five, ten, 15 years into the future?

Molly Hahn: One of the interesting things that I heard in there was that these committees evolve and change as the needs and the technology evolves and change, and I think that's fascinating that we have that ability to morph and grow and meet the needs where they are as each moment passes, right? And it's not just "We're stagnant here, this is how it'll be."  

When does the Board meet as a whole? What does the meeting look like? What do they really do? And if, you know, I'm so curious as to view one, how would I even get there?

Jenn Watts: Yeah, no, that's a great question. You know, also in the legislation, the Board can meet as frequently as it wants. The Board chair has the ability to call a meeting at any time. But in the legislation, the Board and the committees are required to meet publicly at least once a quarter. So, we do every, about every three months. We have a public board meeting. And for several years now, we've been doing combined Board and committee meetings. And so, we will have each of the committee chairs do report outs and perhaps vote on their committee resolutions as part of the larger Board meeting itself.

We do them virtually. Sometimes the public is able to join us in person, depending on the location of where we are. Sometimes it's just virtual participation, but we always have that on the FirstNet.Gov website. When the upcoming meeting is scheduled, we put in a notice in the Federal Register, as well,  prior to the meeting. So, folks have the ability to have the information of how they can join and listen in on the meeting. Also, on the FirstNet.Gov website under the section that's about the Board, for every Board meeting that we've ever had since our inception back in 2012, you can find the resolutions, all those things. There's also a copy of the Board bylaws and the committee charters there as well. So, there really is a good public and easily accessible record of everything the Board has done and continues to do, and that great opportunity to be able to, you know, listen in wherever you are in the world to see and hear that Board meeting and what's happening that particular quarter.

Molly Hahn: So, wherever I am in the world, I can tune in on FirstNet.gov/Board, but where do you guys host these? Are they always in the Reston area where FirstNet Authority is based or out in our Boulder Lab, or what's the plan for where they are physically in person?

Jenn Watts: Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because we've really used the location of the Board meetings to engage with public safety and to engage with different parts of the nation. Right? for example, we did a Board meeting in Hawaii, which we felt was important. We had actually selected that location because of being a state that is comprised of islands, not part of the contiguous U.S., very different challenges for public safety there, for our network there. And so, we felt that was important to take the Board members there to hear from public safety in Hawaii firsthand as to the unique challenges they face being in an island environment.

We have gone to all kinds of different places. You know, we've gone to urban settings, going to cities such as, you know, Chicago and New York in the past. We've also done some very rural locations and locations that are in close proximity to national parks, and the intent behind this is one, not only to get the feedback of public safety in these unique locations, but to really get our Board members there in person, meeting with folks on the ground. It really kind of brings home to the Board members the unique challenges that face this nationwide network that we have that is, you know, geared towards and built for public safety’s use.

Molly Hahn: How does, you know, public safety and the general public stay up to date and interact with the Board?

Jenn Watts: Yeah. No, I think the fact that our meetings are open to the public. We have a live webcast of each meeting. And if you're not able to participate in real time, those presentations and videos and things are always available on our website. We have a great communications team. So, you know, following us on social media. We're on Facebook, we're on LinkedIn, X, Instagram. You know, keeping up with how the Board members are working with public safety, what we're doing on a daily, monthly, quarterly basis, how we're out in the communities. It’s a great way to interact not only with the Board members, but just the Authority and the network and the idea of what this great mission that we have of making sure that public safety can talk to each other when it really matters the most. And again, you can also learn a lot more on our website, not only about the Board, but about our engagements with public safety or the Authority itself at FirstNet.gov/Board will get you to all that great content I mentioned as far as some more details about the committees themselves and those individual meetings.

Molly Hahn: So, it's been excellent to chat with you today, Jenn, about all of this and give light to something that most federal agencies don't have and is something that I think everybody is curious about. Is there anything else, Jenn, that you think people should know about the Board or anything you want to share? I'm so grateful for our time today.

Jenn Watts: I can't express enough the caliber of candidates and Board members that we have. You know, every board that I've been a part of and had the pleasure of serving with these people, it is truly a passion for them. And our mission is one of the greatest that you can have in federal government. And having a board, having this ability to really have the public's voice be part of this network and this solution that was made for them is just really a unique experience. And I just, you know, love working with the Board members, love seeing all the interaction and really look forward to each of our meetings and for public safety to be able to engage with them. So, thanks for the opportunity of letting me talk with you and kind of demystify some of the mystery around the Board and the agency.

Narrator: Thanks for listening today. We're excited to have you join our podcast community. Make sure to subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, and YouTube. You can learn more about the First Responder Network Authority at FirstNet.gov and learn about FirstNet products and services at FirstNet.com.