Broadband Development Conference
HR&A, Senior Principal
Sarah is a recognized leader in internet policy issues, and she leverages that expertise to connect people in communities across the country to affordable, high-speed internet infrastructure. She has supported state and local investments in high-speed internet and digital equity projects and has advised public and private sector clients on key internet policy priorities. As the Senior Broadband Advisor and Deputy Administrator for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce, Sarah stood up and oversaw a suite of landmark federal grant programs for high-speed internet, including the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD) and Digital Equity Act programs.
During her time at NTIA, she was also responsible for executing a number of other federal policy priorities in areas like AI, children’s privacy, public safety, wireless innovation, and data privacy. Prior to her time in the federal government, Sarah was the executive director of New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) where she directed the program’s work on a wide range of internet policy issues and built the organization’s portfolio of broadband access and adoption issues from the ground up. Sarah also served on New America’s leadership team, where she drove integration across the organization’s technology-focused programs.
Sarah served for many years as an adjunct professor at George Washington College of Law and Georgetown Law, lecturing on internet law and policy and legal writing.
She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and Nebraska Law, where she received a B.A. in English and political science, a juris doctor, and a master of laws in space, cyber, and telecommunications law.
With historic levels of public and private investment flowing into broadband infrastructure, the industry is rapidly shifting from a supply-driven challenge to one defined by competition, adoption, and long-term sustainability. Building networks is no longer enough—maximizing their value requires a more strategic approach to demand, pricing, and market positioning. At the same time, state broadband offices and program administrators face a parallel imperative: ensuring that publicly funded networks actually achieve adoption and lasting economic impact in the communities they serve. This session moves beyond traditional digital opportunity discussions to focus on how ISPs can translate infrastructure investment into durable, economically viable networks. While affordability, devices, and digital skills remain critical, providers must also navigate increasingly complex markets shaped by overlapping builds, evolving subsidy rules, and shifting consumer dynamics. Through a data-driven lens, panelists will explore how ISPs can move from reactive to strategic decision-making—using better information to anticipate market shifts, evaluate tradeoffs, and compete more effectively. Discussion topics will include: Using spatial and competitive data to inform build timing, market entry, and overbuild risk Anticipating competitor responses and how incentives and funding structures shape behavior Maximizing take rates through targeted positioning and demand-side strategies Aligning compliance requirements with business realities, and how program design choices by states and funders shape the incentives ISPs face Strategically refining project footprints to improve long-term viability Understanding what drives (and stalls) adoption and what that means for how networks are marketed, supported, and sustained Attendees will leave with practical insights on how to align deployment, demand, and competitive strategy to ensure broadband investments deliver lasting impact.
