Catholic Law rising third-year student Mary Kate Pinto has been named the 2021 Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council (MMTC) Henry M. Rivera Fellow. Through its longstanding Fellowships and internship programs, MMTC gives kaw students the opportunity to learn firsthand about the media, telecommunications, and technology industries.

About this opportunity, Pinto shared, “I am thrilled to be named MMTC's first Henry M. Rivera fellow - MMTC's work lies at the intersection of communications law and civil rights law, two areas about which I'm very passionate, so it's really a dream job for me.” She continued, “MMTC's motto is ‘building equity and inclusion in tech, media, and telecom.’ I'm lucky enough to be working towards this goal alongside other talented fellows from both MMTC and Florida's NAACP chapter.”

Pinto has already begun work for the fellowship. She described her day-to-day, “Right now, I am working with another fellow on MMTC's #BlackChurches4Broadband initiative, which aims to create a permanent version of the Emergency Broadband Benefit. Working directly towards creating more equitable access to broadband has been so rewarding and has given me hands-on experience in the fields of legislation and communications law. I am also working with an NAACP fellow on a rule comment for the FCC - it's both challenging and fascinating to approach rulemaking and administrative law from this angle.”

She concluded, “The work I've gotten to do this summer has already tested and refined my knowledge of different areas of the law, as well as sharpened my critical thinking and legal writing skills. I am so excited to continue with my projects and work with the fantastic team at MMTC to overcome any other challenges that may arise this summer.”