Senior Advisor
NTIA/US Department of Commerce
Barbara Cottam is a Senior Advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) where she leads external engagement for the Internet for All initiative. NTIA has been tasked to lead the effort to meaningfully address fundamental economic, educational, social and health-related
inequities in our country by connecting Americans to high-speed Internet service and closing the digital divide. She joined the agency in October 2022.
Previously, she spent more than two decades with Providence-based Citizens Financial Group, leading corporate affairs as executive vice president. She had corporate-wide responsibility for directing public affairs, government relations, corporate giving and Corporate Social Responsibility throughout the company’s commercial and retail banking footprint. Before joining Citizens, Cottam served as communications director for Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun and press secretary for Providence Mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr.
Cottam chaired the Rhode Island Board of Education, which oversees public K-12 and postsecondary education at Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island for 7 ½ years. Cottam is presently a board member of Hope Hospice and the Roger Williams Park Zoo. A Providence, Rhode Island native, Cottam received her BS in business marketing and business management from Providence College and has completed executive development programs at Harvard Business School, INSEAD and Wharton’s Aresty Institute.
Money for Nothing: The Future of Broadband Deployment and Affordability
Monday, July 29, 2024
1:30 PM – 2:20 PM CT