Jennifer Harris

Federal Program Officer, Texas at NTIA

Speaker

Jennifer Harris joined the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in August 2022 as the federal program officer (FPO) for the State of Texas. In this role, Jennifer coordinates partnerships and outreach with the state and local governments, community groups, and other entities with a vested interest on NTIA’s high-speed internet grant programs and policy issues. Jennifer works directly with the Texas Broadband Development Office and the state-level regional, county and municipal associations to ensure comprehensive engagement from all stakeholders in the state on the State’s high-speed internet planning and funding process.

Jennifer started her career at the Texas State Capitol in 2005 holding a wide range of jobs in the public sector. Her professional experience includes legislative, public policy, communications, and government affairs work with the Texas Legislature, and policy and communications work for the Florida Department of Education, along with a variety of roles on local and statewide political campaigns. Following her work at the Texas State Capitol and the Florida Department of Education, Jennifer served for three years as the State Program Director for Texas for Connected Nation, a national non-profit organization which has focused on tackling the digital divide for more than 20 years. Appointed in January 2020, Jennifer served as an inaugural member of the Governor’s Broadband Development Council. Governor Abbott re-appointed her to the Council in March 2022 and named her Vice Chair of the Council, a position which she held until joining NTIA.

Jennifer earned her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. She earned her Master's degree in Public Service and Administration from the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.