Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

May 15, 2018

 

Bio

Karina Cabrera Bell (@KarinaCBell) is the President of the Reach Mama Network and Host of the Reach Mama Podcast. Reach Mama’s mission is to increase the number of moms of color in leadership positions by 1) highlighting successful moms of color and having them share their strategies and tips, and 2) creating tools and support systems for moms of color that want to advance professionally.

A mom of two, Karina has 15 years experience in government and political campaigns. Karina has worked at all levels of government and has seen firsthand the benefits of having women in leadership positions. Most recently, she worked in the Obama White House and the U.S. Department of Energy.  She honed her policy chops in the U.S. Senate as Policy Advisor for New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Karina has also worked on numerous campaigns including two presidential campaigns (Obama 08' and Kerry 04'). Karina is passionate about women's empowerment.

She earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Mount Saint Mary and her Masters in Urban Policy from the New School.

Resources

Reach Mama

Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act

Support the FAMILY Ac

Off the Sidelines: Speak Up, Be Fearless, and Change Your World by Kirsten Gillibrand (Ballantine Books, 2014).

News Roundup

U.S./China appear to be backing away from trade war

The U.S. and China appear to be backing away from a telecom trade war. The U.S. had issued strict sanctions against China-based telecommunications manufacturers including Huawei and ZTE due in part to fears that China was using the devices for spying purposes, and in part due to the countries’ respective efforts to dominate in the buildout of 5G. But according to Chinese officials, the sanctions would ruin ZTE, so it urged the Trump administration to reconsider. Trump tweeted Monday that he has now asked the Commerce Department to look into easing up on some of those sanctions in order to protect jobs that would be affected by the ZTE sanctions. And China has restarted its review of Qualcomm’s proposal to acquire China-based NXP Semiconductors. The Hill reports that lawmakers like Marco Rubion aren’t happy because of espionage and security concerns. Steven Yang reports in Bloomberg and Brent Griffiths reports in Politico.

Senate forces a vote on net neutrality

Thirty-three Senators, under the leadership of Ed Markey, have submitted what’s known as a discharge petition, under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), restore net neutrality over the Federal Communications Commission’s vote to repeal the 2015 rules. The net neutrality rules are set to expire on June 11th. The full Senate will vote on the resolution on Wednesday, and it seems likely to pass, since one Republican—Susan Collins from Maine—has agreed to support the petition, and an ailing Senator McCain is unlikely to cast a vote. But the petition would still need to clear the House, where Republicans are in the majority by a margin of 236-193. And president Trump would also need to sign it. Jon Brodkin reports in Ars Technica.

AT&T retained Trump lawyer Michael Cohen

Brian Fung and Rosalind Helderman reported last week that AT&T retained Michael Cohen’s firm, Essential Consultants, the same entity he allegedly used to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Donald Trump. According the Washington Post, AT&T’s company records show AT&T retained Essential Consultants for some $600,000 to help them with their $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner.  AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said retaining Cohen was a “big mistake”. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden wrote to AT&T on Monday demanding answers.

Facebook shuffles is leadership

Recode reports that Facebook is re-shuffling its leadership. WhatsApp and Messenger now have new leaders. The company will now have three divisions, each with a separate leader. Those divisions include Family of apps, Blockchain, and Central product services. But it looks like no executives are leaving the company, which is surprising to some given the Cambridge Analytica debacle. Kurt Wagner has the report at Recode.

Senate Intelligence Committee releases interim election security report

Karoun Demirjian at the Washington Post reports that a new Senate Intelligence Committee report concludes that the Department of Homeland Security did an “inadequate job” at countering Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. A House Intelligence Committee final report released in April made a similar conclusion, saying that U.S. Intelligence Committees failed to follow best practices.

Black, Hispanic lawmakers blast Amazon directors for opposing diversity

Members of Amazon’s board are advocating against a shareholder proposal to increase board diversity. Shareholders are advocating for a rule called the “Rooney Rule” which would require initial lists of board candidates to fill new board seats to include women and people of color. However, Amazon’s current Board Members are advising against the proposal, and many of Amazon’s employees are outraged, according to Recode.

FAA ignores Amazon in drone pilot program

Amazon is not included in a pilot program called the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program being run by the US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration. Over the next three years the program will test out drone delivery service, with the goal of eventually rolling out drone delivery service throughout the country. Amazon is notably absent from the list of companies that will be participating, although Google parent Alphabet is included, as well as smaller startups including AirMap and Flirtey. Mike Murphy reports in Quartz.

FCC issues a $120 million robocall fine

The FCC has announced a $120 million fine to a Florida man -- Adrian Abramovich—for allegedly making some 100 million robocalls in three months. While the FCC has issued this fine, it still has not introduced new robocall regulations. Ali Breland has the report in the Hill.