Christopher Mitchell

Christopher Mitchell is the Policy Director at Next Century Cities as well as the Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis. Mr. Mitchell is a leading national expert on community networks and speaks at conferences across the United States on telecommunications policy.

On a day-to-day basis, Mr. Mitchell runs MuniNetworks.org, the comprehensive online clearinghouse of information about community broadband. His research and reports are available online. In 2012, he published three in-depth case studies of citywide publicly owned gigabit networks, called “Broadband at the Speed of Light.” In 2011, Mr. Mitchell released the Community Broadband Map, a comprehensive map of community owned networks.

He was honored as one of the 2012 Top 25 in Public Sector Technology by Government Technology, which honors the top “Doers, Drivers, and Dreamers” in the nation each year. That same year, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors named ILSR the Broadband Organization of the Year.

His Twitter identity is @communitynets

He earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Macalester College.