Francella Ochillo

Francella Ochillo is Executive Director of Next Century Cities, a nonprofit that focuses on expanding high-speed broadband connectivity across the U.S. She is an attorney and digital rights advocate whose work underscores how widespread broadband adoption can improve educational outcomes, economic mobility, the ability to age in place, and pathways for participating in our democracy. 

Advocating for public interest on a variety of technology and telecommunications issues, Francella provides expertise on how government policies and industry practices affect underrepresented populations. As a Technology and Public Purpose Fellow, Francella will focus on how inadequate access to technology reinforces cycles of poverty and the cost of inaction on closing the digital divide. Additionally, her work will explore how second class digital citizenship impacts privacy rights in the digital ecosystem. 

A member of the District of Columbia Bar and Federal Communications Bar Association, Francella has served on FCC working groups, provided Congressional testimony, and advocated before various regulatory bodies. She earned her Juris Doctor from UIC John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.