Christopher Mitchell

Director, Community Broadband Networks
Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Mitchell is a leading national expert on community networks and internet access. At ILSR, he serves as policy director for Next Century Cities, a national collaboration of mayors and chief information officers seeking universal access to fast, affordable, reliable internet connections. His research and reports are available online at ILSR.org. He is also a senior adviser to the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC). In 2015, the White House used his research as building blocks in a National Economic Council report encouraging community networks.

On a day-to-day basis, Mitchell runs MuniNetworks.org, a comprehensive online clearinghouse of information about community broadband. Mitchell 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.