Director - Broadband Office - NJ Board of Public Utilities
Bullard drives the state’s broadband strategy of equal access for all New Jerseyans and direct substantial federal and state funding that will soon become available by working with industry, communities, and agencies to ensure the greatest impact for digital literacy and inclusion. She also focuses on building out an enhanced staff and processes to manage funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Biden.
Bullard most recently served as the first Broadband Advisor and Transparency Officer for the New Jersey Governor’s Disaster Recovery Office. There, she focused on the coordination of federal, state, and local broadband-related services and programs. Bullard was also responsible for overseeing the result of the transparency website to track the State’s eligible and planned uses of both state and federal funds to help New Jersey residents, businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and other entities respond to or recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before joining the Governor's Office, she served as the Senior IT Project Manager and Software Development Specialist at the Department of Community Affairs where she was responsible for overseeing the modernizing of state applications and the migration of legacy applications.
She has an extensive technical background and experience in implementing long-term, large-scale federally funded programs and grants. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business and a Master of Arts in International Political and Economic Development, both from the University of Bridgeport.
Thanks to federal funds, Broadband Deployment will allow internet access to more people than ever, but what does that mean for PEG channels. It would seem that, the more people that have internet access, the better for us, but internet access is not cable access, so what can PEG stations do to ensure their signals are available to the widest audience possible. This panel will discuss the status of broadband deployment in the state and the implications for our channels. What is the future of cable distribution? Must we plan for over-the-top apps to reach new viewers and will this be the only way residents can access PEG channels in the future? Will we get more HD distribution? What are PEG stations doing nationally to maximize their availability? Are there new security issues if broadband is the only way to access to our stations? Panelists: Robert Boyle, CEO, Planet Networks; Mike Wassenaar, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media; Ken Fellman Esq., founder and partner, Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman; Valarry Bullard, Broadband Director, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities; Moderator: Bob Duthaler, President, JAG