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Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Hoopa Valley PUD General Manager Honored As Connectivity Champion
By
on
With Linnea Jackson at the helm of the Hoopa Valley Tribe Public Utilities District (HVPUD), Hoopa has become a bellwether of a new wave of Tribally-owned and managed broadband networks.
Over four short years, the Tribe has stewarded a wireless license from the FCC, launched a sovereign wireless network for its people, and undertaken massive fiber infrastructure builds funded by a multi-million dollar grant from the federal government and a historic partnership with the state of California.
Linnea’s work has transformed a story of a digital divide fueled by the disinvestment of a massive monopoly telephone company into one of connectivity through Tribal sovereignty, community power, and local self-reliance.
In recognition of her contributions in the field of Tribal broadband, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) named Jackson the recipient of the Connectivity Champion award at our 50th Anniversary celebration last week, alongside inspiring leaders in community composting, energy democracy, independent business, and Internet access.
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“It’s been an absolute honor,” Jackson said as she accepted the award, “to help lead these infrastructure projects, which will build a legacy and help the next generation, not only with education, but telemedicine, communications… basic ways of life that are reliant on access to high speed Internet that is reliable and robust.”
As the General Manager of HVPUD, Jackson’s portfolio stretches beyond broadband. She has gained widespread recognition for her leadership on Tribal utility infrastructure – from energy sovereignty to clean drinking water – which is part of what makes her commitment to what was, to her department, a brand new concept of community-based broadband so remarkable. Under Jackson’s guidance, the Hoopa Valley Tribe’s achievements in broadband are many, and growing.
After years of struggling against poor or nonexistent communications services, 2020 was a turning point for the Tribe. That year, they were among several hundred Tribes granted a wireless license from the FCC in the ground-breaking 2.5 Ghz Rural Tribal Priority Window and they quickly stood up a Tribally-owned Internet Service Provider (ISP). Acorn Wireless now serves hundreds of customers throughout Hoopa with reliable Internet access.
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As she and her team gained more broadband experience and took stock of a changing funding landscape, they broadened their vision of what was possible and undertook an initiative to bring fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure to their community, winning the largest Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) grant given to a single Tribe.
When that project is complete in the coming years, more than twenty-five hundred residents on the Hoopa Valley Reservation will enjoy the gold standard of Internet connectivity.
The impact of her creative leadership and stalwart support of the Tribe’s broadband initiative continues to reverberate outward. Last year it was announced that Hoopa Valley and the State of California would embark on a landmark collaboration, with the Tribe building and managing twenty-three miles of the state’s new middle-mile network.
The first partnership of its kind, this joint build is enabling Hoopa to, as Jackson noted in her comments, “not only support connectivity for our Tribe, but the entire North Coast of California.”
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With her Acorn Wireless staff, Jackson has cultivated a culture committed to being a resource for others, propelling the field of Tribal broadband forward. Personally, she has become a leading voice in policy advocacy, highlighting the federal and state policies that will promote sustainable, thriving Tribally-owned and managed networks.
Likewise, ILSR is also honored to count Jackson and her staff among the staunchest advocates of the Tribal Broadband Bootcamps (TBB).
Speaking to her role at the TBB’s, ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director Christopher Mitchell lauded her leadership:
“Linnea and her team have been essential to continuing the Tribal Broadband Bootcamps and ensuring they are useful to Tribes building their own networks. From the first day to today, we have learned a tremendous amount from Linnea and the Hoopa Valley Tribe.”
Accepting her award, Jackson celebrated the TBB as a “space for us to refine our skills, learn about network technology, get hands-on training, and be in a space where you’re among a community that are going after the same goals” – all thanks to the commitment, enthusiasm, and expertise of Jackson and other Tribal broadband leaders.
From being proof of concept as enthusiastic learners at the very first Tribal Wireless Bootcamp in 2021 to hosting a Tribal Broadband Bootcamp (TBB) in 2023 to mentoring new Tribal broadband leaders across the country, Jackson and the staff at Acorn Wireless have become a lynchpin in an ever-growing TBB community.
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