The 43rd Annual Parker Lecture & Awards Breakfast

She is the director of the Center on Resilience & Digital Justice and co-director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power at UCLA. She also serves as a director of the UCLA DataX Initiative, leading work on critical data studies for the campus.

Noble is the author of the best-selling book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (NYU Press), which has been widely reviewed in scholarly and popular publications. In 2021, she was recognized as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow (popularly known as the MacArthur “genius” grant) for her ground-breaking work on algorithmic discrimination.

In 2023, Rolling Stone featured Noble’s work in an article titled “These Women Tried to Warn Us About AI.” In 2022, Noble received the NAACP’s inaugural NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, presented by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry (the Duke and Duchess of Sussex). And in 2024, Noble headlined the Outbraving Summit at Harvard University, a two-day event convened by Brandi Collins-Dexter, who earlier this summer the UCC Media Justice Ministry announced it would honor posthumously with its 2025 Everett C. Parker Award.

Brandi Collins-Dexter, who began her media justice advocacy career working at the Center for Media Justice, continued as Senior Campaign Director of Media, Culture and Economic Justice at Color of Change. Most recently, she was a Schuster Media and Technology Fellow at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.

In 2017, The Hill named Brandi a “person to watch.” In 2019, she was listed in The Root 100, an annual list of the most influential African Americans between the ages of 25 and 45. She also received the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s Champion of Freedom award. She has served on the boards for Public Citizen, Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), and the American Economic Liberties Project.

Brandi authored the 2022 book, Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future, which used “a combination of pop culture analysis, digital ethnography and investigative journalism to understand the history and trajectory of Black political, economic and social power in the United States.” The book, among other things, highlighted the increasing disenchantment of the Black community with the Democratic Party, two years before the 2024 election.

Cheryl A. Leanza, UCC Media Justice’s Policy Advisor, stated, “Brandi Collins-Dexter has been a leader and fellow traveler with UCC Media Justice’s work since at least 2012. Her work on phone justice for incarcerated people, accountability of the largest social media platforms, and the intersection of popular culture and democracy has influenced the advocacy movement and the world we live in today. Her success was built on her ability to understand and shape cultural meanings and symbolism across a wide range of audiences. She was able to convey complicated ideas to people from any background, whether they dropped out of high school or have several advanced degrees. Her voice will be greatly missed at a time when her talent is sorely needed. Our work, we hope, will continue her efforts, and her influence, like Dr. Parker’s, will last long into the future.”

Since being sworn in as the FCC’s 49th Commissioner in September 2023, Gomez has brought more than three decades of public and private sector experience in communications law and policy to champion a telecommunications and media marketplace that serves everyone. She has worked to ensure that rural, Tribal, suburban, and urban communities alike can get and stay connected—while safeguarding consumer protections, strengthening public safety networks, and expanding broadband access.

Gomez launched a bold First Amendment Tour this year—a nationwide listening effort to engage with journalists, broadcasters, and community members about the essential role of a free press in a healthy democracy. Through this initiative, she is amplifying local stories, defending press freedom, and reinforcing the FCC’s commitment to diversity, localism, and competition in media.

Gomez’s career includes senior leadership at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, where she oversaw the nation’s transition to digital television and helped establish a broadband network for first responders; twelve years in leadership roles at the FCC; and positions at the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and the National Economic Council. A Latina American who spent part of her childhood in Colombia, she brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work, striving to meet communities where they are.