Courtesy / Maine Broadband Coalition
Myles Smith.
August 26, 2022
Maine Broadband Coalition appoints new director, updates mission
By Staff
The new executive director of the Maine Broadband Coalition said his mission will include updating the coalition’s mission.
The coalition appointed Myles Smith, a longtime media professional, to take the top spot.
“Myles brings the experience and perspective we need to advance world-class internet connectivity across Maine,” Nick Battista, chair of the coalition’s board of directors, said in a news release.
The nonprofit coalition represents hundreds of organizations, dozens of communities and thousands of internet users. Its goal is to advance affordable, equitable and universal access to internet connectivity across the state through advocacy, community capacity building and education.
Smith steps in for former director Andrew Butcher, who was made president of the Maine Connectivity Authority, a quasi-governmental agency established in 2021 by the Mills administration using federal pandemic-relief funds.
According to Smith's LinkedIn profile, he most recently served as vice president of strategic and financial planning at Internews, an international news nonprofit.
Smith brings nearly 20 years experience protecting a free and open internet, supporting and practicing journalism, and promoting economic development internationally, the Maine Broadband Coalition release said.
He grew up in Rockland, Camden, Portland and Cumberland and returns to Maine after stints in Boston; Moscow, Russia; Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; and, most recently Washington, DC.
At the Maine Broadband Coalition, he will lead programs and advocacy efforts, helping to build statewide broadband infrastructure that can everyone affordably, equitably and with the quality necessary to keep Mainers competitive in the 21st century economy, the organization said. The coalition pursues these objectives in tandem with public, private, non-profit and community partners.
The coalition is governed by a multi-disciplinary board of directors that established its guiding values.
“Broadband internet is as important an infrastructure as our roads — it connects us to employers and customers, to health care and education, to entertainment and expression,” said Smith. “Better broadband in Maine means more opportunities for all of us, and I’m proud to lead a coalition that helps connect us to those opportunities.”
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