Dr. Gant was appointed on July 1, 2023, by the Assistant Secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the US Department Commerce to direct the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives (OMBI). Dr. Gant brings expertise as a professor of information systems and public policy, dean, and research center director to help NTIA carry out programs and policymaking to expand access to broadband internet access service and other digital opportunities for everyone. OMBI is a division of the NTIA’s Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth. OICG manages NTIA’s implementation of several broadband grant programs including the BEAD, Digital Equity, Tribal Broadband Connectivity, and Middle Mile Infrastructure Programs. OMBI administers the Connecting Minority Communities (CMC) Pilot Program, a congressionally legislated program. The CMC program is designed to reach communities impacted by the digital divide and anchored by a minority serving college or university. These Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) serve as catalysts for the expansion of access to high-speed internet services and other digital opportunities in their neighboring anchor community where the lack of availability and adoption of high-speed internet service has been persistent and difficult to resolve. Through OMBI’s administration of the CMC Pilot program, NTIA awarded over $268 Million in grants to 93 HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs.

Dr. Gant’s has conducted over $50 Million in externally funded research. This community-engaged research informs broadband deployment and digital equity practices used today. Dr. Gant earned degrees from Carnegie Mellon University in information systems, public policy, and management and an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. Dr. Gant served as the dean of the School of Library and Information Sciences at North Carolina Central University. Dr. Gant was also the founding director of the Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI) while a professor at the School of Information at the University of Illinois. In this role, Dr. Gant help the University of Illinois to build UC2B, a public private partnership that deployed a gigabit municipal broadband network. Dr. Gant served as the Chair of the UC2B Board. Dr. Gant also held faculty positions with Syracuse University and Indiana University. Dr. Gant lives in the Raleigh-Durham area while on public service leave from NCCU and is a member of Union Baptist Church in Durham, NC.