People

CHARLES M. DAVIDSON
Director

Charles M. Davidson is a Director of the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute (ACLP) at New York Law School. Charles oversees all aspects of the program, including its focus on broadband policy. The ACLP has published a number of papers and has hosted interdisciplinary public policy events on an array of broadband issues, with a particular emphasis on promoting broadband adoption and utilization.

Prior to joining the ACLP, Charles served as a state regulatory utility commissioner and held a variety of positions in government and the private sector. His government work included serving as the Executive Director of Florida’s Information Technology Taskforce and as the Staff Director of the state’s first Committee on Information Technology. In the private sector, Charles was an attorney in the New York offices of Baker & McKenzie and subsequently Duane Morris. He also served as the Chairman of ITFlorida, a nonprofit organization that promotes innovation in the state’s high-tech sector.

Charles speaks and writes frequently on technology and public policy issues, and has provided expert testimony before numerous state and federal bodies, including the U.S. House of Representatives and the Federal Communications Commission. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Charles holds a Masters of Law in Trade Regulation from New York University, a Masters in International Business from Columbia University, and undergraduate and Juris Doctorate degrees from the University of Florida, where he served as a fellowship instructor at the College of Law. He also served as a Special Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law.

MICHAEL J. SANTORELLI
Director

Michael J. Santorelli is a Director of the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute (ACLP) at New York Law School. In that capacity, he oversees all aspects of the ACLP’s research and scholarly writing, as well as developing and maintaining the ACLP’s core program. Michael writes widely on broadband, telecommunications, wireless, and Internet law and public policy issues.

Immediately prior to joining the ACLP, Michael was the Policy Director for the New York City Council’s Committee on Technology in Government. As its lead staffer, he was responsible for organizing hearings, preparing policy papers on a diverse array of topics, and advising Council Members on communications issues. Other duties included drafting legislation and working with local stakeholders – corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, and individuals – to develop strategies for spurring the use of new technologies across the city.

Michael received his B.A., cum laude, from Tufts University, and his J.D., cum laude, from New York Law School.

FELLOWS

THOMAS KAMBER, PHD.
Visting Fellow
Executive Director & Founder
Older Adults Technology Services (OATS)

Visiting Fellow Dr. Thomas Kamber is the founding executive director of Older Adults Technology Services (OATS), where he has led the creation of the largest municipal technology program for senior citizens in the country—training more than 4000 senior citizens at over 30 locations since 2004 and leveraging over a million dollars in public and private financing. His work at OATS has been covered by The New York Times, NBC Channel 4 News, The New York Daily News, Fox 5 News, and NY1, and is featured in Generation Blend: Managing Across the Digital Age Gap.

Prior to founding OATS, Dr. Kamber held senior management positions at nonprofit housing and technology organizations, as well as political campaigns at the local, state, and national level. He is a co-founder and board member of the nonprofit Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance, is a board member of the Park Slope Geriatric Center, and is co-chair of the Housing and Human Services Committee for Brooklyn Community Board Six. In the private sector, he served as a senior brand strategist for D'Arcy advertising, where he helped design and implement communications strategy for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, a leading global technology services corporation.

Dr. Kamber teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on social entrepreneurship and advocacy at Columbia University and the New School University, and has published widely on public policy topics. He has a B.A. from Columbia College and a Ph.D. from the City University of New York.