Washington, DC, Oct 6, 2015 – Public Knowledge announces several new members have joined the board of directors. Virginia Lam Abrams, Moses Boyd, Laurent Crenshaw and Frank Torres will join nine other board members to provide Public Knowledge with strategic counsel and leadership. We also welcome Maura Colleton Corbett as the new Chair. Corbett has been an active board member since 2011.

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Virginia Lam Abrams is a seasoned communications and public affairs executive with more than 15 years experience working in technology, media and politics. She is Senior Vice President of Communications and Government Relations at Project Decibel, an early-stage incubator developing next generation technology to enhance connectivity and enrich the consumer experience. She is also founder of Berkeley Place Strategies, where she works with public and private technology companies to shape their communications and public affairs strategies.

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Moses Boyd is a Founding Partner of Integrated Solutions Group (ISG) with more than 20 years of experience in the Washington policy arena. Boyd is also a Founding Partner of the United States Renewable Energy Group (USREG), a private equity fund committed to integrating renewable and environmentally sound energy technologies into the American marketplace.

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Laurent Crenshaw is the head of Federal Public Policy for Yelp in Washington D.C. Prior to joining Yelp in 2013, Crenshaw worked in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 11 years. During that tenure he served as the Legislative Director for Representative Darrell Issa focusing on technology policy issues, particularly in the areas of intellectual property, telecommunications and Internet law; and also worked in the offices of the House Majority Whip and House Republican Conference.

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Frank Torres is the Director of Consumer Affairs and a Senior Policy Counsel for the Microsoft Corporation. He leads the company’s engagement strategy with consumer and privacy advocates and civil rights organizations. Torres also directs federal policy activity and strategy on privacy, including issues related to government surveillance, and represents Microsoft’s interests on those issues before Congress and the administration.

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Public Knowledge also welcomes Maura Colleton Corbett as the new Chair of the board of directors. A long-time board member and friend of Public Knowledge, Corbett is the CEO and Founder of the Glen Echo Group, with over two decades of communications, media, public affairs and coalition building experience with companies and organizations building the new economy. Corbett provides strategic counsel to clients faced with complicated issues within the high-technology industry, including Internet competition and broadband deployment, and content-related policy issues including privacy and copyright.

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The following may be attributed to Gene Kimmelman, President and CEO of Public Knowledge: "We are thrilled to welcome these talented individuals to preserve the strong governance and thought leadership that guides our advocacy in intellectual property, telecommunications and Internet policy. We’re most fortunate to benefit from their years of experience in the policy and business communities, and look forward to their counsel and leadership.

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“We’re also pleased to welcome Maura as the new Chair. She’s been a pillar of support for many years, and we’re privileged that she’s willing to lead our board of directors at this critical moment in advocacy. These new board members will be crucial to our future success.”

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Media Contact: Shiva Stella, shiva@publicknowledge.org

Read the full release here.

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