In the spirit of honoring Women’s History Month with our own women leaders in our rural broadband industry, I asked Roxie Mayberry, NTCA Board member from the Northwest Region (cooperative seat), and Tonya Mayer, NTCA Board member from the Central Region (cooperative seat), to share some of their background and insights as we continue to watch glass ceilings crack in the NTCA, SMC, Trustee and committee meeting rooms.
SAB: Roxie, you have been a director on the MTA board in Alaska for a few years and on the NTCA board since 2019 and Tonya, you are now 5 months into your board tenure, and we’d like to get to know you both better. Please share a little bit of your background with our NTCA membership.
Roxie: I’ve been a business owner since I was 19 years old and have always been involved in my communities that I have lived. I raised 5 children while running my businesses over the years. I currently have a business designing websites and marketing campaigns as well as opening another business in clothing and home décor.
Tonya: I am the General Manger/CEO of The Hemingford Cooperative Telephone Company & Mobius Communications. I am a native of Hemingford and will be a part of Hemingford Telephone for 28 years this year. I have served as a Customer Service Rep, Office Manager and CFO before taking a Co-Manager role in 2008. I was in this roll until 2011, when I became the GM.
SAB: Can you both tell us a snippet of how you got into our industry?
Roxie: In 2007, I moved to Alaska and knew that I would need to find a job until I could get a large enough clientele for my Portrait Studio business, so I applied to work as a sales supervisor for the Matanuska Telephone Association (now Matanuska Telecom Association) where I worked for 11 months.
Tonya: Honestly, I was moving back to Hemingford after being gone for 4 years and looking for a good job when I heard there might be a need at the “telephone office.” I met with the Office Manager and the GM and won them over with my ability to fill out payroll reports and open the safe.😊
SAB: And why did you chose to run for the NTCA board?
Roxie: In 2016, I ran for the MTA Board of Directors because I wanted to make a difference. I met Shirley at my first state association meeting just 6 months later and decided that I wanted to be involved in NTCA. I felt being on the NTCA Board would be a great opportunity for me to share my skills and my perspective being a director on a telco board (not a C-Suite employee of a telecom), and being a woman. As soon as my regional seat opened, I put my name in to run. I love to be involved and see this as an opportunity to be a part of bringing reliable broadband to all rural America.
Tonya: I found that our small rural companies had something to say and were often overshadowed by the bigger guys. So, I became very vocal in Nebraska and spent a lot of time educating and lobbying our cause at the state level, some at the federal level and wanted to be of use to not only our state but other rural companies like ours. I am passionate about fiber deployment and keeping rural areas connected and relevant for the next generations.
SAB: You are both in key positions at a pivotal time for our industry. What your vision is for our industry?
Roxie: Of course, I want to see all rural America have affordable high-speed broadband to all who want it and stability in the USF funding. As we have seen with COVID that more people are able and desire to work from home, I want to see more people working their corporate jobs from their dream rural homes. The network of the future will be driven by telehealth, precision farming, smart homes, 8k streaming and Artificial Intelligence-driven applications and we will be a driving force in making sure the infrastructure is where it needs to be. With the new infrastructure bill there will be opportunities that many rural telcos have never dreamed they would be capable of. I see tremendous opportunities for our industry.
Tonya: I envision universal service for fiber everywhere – just like copper in the beginning! I envision our industry leading development for devices. I could go on for hours on how pivotal I think our role as providers is for our communities we serve.
SAB: What pearls of advice would you like to share with our next generation of women leaders?
Roxie: Don’t let your worries of not being qualified stop you from putting your name in for a position. We as women hesitate thinking we have to have all the boxes checked off. Men don’t hesitate. We need to take a page from their book and be confident in ourselves and our abilities. I’ve only been seated on my local telco board for 5 ½ years, yet I ran for the NTCA board when I had only been on the board 2 years. It never hurts to put yourself out there are reach for the stars. The only regret you will have is if you don’t try.
Tonya: Don’t be afraid to take chances. If you don’t succeed at first, take another chance, learn from disappointment & trial runs, I don’t like to call them mistakes. Use your skills and find a mentor to help hone your skills and develop new ones.
Women in rural telecommunications are making their mark in the industry by bringing innovation and ideas to the table across every aspect of the business. The NTCA Women in Telecom program reflects progression, creativity, diversity and contributions that women make in the field. Learn more and get involved here.