Carolyn Fleming Williams - Director
Ms. Fleming Williams has the primary responsibility for overseeing the Commission’s compliance with the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), and the Small Business Administration’s size standard rules issued pursuant to the Small Business Act. Ms. Fleming Williams served as OCBO’s Acting Deputy Director, and prior to that, she was an attorney-advisor in the Consumer Protection and Competition Division of the former Cable Services Bureau (currently the Media Bureau). She holds a J.D. degree from The Georgetown University Law Center and an A.B. from Princeton University. News Release

Eric Malinen - Senior Legal Advisor and FCC Liaison to the SBA
Mr. Malinen joined OCBO as the Senior Legal Advisor in December 1996. He works on small business matters, especially as they arise during the course of agency rule makings, and has regular contact with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). He has overseen much of the agency’s implementation of programs under the SBREFA. Prior to joining OCBO, he was a senior staff attorney in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the former Private Radio Bureau. He hails from Minnesota, and has worked at the FCC since 1988. News Release

Maura McGowan - Telecommunications Policy Analyst
Ms. McGowan joined the FCC in October 1986 as a Television Production Specialist in the Office of the Managing Director. In 1989, she moved to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, where she served as a Telecommunications Specialist. In 1996, Ms. McGowan joined the OCBO, where she is presently a Telecommunications Policy Specialist. Ms. McGowan received her bachelor's degree in Journalism/Mass Communications from St. Bonaventure University.

Belford V. Lawson III - Attorney Advisor
Mr. Lawson joined the staff of OCBO in 1996. He has performed legal research, and law-related social scientific research, needed to support various formal Research Studies which have been undertaken by OCBO to determine the presence and effects of market entry barriers for small businesses entering the field of telecommunications. He has also performed legal and policy research used to implement the Schools and Libraries-related provisions of Section 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Mr. Lawson received a B.A. cum laude from Harvard; an M.A. from Columbia; a J.D. from Georgetown; and an LL.M. in Telecommunications Law and Policy from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Allan K. Manuel - Senior Attorney Advisor (Chief of Staff)
Mr. Manuel, who joined the FCC in 1996, came to OCBO in July of 2003. He served in the Cable Services Bureau's Consumer Protection and Competition Division and Policy Division (detail); the Compliance and Information Bureau's Legal Services Group; the Common Carrier Bureau's Competition Policy Division (detail); and the Enforcement Bureau's Technical and Public Safety Division (now Spectrum Enforcement Division). Mr. Manuel took a B.A., with honors in Economics, from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, Florida, where he served as an Articles and Comments Editor of the Inter-American Law Review. Before joining the FCC, Mr. Manuel engaged in private practice and clerked for the Honorable Paul A. Alpert (1991-92 and 1995) and the Honorable James R. Eyler (1996), Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

Karen M. Beverly - Consumer-Industry Affairs Specialist and Assistant for Management
Ms. Beverly serves as OCBO’s Consumer and Industry Affairs Specialist and the Assistant for Management. In that capacity, she fields inquiries, oversees outreach to small, minority and women-owned businesses and oversees the day-to-day administrative management of OCBO. Ms. Beverly has been recognized by the FCC through numerous Special Act and Performance Awards including the Catherine Foster Public Service Award (1994 and 2000). She began her career at the FCC in May 1975 as a student intern. She returned to the agency after graduating cum laude in August 1980 from North Carolina Central University with a B.A. in English/Media Journalism.

John Finnie - Staff Assistant
Mr. Finnie began his federal government career in 1975 with the General Services Administration. The following year, as a member of the U.S. Army, he started a three year tour of duty in West Germany with the 3rd Infantry Division’s Finance Center, where he was a Finance Specialist. After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, Mr. Finnie joined the FCC in 1979. He left the FCC that same year for the private sector, but returned to the FCC in 1990. On his return, Mr. Finnie took a position with the Acquisition Branch, Office of Managing Director (OMD). In 1998, he joined the former Mass Media Bureau as a Secretary. In March of 2000, Mr. Finnie joined the Finance Division, OMD, as an Accountant Technician. In September of 2002, he accepted a position as Staff Assistant with OCBO.

Sharon K. Stewart - Special Assistant to OCBO Director
Ms. Stewart joined the FCC in July 2001 as a Staff Assistant to Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) Director Martha Johnson and then Deputy Paul Jackson. From OLA, she joined the Office of Media Relations, where she worked with Director David Fiske and his staff for one-and-a-half years. In January 2003, Ms. Stewart accepted a call to work in the Office of Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein as a Staff Assistant. Her latest move in August of 2004 brings her wealth of administrative experience, gained over twenty years of federal government service, to OCBO. During her FCC tenure, Ms. Stewart has received a number of Performance Awards. She holds an Associate of Arts degree in Business Administration from Montgomery College, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Curtis Jones - Intern
Curtis Jones is in his second summer as an intern with the FCC. Last summer, Mr. Jones did research and collected data for various projects for the FCC's Office of Strategic Planning. This summer, Mr. Jones is an OCBO staff member. Currently, Mr. Jones is a senior at Penn State University studying Telecommunications. He will graduate this upcoming December with a B.A. in Telecommunications and a minor in Information Sciences and Technology (IST).