Alex Roark is a nationally respected technology policy leader with more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of emerging technologies, digital infrastructure, and public-interest governance. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the A-I Policy Forum, a national public-interest organization laying the foundation for an AI future in which every person, community, and institution has the knowledge, tools, and agency to shape how technology is designed, deployed, and governed. As a trusted voice in national policy conversations, he frequently advises policymakers, senior government officials, corporate executives, and civil society leaders on AI governance, digital infrastructure modernization, and community-informed approaches to technology policy.

 

Prior to founding the AI Policy Forum, Alex served as a senior executive at the Federal Communications Commission, where he led implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and advanced one of the most pro-consumer agendas in recent American history. As Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, he established the first rules governing the use of AI within U.S. telecommunications policy, launched broadband nutrition labels that brought new price transparency to the broadband marketplace, and created the agency’s first federal grant program, allocating $77 million to build a nationwide network of digital navigators serving all 50 states, territories, and Tribal lands to support enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program, the largest broadband affordability initiative in U.S. history. He co-led a nationwide engagement process that informed the development of the country’s first civil rights framework for the digital age, resulting in the adoption of rules to prevent digital discrimination of access based on income, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin. He spearheaded new accessibility requirements to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in video conferencing by paving the way for the use of telecommunications relay services, and he modernized the nation’s Emergency Alert System to bridge gaps in existing alert frameworks by enabling rapid alerts for missing individuals, particularly in Tribal communities who do not meet AMBER Alert criteria.

 

Alex holds a Master’s in Public Administration and is a leading advocate for a distinctly American model of AI governance that affirms democratic principles, protects fundamental rights, and expands opportunity. He champions a future in which the United States sets the global standard for human-centered innovation, ensuring that the design, deployment, and governance of emerging technologies deepen civic participation, strengthen institutional trust, and unlock broad-based prosperity for generations to come.