March 27, 2015 (Gila River Indian Reservation) — Loris A. Taylor, president and CEO of Native Public Media, will speak at the grand opening of the Gila River Broadcasting Corporation (GRBC) on April 6, 2015.

“I am honored to be invited by the Gila River Indian Community to celebrate the grand opening of GRBC,” Taylor said. “This occasion is the pinnacle of what broadband in Indian Country can be, and how intertwining the art of Tribal Nations storytelling with digital technologies can create powerful broadcasts of their own stories and content meaningful to their community.

“My hope is that GRBC will be the first of many broadcasting facilities to multiply and prosper across Indian Country and that other tribal communities will follow suit and push the envelope to innovate and to be creative.”

The grand opening will take place at 9 a.m. April 6 at the GRBC studio located at 7065 W. Allison Road in Chandler.

Taylor recently was recognized by the Distribution & Interconnection Committee of the National Public Radio (NPR) Board of Directors for her service along with her advocacy work to establish the Tribal Priority for Broadcasting and the Office of Native Affairs and Policy at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  Taylor was instrumental in commissioning the first study on broadband entitled “The New Media, Technology and Internet Use in Indian Country” which outlined the first tribal recommendations to the Federal National Broadband Plan.

Native Public Media is a national organization devoted to encouraging healthy, independent and engaged tribal communities through media access, control and ownership. Currently 53 Native owned and operated radio stations and a handful of television stations and projects serve Indian Country.