Brian Mefford helped grow Connected Nation from a Kentucky broadband project into a national movement

This article is part of a series celebrating the leaders who have served as CEO of Connected Nation.

Bowling Green, Ky. (August 4, 2026) — For a quarter century, Connected Nation (CN) has worked to close the Digital Divide by helping expand broadband connectivity and technology access. That would not have been possible without its great leaders.

Part 1 of the CN CEO Series focused on Dr. Linda Johnson, one of CN’s founders and its inaugural CEO. With a vision to help fuel Kentucky’s new economy, she played a key role in shaping the organization’s early mission. As CN began to gain momentum, Dr. Johnson transitioned leadership to Brian Mefford, setting the stage for the continued expansion.

Turning a budget cut into a strategic pivot

In 2003, Mefford joined Dr. Johnson as a part of the CITE (Center for Information Technology Enterprise) team and was hired to lead the ConnectKentucky project. Having lived outside the state for several years, Mefford was excited about this opportunity because he was familiar with the strategy to transition Kentucky’s manufacturing economy to the “new economy.”

Mefford knew how important this effort was and believed he could tackle it head-on. So, he packed his bags and moved from Washington, D.C., to Bowling Green, Ky. He quickly transitioned into the role of CEO following Dr. Johnson. But as he got started on expanding CITE and ConnectKentucky, he began to see some initial obstacles.

During the next legislative session, CITE’s funding fell from around $940,000 a year to zero. This led the Board of Directors to suggest that CITE shut down and call for “mission mostly accomplished”. But Mefford pushed back and did not give up that easily. He made the strategic decision to narrow CITE's focus, shifting from more than 40 projects to dedicating its energy and resources to ConnectKentucky.

“We took a hard look at the 40-something projects that CITE had going and said, ‘We're going to focus on a single project and that will be ConnectKentucky,’” said Mefford. “It was the most viable and had the potential to resonate most with the state.”

It was then that CITE officially changed its name to ConnectKentucky, a name the organization operated under for approximately a year and a half.

Connected Nation shows frontline enthusiasm 

After a few years operating under ConnectKentucky, the organization created a parent company which was launched as Connected Nation (CN). It was during this time that Mefford really stepped up as a leader to grow and expand CN and its mission to reach national stakeholders and manage multi-state funding.

As part of that expansion, CN built a national board of telecommunications leaders that included representatives from major telecom and cable companies, consumer organizations, and labor unions. The board focused on bringing CN's mission to policymakers in Washington, D.C.

Board members met with congressional leaders and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discuss broadband policy and CN's work. But change did not happen overnight. CN leaders testified before Congress nearly 20 times before lawmakers began viewing the organization's model as one worth supporting and replicating nationwide.

“Congress started looking at us and saying, ‘OK, this is a model. How can we support this? How can we replicate this and make it available for all the states?’” Mefford said.

During this time in D.C., CN and Mefford had a real “boots on the ground” mentality and “nose to the grindstone” work ethic to make sure their voices were heard and understood. Mefford noted that this hard work was what prevented the organization from becoming just another short-lived nonprofit.

“We'd stuff everything in our backpacks, head to the Hill, and we'd just start walking halls, meeting staffers and members, and waiting outside of people's offices,” said Mefford. “Had that not happened, we would've just been another nonprofit that was around for a few years whose budget would be cut, and that would be the end of it.”

Along with the couple of years traveling from Bowling Green to D.C. and the nonstop, rigorous work that ensued, Mefford had one experience he would never forget — testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee, co-chaired by Ted Stevens and Daniel Inouye.

Both senators were World War II veterans, close friends, and highly respected human institutions. So, to get their committee's stamp of approval was a major milestone.

"Getting to sit in front of that committee with those two giants of the Senate, in front of a full room, and getting to explain the work that our people were doing now in different parts of the country, it was just incredible, honestly,” said Mefford. “It was out of body.”

Stepping down, looking ahead

After many years of helping to lead and grow the organization, Mefford stepped down as CN’s CEO in 2012 to pursue other endeavors. He was proud of the mark he left and was looking forward to seeing all CN would accomplish in the future.

When asked where he sees CN going in the next couple of years, Mefford pointed to a parallel opportunity in AI infrastructure and data center proliferation. Currently, communities are struggling with data center siting decisions, similar to early broadband debates, but with more public emotion and fear. He thinks CN can help with that.

“Communities are struggling in a big, big way right now with what to do with data centers. There's a lot of facilitation and community-level engagement that just must happen, and right now I'm not seeing too many entities that are equipped to help with that,” said Mefford. “I see that as a convenient parallel and need that I think potentially only Connected Nation, with the experience that it has, can really help states and communities address this issue.”

Mefford believes CN's community engagement expertise uniquely positions the organization to help states and communities navigate these decisions.

Now in its 25th year of service, CN has continued to fulfill its mission of expanding access to, adoption of, and use of high-speed internet and related technologies for all people. Everyone belongs in a Connected Nation.

Check out this 2007 video of Brian interviewing with "The Communicators" from C-SPAN.

Past Connected Nation articles celebrating 25 years of service:

• From bold vision to real-world impact: The origins of Connected Nation and the leader who started it all
• Longest-running staffers: Connected Nation through the eyes of the people who shaped it, Vol. I
• Longest-running staffers: Connected Nation through the eyes of the people who shaped it, Vol. II
• From computers to AI: How CN and UEN have tracked a decade of technology in Utah schools