Brenda D. Villanueva

Managing Director and Lead Counsel, Telecom
bvillanueva@turn.org  |  (619) 398-3680

Brenda D. Villanueva joined TURN in October 2020 as a Telecom and Regulatory Attorney. A seasoned regulatory attorney and government professional, Brenda draws on her regulatory, congressional, and legislative government experience to advocate before the California Public Utility Commission and the California legislature on an array of telecommunications and broadband issues on behalf of California consumers.

Prior to joining TURN, Brenda served six years at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, DC, where she held key roles and made substantial and strategic contributions in several telecom policy and regulatory issues. While at the FCC, she was an Attorney Advisor in the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau where she managed a broad network reliability portfolio that included complicated proceedings and enforcement matters involving wireline, wireless, submarine cable, cable, and satellite communications. Brenda also served two years as a Deputy Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment where she advised the committee on administrative law and ethics matters and coordinated external stakeholder events and outreach. She first joined the FCC through the prestigious Attorney Honors Program. Before attending law school, Brenda served over five years in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, DC.

“I’m thrilled to be back in California and to bring my years of government and regulatory experience in telecom and technology to broaden universal service and consumer empowerment,” Brenda said.

Brenda received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Chicano/Latino Studies from the University of California, Irvine, and her law degree from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. Brenda currently serves on several leadership boards, such as the Southern California Chapter of the Federal Communications Bar Association, and the DC Metro Chapter of Latinas in Tech.