Jonathan Moore: Making Broadband a Human Right

Published
An image of Jonathan Moore

By Patrick Slavin, UHI Communications Associate

Bunting Neighborhood Leadership Fellow Jonathan Moore is a high-tech entrepreneur and founder of Rowdy Orbit, a for-profit company dedicated to making broadband infrastructure an inclusive human right. The company’s mission is to leverage broadband infrastructure from the ground up in some of Baltimore’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, spurring economic development and community revitalization, and closing our city’s unacceptable digital divide. 

Founding his company in 2019, Moore is steadily reaching more and more people and connecting them to the Internet, working to bring equity to neighborhoods that have also been hard hit by COVID-19.

“We’re building WIFI networks in South Baltimore and we can provide service for less than $20 a month, when some national companies charge $79.99,” Moore said adding that his price point can also be covered for qualifying households by the Biden Administration’s America Connectivity Program, a $14 billion federal government initiative that empowers people to afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare, and more.

“We see so many families that use their phone’s hotspots to provide broadband and what happens when your plan runs out in the third week of every month, especially when children were homeschooling because of COVID and studying online. For many, it’s do I pay the internet bill or do I eat,” said Moore, 52, a Baltimore native and a Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute Bunting Neighborhood Leadership Program (BNLP) Fellow.

Established in 2016, the BNLP is a one-of-a-kind initiative that aims to equip the next generation of Baltimore’s community activists with the knowledge, skills, and tools to be transformative leaders.

“I am a huge supporter of the Bunting fellows program,” Moore said. “It’s helping me strategically and tactically in terms of applying for new funding streams. It’s also very meaningful to network with the other Bunting fellows. We’re in regular contact and support each other’s work passions.”

Moore bases his company in South Baltimore and believes steady access to the Internet will create a new generation of engineers, computer scientists, and entrepreneurs. His company has five full-time staff and he has plans to double his payroll, as well as build a community youth program.

Established in 2016, the Bunting Neighborhood Leadership Program is a one-of-a-kind initiative that aims to equip the next generation of Baltimore’s community activists with the knowledge, skills, and tools to be transformative leaders.? This year long fellowship from the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute:

  • Enhances the capacity of young, passionate Baltimore community advocates with the skills to help improve the trajectory of health in their communities.
  • Under the guidance of a community advisory board, identifies and works with engaged community leaders to serve as faculty.
  • Keeps authentic community voice at the center of the training.
  • Is a safe environment to be transparent and vulnerable and grow through peer support, reflective learning and faculty guidance.
  • Teaches from a structured curriculum that combines the history of Baltimore, theories on leadership and community development, research and policies, and evidence-based practice.