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Aaron Sanchez T-Mobile Talking With Trailblazers

Claudia Gordon T-Mobile Senior Accessibility Partner

T-Mobile Senior Disaster Recovery Manager Becky Romero keeps evolving the company’s response to challenges during hurricanes, wildfires and even a pandemic — because at any point, any of us could be affected.

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“Disasters all have the same backbone,” says Becky Romero. “They all have the same spine. They just have different arms and different feet. They have different limbs. And a wildfire is slightly different than a hurricane, which is 100 percent different than civil unrest, which is completely different than COVID, which is different than an earthquake, which is different than a volcano eruption. Different than the Texas winter storm that we had. The constant is the help needed.”

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And for much of her career, Romero has supplied that help.

The Deer Park, Texas-based Senior Disaster Recovery Manager for T-Mobile went from helping provide service to cell towers affected by outages as a contractor to focusing on disaster Business Continuity and Community Support full-time for the company.

Today, you can find Romero innovating response protocols to more seamlessly and effectively mobilize and serve the communities in times of need.

Rather than house supplies in one location for packing and shipping when needed, Romero asked, Why not have supplies and trucks ready to go from all over the United States?

As T-Mobile recognized the need for more robust responses to disasters, Romero’s growing team secured more resources, including more local storage and trucks to move equipment quickly.

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“We have grown from three trucks dedicated to our team,” she says, “all the way up to eleven trucks and ten warehouses. Do other carriers show up? Sure, they do. Do they show up like us? Absolutely, unequivocally, no. We have it, we know we have it, it’s organized, and we’re able to get it out in a very clear, concise process. That makes us show up as T Mobile.”

When a hurricane, wildfire or other natural disaster ravages a community, Romero and her team carefully monitor the situation, first making sure all of Team Magenta is safely home. Then her team leads the deployment of trucks carrying of much-needed supplies.

“We use our smaller, more nimble trucks during wildfires,” she says. “They’re good for when multiple shelters are housing people that have really lost everything. It is all about making those people feel comfortable that we are here to support them. We do not care what their background is. We don’t care where they live, and we don’t care what provider they’re with. We are simply there to serve them.”

As the team distributes supplies inside a shelter and returns to the warehouse to restock, again and again, Romero monitors each shelter site’s needs. Sometimes, cell phones are the biggest ask. In other situations, power sources for people to charge their devices might be pivotal.

“Sometimes they’re in old gymnasiums,” she says, “where there may be two or three plug-ins for the whole gymnasium. And people can’t keep their phones charged.”

Romero says hurricane responses are typically her opportunity to help organize a full deployment. When Hurricane Ida impacted Panama City earlier this year, she coordinated a truck to be deployed for a week to serve the community. Stationed there for months, she and her team stocked the truck with day-one and day-two kits, carrying ready-to-use phone-charging cables, constantly checking for supply exhaustion and creating replenishment schedules.

“What’s nice is having ten warehouses nationwide; if Panama City got hit again, the warehouse in Alabama is an hour and a half north there, so I can replenish them within about four hours if they run out. If Houston gets impacted, I have a warehouse in Dallas. If it gets impacted in Tampa, I’ve got those in Alabama. That’s about a ten-to-twelve-hour drive. And then I’ve also got Miami, and that’s about a six-hour drive.”

With just a few exceptions, Romero says she’s confident her teams can hit almost every state within twelve hours to replenish or deploy.

“Really, the fun part for me is the strategy,” she says. “How do we do it better? Listening. It excites me listening to our people, to understand their pain points and understand what did work and capitalize on that to make it better.”

While T-Mobile closed 80 percent of its stores at the outset of the pandemic, COVID forced stricter cleaning protocols to keep the team and customers safe at open stores. And essential businesses and the general public were competing for increasingly scarce sanitizer and other cleaning supplies.

​​​​​​​To avoid certain store closures should sanitizer run out, Romero identified an exceptional solution: a fuel delivery company she’d worked with was making its own cleaning supplies. Confirming the product met all the standards of T-Mobile’s Environmental Health & Safety Team, she worked with them to get orders in and figure out transport.

“We can’t, as an organization, ever do the same thing that everybody else is doing,” she says, “because every time we go down the path of what everybody else is doing, we’re going to come to a roadblock because it’s been done. And just like in this case, the supplies we needed were gone. Looking into creative solutions that no one else has tapped into is key.”

Because disaster response helps everyone learn how to navigate challenges that could eventually affect us all.

<a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/dealing-with-disaster-season-2020">Click here to read about the other half of the “Dynamic Duo” who works hand in hand with Becky Romero.</a>

T-Mobile Newsroom

As T-Mobile recognized the need for more robust responses to disasters, Senior Disaster Recovery Manager Becky Romero’s growing team secured more resources, including more local storage and trucks to move equipment quickly.

“Disasters All Have the Same Backbone” | T-Mobile Newsroom

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“Disasters All Have the Same Backbone”

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In western states like California, Oregon, and Washington, the idea of a “wildfire season” confined to August through November is a thing of the past. These days the danger exists all year long. In response, T-Mobile has expanded our network preparations to cover more communities that may be impacted by wildfires throughout the year. We’re committed to helping customers stay connected before, during and after wildfires.

Predicting exactly when and where a wildfire will strike is nearly impossible, but T-Mobile takes a variety of precautionary steps so we’re ready to respond immediately when the time comes. We work with forecasting company <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/tracking-historic-weather-conditions-with-stormgeo">StormGeo</a> to keep an eye out for “fire weather” — high winds, low humidity and dry conditions that might combine to create a perfect storm for a wildfire. And in case of commercial power outages, we make sure our cell sites have backup power. Some of our additional preparatory steps include:

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When wildfires wreak havoc in communities, T-Mobile engineering and emergency response teams take immediate action. Technicians make repairs where needed and bolster the network while support teams supply residents with the resources they need to stay connected with family and friends. Here’s how we help:

With a <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/emergency-response-equipment">rapid response fleet</a> that’s double in size. We now have more than 20 different types of response vehicles, including mobile command centers and satellite-capable trucks, that can maneuver through disaster zones more easily than bigger pieces of equipment.

When wildfires damage cell sites or structures, our engineering teams jumps into action to get things up and running again. They bring in the right equipment for recon and repair as soon as it’s safe to do so and work around the clock until everyone is back online.

<a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/dealing-with-disaster-season-2020">Community support teams</a> operate a dozen community support trucks and mobile store trailers, where people can plug into charging stations, connect to the network, or get cell phone chargers, cell phone cords, or pre-activated cell phones so they can let their loved ones know they’re okay.

How Customers Can Be Ready

There’s a lot you can do to protect your home against wildfires and prepare yourself and your family for a wildfire threat:

T-Mobile prepares for wildfire season all year long, and has recommendations for how customers can be ready too.

T-Mobile is Ready for Wildfires All Year Long | T-Mobile Newsroom

T-Mobile is Ready for Wildfires All Year Long

JayGoGuasch

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We hope it never happens. But when torrential rain and high winds beat on your windows or wildfire flames glow on the horizon, your only thought is to get your family to safety. That’s why being prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice is critical. It’s something the Un-carrier knows well.

T-Mobile’s network and engineering teams work around the clock to be ready to help customers, first responders, and communities during hurricane and fire season because we know how important it is to stay connected to the latest news alerts and loved ones. That’s why it’s just as important to take a few minutes now to put together a “Go Bag”. It will save precious time when disaster strikes.

A “Go Bag” is a disaster kit that ensures that you and your family have everything you may need in an emergency. The <a href="https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/survival-kit-supplies.html">American Red Cross</a> has curated a list of essential items to pack. Each “Go Bag” should include an emergency radio, water container, a personal hygiene kit, and first aid kit. Don’t forget to also pack any medications your family needs. Some of the other items to include are:

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There are many options for customers and the community to stay up to date on response and recovery efforts:

We hope it never happens. But when torrential rain and high winds beat on your windows or wildfire flames glow on the horizon, your only thought is to get

How to Pack an Emergency Go Bag | T-Mobile Newsroom

How to Pack an Emergency Go Bag

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Unless you are a professional race car driver you may not know what it means to go blazing fast. But everyday drivers in Norfolk, Va., are getting an idea—all while going the speed limit, of course. Check out our T-Mobile Speedtest® billboard.

Yes, those are real, live Speedtest results on the billboard! Seriously!

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T-Mobile’s 5G network is the largest and <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/most-reliable-5g-umlaut-july2021">most reliable</a>, and as these speeds show- it’s also <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/opensignal-5g-wins-fastest-coverage-places">FAST</a>.

These are actual 5G network speed tests using <a href="https://www.speedtest.net/apps">Speedtest by Ookla</a>® and are being run from identical S21 Galaxy phones with comparable plans on T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T. The tests are run every hour and the phones are securely housed at a nearby T-Mobile store on Virginia Beach Blvd. less than 1/10 of a mile away.

Because we didn’t just want to tell you we are fast. We wanted to show you we are fast. Pretty cool, huh? We’re pretty proud of these Norfolk speeds-- heck, even <a href="https://investor.t-mobile.com/news-and-events/t-mobile-us-press-releases/press-release-details/2021/T-Mobile-Continues-to-Take-the-5G-Crown-in-Latest-Network-Reports/default.aspx">PC Mag</a> said they were fast!

So, as you are driving around keep an eye out, you never know, there could be a Speedtest billboard coming to a neighborhood near you.             

5G: Capable device required; coverage not available in some areas. Some uses may require certain plan or feature; see T-Mobile.com. Most Reliable: According to an audit report conducted by independent third party umlaut containing crowdsourced data for user experience collected from January to July 2021. Full details at: <a href="http://www.umlaut.com/en/benchmarking/USA">www.umlaut.com/en/benchmarking/USA</a>. Speeds differ by location; T-Mobile's typical 5G download speeds in 2021 were 40-115Mbps with peaks over 1Gbps. PCMag, Fastest Mobile Networks 2021. Reprinted with permission. ©​ 2021 Ziff Davis, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Ookla trademarks used under license and reprinted with permission.

Unless you are a professional race car driver you may not know what it means to go blazing fast. But everyday drivers in Norfolk, Va., are getting an

Life in the Fast Lane: Introducing T-Mobile&#039;s First Live Speedtest Billboard | T-Mobile Newsroom

Life in the Fast Lane: Introducing T-Mobile&#8217;s First Live Speedtest Billboard

Oscar Meza

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You don’t have to be a race car driver to have blazing fast speeds.

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Life in the Fast Lane: Check out T-Mobile’s Live Speed Test Billboard

The king of chess helped make 'The Queen’s Gambit' a massive hit. And now the 13th World Champion wants to help make you a success too.

One of the few stories to rival the pandemic this past year has been the runaway success of the Netflix show that in itself ignited something of an epidemic — in chess. From its debut last October to its Golden Globes and more recent Emmy wins, <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80234304">The Queen’s Gambit</a> tells the unlikely tale of an orphan who combines rare skill and controlled substances to rise to the top of the chess world. And while a lot of attention has been bestowed upon actress Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays the main character, Beth Harmon, there’s a real-life chess Grandmaster who helped guide the gameplay itself: former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, himself a true wunderkind in the world of professional chess, the youngest player ever to earn the title of World Champion at the tender age of just 22.

As a technical consultant for The Queen’s Gambit — the titular name for the opening move that fuels Harmon’s success — Kasparov, now 58, lent his considerable expertise and know-how to make the actual chess games as believable as possible. (Spoiler alert: Um, it is! It’s also beautiful and riveting to watch.)

And now, with the online and app-based platform <a href="https://kasparovchess.com/" data-type="URL" data-id="https://kasparovchess.com/">Kasparovchess</a>, he wants to help make you a chess champion too.

“The goal of Kasparovchess is to make everyone love chess as much as I do,” says Kasparov. “Well, almost!”

Here he talks more about his behind-the-scenes role in The Queen’s Gambit, his own (albeit, unscripted) chess drama — and teaming up with the <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/t-mobile-tuesdays">T-Mobile Tuesdays</a> customer rewards program to offer a free three-month subscription to Kasparovchess starting October 19. What are you waiting for? It’s your move!

Until recently, you were the most famous chess champion in the world. Now, it’s possible the fictional Queen’s Gambit heroine Beth Harmon is, largely thanks to your help. How does it feel to imbue your mastery into this character? Have you enjoyed her success as much as your own?

It was a very enjoyable experience, even before the show became so popular — much to my surprise, by the way! It’s always annoying to see inaccurate and unrealistic portrayals of chess and chess players in movies and TV. For a show all about chess, it had to be better. Beth had to move and act like a chess master, and, thanks to Anya Taylor-Joy, she did.

The Queen’s Gambit becoming a huge hit has been great, because it’s great for chess. Beth Harmon has probably done more to promote the game, especially among girls, than all the real champions combined!

What aspects of Beth’s playing and experience is informed by your own?

What resonated with me is how obviously comfortable Beth is with chess, right from the start. I always said chess for me was like having a second native language. It just fit me perfectly. Beth Harmon is the same way. She was immediately captivated and with a limitless interest in the game.

Very much so, and having watched it as well with my family I can appreciate it even more as a work of art and entertainment, not just a vehicle to promote my beloved game. It’s genuinely funny and moving, and the look and feel of it as a period piece is also great.

In terms of awards, you recently replied to a tweet with humor: “I won 11 Chess Oscars, I can live without an Emmy!” A nice mix of a little hubris and a little humility — are those both qualities that fueled your success in the chess world?

It was being honest, since I don’t think they give Emmys to chess consultants! So it was kind of the team to thank me after their Golden Globes win. And yes, to get to the top of chess, or any other competitive endeavor, you have to believe in yourself unquestioningly — while still acknowledging you have more to learn.

The show did end up winning 11 Emmys — but more importantly, its success increased chess set sales by 125% in the weeks after its premiere. Which is the bigger accolade?

Well, money talks! How often does a TV show or movie have such an impact in the real world, especially a positive one like getting more people to play chess? It’s rare and impressive to create a character and story so compelling that people want to imitate them. Awards are nice, but creating a whole new generation of chess players and fans? That’s amazing.

Another memorable pop culture phenomenon you were central to was your series of matches against the chess-playing supercomputer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Blue_(chess_computer)">Deep Blue</a>. Did that experience shape your thoughts about technology, or on the flip side, humanity?

Absolutely, although it didn’t happen right away. I admit it, I’m a sore loser. I was angry and wanted a rematch. I had never lost a match before and I wasn’t in the mood for philosophy. But I quickly realized what an important milestone it was, and that my loss to a machine was still a win for humanity. Even if the cover of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/man-vs-machine-173038" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.newsweek.com/man-vs-machine-173038">Newsweek</a> called it “The Brain’s Last Stand”!

As I wrote in my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Thinking-Machine-Intelligence-Creativity/dp/161039786X" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Thinking-Machine-Intelligence-Creativity/dp/161039786X">Deep Thinking</a>, it made it very clear to me that we really need to focus on what I call the human-machine relationship, not see it as a competition. AI is augmented intelligence, it’s a tool that makes us smarter.

What is your own relationship to technology today? Are you an avid mobile phone user? Are there certain apps you’d recommend?

Like many people of a certain generation — that is, an older generation — I have some love-hate moments with new technology. But I also had a lesson decades ago, when chess programs and databases came along and changed everything for professional players. You either adapted and learned to use them well, or you were a dinosaur. I adapted then, and I try hard to embrace it now, too, including my phone. And I always have my teenage daughter to help me if I need it!

The phone apps I use most frequently are for productivity and communication. It’s really the hub of my working life, doing many things I used to do on my laptop. This is a huge boon for someone who travels as much as I do. I use Skype, Signal — and, of course, the Kasparovchess app!

Ah, yes — Kasparovchess! You recently launched this online chess-learning platform. Can you tell us a little bit about what it is, and the plans you have for it in the near future?

It’s a place to share the richness of the world of chess with others. So primarily it’s a community based around learning and enjoying chess as students of the game and as fans. There’s a lot of content, a place to play, and live events to watch and play in. Of course, my name is on it, and there’s also a lot about me and <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/-this-class-is-for-everybody-garry-kasparov-kicks-off-a-chess-masterclass-124260933600" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/-this-class-is-for-everybody-garry-kasparov-kicks-off-a-chess-masterclass-124260933600">my life in chess</a> within, including a new masterclass video series. We’re going to keep adding new video lessons and adding new events for members.

Can you explain a little about the exciting partnership you’re embarking on with T-Mobile and T-Mobile Tuesdays?

Well, I am delighted to give exclusive full-access to my new masterclass episodes, as well as a three-month free Pro subscription to my platform Kasparovchess.com to the T-Mobile Tuesdays customers. With the three-month free Pro subscription, T-Mobile customers will be able to learn from the best players in the world with video and audio lessons, watch documentaries about chess culture and play against players from all over the globe.

You’ve mentioned the idea of connecting chess to the American public — does this help do that? And what is the future for chess in America … and Kasparovchess?

America has a great chess tradition, even if many today don’t know about it. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Morphy">Paul Morphy</a> of New Orleans was the greatest player in the world in 1858. But somehow the game acquired a “nerdy” reputation that has been hard to shake, despite its popularity in pop culture and even with sports stars.

Chess isn’t difficult, it’s not only for geeky geniuses, and it’s a lot of fun. There’s a reason it has been around for so long all over the world, long before Harry Potter and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giannis_Antetokounmpo">Giannis Antetokounmpo</a> played it!

There is already a big chess renaissance going on in the U.S., mostly thanks to the <a href="https://saintlouischessclub.org/">Saint Louis Chess Club</a>. The U.S. won the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_Olympiad">Chess Olympiad</a> gold medal in 2016, and the last challenger for the World Championship was an American from Brooklyn. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabiano_Caruana">Fabiano Caruana</a>, not <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer">Bobby Fischer</a>!

You have to promote chess from the top and the bottom. Support elite players and events and also the grassroots, the kids and classrooms at the base. Kasparovchess does both.

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Save and redeem in the T-Mobile Tuesdays app by October 25, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. ET to receive a code valid for free access to Kasparovchess for 3 months plus exclusive access to the Garry Kasparov Masterclass. New subscribers only. Limit 1/Keysquare account. At the end of the 3-month trial, Kasparovchess subscription will auto renew at $9.99/mo. or $79.99/yr., unless cancelled. Offer cannot be combined with with any other offer, discounts, promotions, or previously existing subscriptions if customer has an existíng subscription. Offer is limited to one-time use.

Here Garry Kasparov talks about his behind-the-scenes role in The Queen’s Gambit, his own (albeit, unscripted) chess drama — and teaming up with the T-Mobile Tuesdays customer rewards program to offer a free three-month subscription to Kasparovchess starting October 19. What are you waiting for? It’s your move!

How You Can Learn Chess from Grandmaster Garry Kasparov | T-Mobile Newsroom

How You Can Learn Chess from Grandmaster Garry Kasparov

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A decorative continuation of our series comparing 5G networks using real-life objects

It’s Fall, y’all! And that means — pumpkin season. Pumpkin everything. From lattes to candles to deodorant … there’s even pumpkin spice toothpaste, for cryin’ out loud. It’s pretty much everywhere. Kinda like T-Mobile 5G.  

So, we decided to embrace the season by using pumpkins for our latest edition of If 5G Were. (You remember, where we use real life objects to illustrate just how much bigger our 5G network is.)

In fact, T-Mobile has the nation’s largest 5G network, covering nearly 2x more square miles than AT&T and 4x more than Verizon! And a recent <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/opensignal-5g-wins-fastest-coverage-places">third-party study</a> showed that T-Mobile customers get a 5G signal more often than anyone else … not just in the U.S., but in the WORLD!

But we know, it’s hard to grasp. Maps are cool, but it’s spooky season, and you know what’s cooler? A huge-ass pumpkin. So, we found the perfect pumpkin patch in Piedmont, Oklahoma, just outside Oklahoma City to help us tell that story. 

Weighing in at just over 1,400 pounds according to the Oklahoma Giant Pumpkin Growers Weighoff, The Great 5G is currently the largest pumpkin on display in Oklahoma. 

The Great 5G is large and in charge, just like the size our 5G network. 

5G: Capable device required; coverage not available in some areas. Some uses may require certain plan or feature; see <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="http://t-mobile.com/">T-Mobile.com</a>. Most Reliable: According to an audit report conducted by independent third party umlaut containing crowdsourced data for user experience collected from January to July 2021. Full details at: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="http://www.umlaut.com/en/benchmarking/USA">www.umlaut.com/en/benchmarking/USA</a>. Fastest: Based on​ average, overall combined 5G speeds according to Opensignal Awards –  <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.opensignal.com/reports/2021/10/usa/mobile-network-experience-5g">USA: 5G User Experience Report October 2021</a>, based on independent analysis of average speeds from mobile measurements recorded during the period June 14 – September 11, 2021 © 2021 Opensignal Limited

He's large and in charge... Meet The Great 5G Pumpkin #If5GWerePumpkins

If 5G Were ... Pumpkins | T-Mobile Newsroom

If 5G Were &#8230; Pumpkins

He&#039;s large and in charge... Meet The Great 5G Pumpkin #If5GWerePumpkins

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Award-winning chef, author and philanthropist Aarón Sánchez was the guest star for T-Mobile’s special Hispanic Heritage Month edition of its ongoing Talking with Trailblazers series, dishing about his cooking career, preserving his family legacy through food and planting seeds for the next generation of Latino chefs.

Aarón Sánchez can whip up a joke about his Latino heritage as masterfully as he does one of his famed dishes.

“Talking about how we live as Latinos,” the chef said, before delivering a punchline like a well-seasoned comedian: “I live with my 63-year-old uncle who does the laundry with Suavitel. We clean our floor with Fabuloso. You know what I mean?”

While the laughs in the room proved the audience appreciated Sánchez’s penchant for the lighthearted, when it comes to the importance of preserving his family’s legacy through food, and inspiring and supporting young Latino talent in the culinary world, he turns to the serious and the heartfelt.

“One of the things I get really charged about is our youth,” he said. “They are our most valuable commodity. How we treat our youth and how we influence them is so important. This industry has given me so much, I felt I had to give back.”

The award-winning chef, author and philanthropist was a guest speaker for T-Mobile’s most recent Talking with Trailblazers event, hosted by Jorge Martel, the company’s Vice President & General Manager, Puerto Rico, in front of fifty employees at its signature store in Miami.

Talking with Trailblazers invites diverse speakers on a number of culturally significant topics to inspire, educate and share, and this particular event was a special celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Throughout the month (Sept. 15 to Oct. 15), T-Mobile employees are able to donate to the <a href="https://un-carrier.benevity.org/campaigns/353">Hispanic Scholarship Fund</a> and get a 2:1 employee match, thanks to the T-Mobile Foundation. The event also encouraged any of the 1,800 remote viewers to join its Magenta Latinx Network employee resource group, which is already 3,500 members strong.

Sánchez discussed his cooking career as the current chef/owner of <a href="https://www.johnnysancheznola.com/">Johnny Sánchez</a> in New Orleans, a judge on FOX’s hit culinary competition series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterChef_(American_TV_series)">MasterChef</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterChef_Junior">MasterChef Junior</a>, and an author of two cookbooks, La Comida del Barrio and Simple Food, Big Flavor, as well as a memoir, Where I Come From: Life Lessons From a Latino Chef.

He also discussed how he is supporting other Latino chefs as the partner/creative director of <a href="https://www.chefaaronsanchez.com/cocina">Cocina</a>, the first online content platform dedicated to celebrating the Latin lifestyle through its vibrant culinary culture.

“I think we're living in a really exciting time where second generation Latinos especially are trying to get back to roots and I think it's real exciting,” he said. “And I think technology helps do that. Whether you’re capturing ingredients at a farmer’s market, whether you’re interviewing your abuela and having her tell you about her stories and her upbringing — that’s how you use the technology. That’s really powerful, I think.”

Sánchez also acknowledged how technology during this particular time has helped fuel people’s curiosity of what’s beyond the home environment, where many were isolated during the pandemic, and that’s in turn created a space for Latinos to do more research into their own heritage through home-cooked meals.

“People’s knowledge of the food has grown so much,” he explained. “And the pandemic has helped with that, actually. I think people have cooked a lot more at home. I think people are researching their food more. They're using the technology from T-Mobile. We were already in the foodie era, now I think we just got more food-ier. I think it's exciting time for the home cook.”

And an exciting time for those looking to become professional chefs, too, which is the idea behind the <a href="https://www.aaronsanchezscholarshipfund.com/">Aarón Sánchez Scholarship Fund (ASSF),</a> an initiative empowering aspiring chefs from the Latin community. ASSF provides recipients with full culinary scholarships to the International Culinary Center (ICC) in New York City and ongoing mentorship.

“I know it’s important to give back,” he said, citing his own mentors over the years, like chefs Douglas Rodriguez, Paul Prudhomme, Jonathan Waxman — and most of all, his mother, a chef who risked it all to follow her culinary dreams in New York City and sparked his initial interest in cuisine. “My industry has afforded me a beautiful life, and I would never imagine the things that I've seen and done. So, in order for me to do that, I have to thank my mentors and I have to make sure that I’m planting seeds for the next generation.”

Sánchez says his journey hasn’t been an easy road to success, but he acknowledges those who helped him, while also recognizing the unfair obstacles that he can now help remove for those next in line.

“It’s just this really exciting time right now,” he said optimistically. “Because when I started 25 years ago, I felt there was a huge discrepancy between Latinos getting executive positions in kitchens. We were dishwashers, we were prep people. We never got those big jobs. Our time has come.”

Have room for seconds? Well, you’re in luck! Also in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, check out this story about a cookbook of recipes from employees from T‑Mobile’s Consumer Group team: <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/hispanic-heritage-month-food-is-our-love-language">“Food Is Our Love Language.”</a>

Award-winning chef, author and philanthropist Aarón Sánchez was the guest on T-Mobile’s Hispanic Heritage Month edition of Talking with Trailblazers.

Chef Aarón Sánchez: “Our Time Has Come” | T-Mobile Newsroom

Chef Aarón Sánchez: “Our Time Has Come”

Shawna Ryan

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https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/chef-aaron-sanchez-our-time-has-come

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In one of the most diverse school districts in the country, T-Mobile partnered with school and city officials in Oakland to help close the Homework Gap.

Friday, March 13, 2020: The President of the United States declares a national emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak. That same afternoon, the superintendent of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in Oakland, Calif., declares that, starting the following Monday, OUSD’s 80 K-12 schools would cease in-person classes. The district’s 35,000 students would shift to distance learning through online classes and homework for at least the next month. And so began the most profound logistical challenge that Oakland school administrators had ever confronted.

In this city of 425,000 in Northern California’s San Francisco Bay Area, simply messaging the shift to families was complicated. With minority enrollment at 89% of the total student population, and Latinos accounting for 44%, Oakland USD is by far one of the most diverse school districts in America. Throughout the district, about 11,000 students, or 30%, are learning English for the first time. Half of all students speak one of more than 50 different languages at home.

In this city of 425,000 in Northern California’s San Francisco Bay Area, simply messaging the shift to families was complicated. With minority enrollment at 89% of the total student population, and Latinos accounting for 44%, Oakland USD is by far one of the most diverse school districts in America. Throughout the district, about 11,000 students, or 30%, are learning English for the first time. Half of all students speak one of more than 50 different languages at home.

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But communication wasn’t the only hurdle. At the time, says Susan Beltz, chief technology officer of OUSD, only 12% of Oakland’s 35,000 low-income students had a home internet connection.

Even among those who had the hardware, most still lacked the service to get online, leaving a huge disparity between those prepared with the tools for distance learning and those without. That disparity is an ongoing issue known as the Digital Divide — or in the context of school, the Homework Gap — and it plagues not only OUSD but school districts across the country. For Oakland schools and students, shifting to online-only classes was not as simple as just getting on Zoom. “The logistics were mind-boggling,” Beltz said.

She and Ali Medina, executive director of the Oakland Public Education Fund, charged ahead. They partnered with administrators across the district, plus officials from the City of Oakland. They all had the pandemic-incited emergency in mind, but they also saw the bigger picture. “We came together to say there's this huge need, and it’s essentially the issue of this generation and it's got to get solved,” Medina says. “We were all truly answering a call, and that includes T-Mobile, to do what's right. We have this technology, and we're going to get it into the hands of kids that need it.”

Recognizing that the problem is bigger than government or nonprofit agencies can address alone, T-Mobile has devoted immense resources to bridging the Digital Divide for years — and, with its Project 10Million, the Homework Gap. Announced in 2019 and launched the following year, T-Mobile’s Project 10Million has been providing schools with connectivity solutions for a year, and prior to that with its smaller-scale EmpowerED campaign, so the company already had a relationship with Oakland USD and the Oakland Public Education Fund, the nonprofit that fundraises and serves as a fiscal sponsor for OUSD.

But COVID upped the urgency. The key to bridging Oakland’s Homework Gap would be to scale up — and to do it faster than anyone imagined possible. An early donation from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to what became known as the #OaklandUndivided campaign paid for thousands of new tablets and laptops for students. But there was no service for the devices. “And here came T-Mobile like a knight in shining armor,” Medina said with a laugh.

T-Mobile and OUSD’s partnership had begun on a much smaller scale. In this new scenario, every aspect expanded. Beltz and Medina convened weekly meetings between district administrators, city officials and T-Mobile staff. Day after day, week after week, they stayed in touch with dozens of staffers in disparate organizations and departments.

“We were having these recurring conversations about, you know, when are the hotspots coming in? And when they arrive do you want us to install the SIM cards or do you want to do it? And how are we tracking all this stuff and how do we know when a line should be shut down because the device got lost and there's no longer any usage?” said Beltz. “It was a lot of in-depth work to make sure that these devices were going out to kids and being used by kids and were well supported, and being replaced and reissued when they needed to be. The vendor partnership with T-Mobile has been amazing because once the contract was signed it wasn’t just like, ‘OK, we’re going to ship a bunch of devices and we’re off to our next customer!’”

Together, #OaklandUndivided procured and distributed tens of thousands of wireless devices, including hotspots, tablet and laptops, plus service plans to get them all up and running in classrooms and private homes across Oakland. It took months, even at warp speed. And the partnership has not only weathered a year of remote learning, it’s ongoing in the new school year. Now almost every student in the district can get online — Beltz and Medina say that Project 10Million has helped improve the connectivity rate from 12% to 98%. But the challenge is never ending.

“There's always that next student that just moved to Oakland and is enrolling,” Beltz says. “And even if they're attending school in person, you still want to make sure that the Homework Gap and the Digital Divide continue to be solved."

“I’ve spent my entire career in tech,” she continues, “and the term ‘Digital Divide’ has existed since the ‘90s. The fact that it has such tremendous urgency in 2021 shows where things are and this tremendous opportunity gap between people who have connectivity and devices and people who don’t. I think there’s real recognition on the part of education leaders and city leaders to say, ‘This is not acceptable for our kids.’”

With Project 10Million running full steam ahead in Oakland (and with T-Mobile already connecting a total of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/ceo-mike-sievert-project-10million" target="_blank">3 million students</a> across the U.S.)

Medina is especially excited about continuing this work during Hispanic Heritage Month. She emphasizes her own Latina heritage to make a crucial point. “Project 10Million did a huge service for our students of color,” she says. “The pandemic exacerbated the problems that exist because of the difference between the haves and the have-nots. But what it really did was prompt all of us to dig deep and say, ‘We’re going to serve low-income students and students of color who are low income to make sure that they have equal access and equity in the educational space. It was a major step forward, a shot across the bow, that ‘we’re going to take equity and turn it around. We’re not going to let this disparity continue to separate kids and their ability to learn. Because that’s the way you have economic mobility and success in the world in which we live. We want everybody to have equal access to opportunities.”

To learn more about T-Mobile’s Project 10Million or to register your school district for the program, visit <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.t-mobile.com%2Fp10m&data=04%7C01%7CLisa.Belot%40t-mobile.com%7Ca44babf753534129bef308d97c710934%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637677647195659135%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=c6SbL%2BqVNdQtJN6IsK%2FdIPFNaCWstuA0cCrZqOJ8VBk%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.t-mobile.com/p10m</a>. If you’re the parent or guardian of an eligible student, you can register at <a href="http://www.t-mobile.com/project10million" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.t-mobile.com/project10million.</a>

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, T-Mobile is spotlighting the Oakland Unified School District and the partnerships – including Project 10Million – they’ve engaged to get their largely Hispanic student population connected.

A Big Step Across the Digital Divide: T-Mobile’s Project 10Million Connects 35,000 Oakland Students | T-Mobile Newsroom

A Big Step Across the Digital Divide: T-Mobile’s Project 10Million Connects 35,000 Oakland Students

Jess Dillon

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T-Mobile’s Project 10Million Connects 35,000 Oakland Students

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/p10m-hhm2021

Here at T-Mobile, the idea of “caring for our customers” is woven into the very fabric of the company, from our mission statement to our values to our actions. This last year alone was filled with a number of company-wide milestones that made us proud! We were recognized as #5 in Top Employers’ Response to the Pandemic by Forbes and JUST Capital, received a 100% score in the Disability Equality Index and made $100 million in direct and in-kind donations to support local communities — just to name a few. Though we are excited about these achievements, we realize that a <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility">company's work is never done</a>, and we're just getting started in our goal of contributing to a better tomorrow.

With such a <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/category/community">wide variety of issues</a> that matter to us, it can be difficult to properly share a comprehensive view of our charitable causes. However, as published in our <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/2020-corporate-responsibility-report">most recent Corporate Responsibility Report</a>, our primary focus has been on three important areas: bridging the digital divide, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) and contributing to a thriving planet.

We designed this quiz to see if we’re contributing to a cause that matters to you. It’s a day in the life adventure where the seemingly simple choices you make as you navigate an otherwise unassuming rainy day can reveal so much!

We’ll catch up with you at the end, where you’ll be awarded a special charitable title and learn a bit more information about our companywide efforts along the way!

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Choosing where to put your philanthropic efforts can be difficult when there are so many important causes out there that need our help! Walk through this “day in the life” quiz, and we bet we can guess the charitable cause that matters most to you. (It’s undoubtedly near and dear to T-Mobile’s magenta heart, too!)

Quiz: What Type of Conscious Consumer Are You? Let Us Guess! | T-Mobile Newsroom

Quiz: What Type of Conscious Consumer Are You? Let Us Guess!

Liz Habersham

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Stories & Blogs

“Disasters All Have the Same Backbone”

T‑Mobile is Ready for Wildfires All Year Long

How to Pack an Emergency Go Bag

Life in the Fast Lane: Introducing T‑Mobile’s First Live Speedtest Billboard

How You Can Learn Chess from Grandmaster Garry Kasparov

If 5G Were … Pumpkins

Chef Aarón Sánchez: “Our Time Has Come”

A Big Step Across the Digital Divide: T‑Mobile’s Project 10Million Connects 35,000 Oakland Students

Quiz: What Type of Conscious Consumer Are You? Let Us Guess!

The Heart of the Matter

Disability Awareness Starts with All of Us — and Benefits All of Us

Hispanic Heritage Month: “Food Is Our Love Language”