In SSPI's new Accelerate Change podcast series, sponsored by SES, we explore how creative collaboration is transforming the pace of innovation across the space and satellite industry. SES is championing a new era - one where partnerships, agile technologies, and bold ideas are breaking old cycles and building a more connected future. Through conversations with leaders in cloud, telecommunications, sustainability, and space infrastructure, we dive into the stories shaping the next frontier of global connectivity.

What if your phone could connect to space? Not with a bulky terminal, but with the device already in your hand, wherever you are, no matter the infrastructure on the ground?

In this first episode of the series, we hear from Amy Mehlman, Executive Vice President and Chief Global Affairs Officer at Lynk Global. Amy has shaped telecom and space policy for nearly thirty years - from Congress to the FCC, from multinationals to NewSpace startups. Today, she's helping guide a company that's redefining who can connect and how, through a new model of global access. In this episode, Amy and SSPI's Tamara Bond-Williams explore how unmodified mobile phones can connect directly to satellites: no towers or special hardware needed.

Amy Mehlman is EVP and Chief Global Affairs officer at Lynk Global. She is a senior telecommunication professional with nearly three decades hands-on experience helping innovative companies secure favorable public policies, government contracts and secure market access by working with government representatives, industry partners, and multilateral NGOs.

Most recently, Mehlman worked as VP for Global Affairs and Stakeholder Relations at E-Space Inc. where she led global policy efforts shaping the rapidly growing non-geostationary satellite market, successfully-pursued government contracts, obtained market access, spearheaded partnerships, and oversaw legislative efforts. Prior to that Amy served as VP of U.S. Government Affairs and Global Policy at Viasat, leading their domestic and international policy efforts on satellite licensing, space safety and equitable access to spectrum. Earlier in her career, Amy was Founder and President of a successful boutique telecommunications public policy firm (Mehlman Capitol Strategies) representing over 30 companies before the U.S. Congress, FCC & Executive Branch. Amy began her career at the prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm Wiley, Rein & Fielding where she represented leading wireless, satellite, telecom equipment and broadcast companies before the US Congress and Administration.