It’s Digital Inclusion Week 2023! Hosted by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), Digital Inclusion Week is an annual celebration of the incredible work digital inclusion organizations are doing across the country to connect the 20% of households that still lack broadband.
Network:On proudly participated by showcasing powerful stories of digital adoption and working with NDIA on a webinar to help organizations tell their digital inclusion stories.
The Divide Podcast
Kicking off the week, Light Reading’s The Divide podcast released a special episode on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). In the episode, host Nicole Ferraro featured digital navigators from across the county to hear about how their efforts, along with the ACP, are connecting communities.
Guests included Natali Betancur and Tiffany White from the Center for Digital Equity and Queens University Charlotte (Charlotte, NC), Candace Browdy and Elizabeth Ramirez from ConnectLakeCounty (Waukegan, IL), and Maddie Long from the City of Little Rock Mayor’s Office (Little Rock, AR).
In emphasizing the importance of the ACP, Candace Browdy spoke about her experience “helping educate residents on what the ACP is and how that $30/month benefit can be instrumental in helping them get home internet. Many people will say that they have access to the internet, but it’s only on their phones. And so, so much of what we did was educate people on, you really could get internet at home.”
These conversations with especially timely given projections that the ACP will run out of funding in early 2024. As Tiffany White explained, “the more and more we continue to sign people up, the more we can let the government see that there are still people that we need to help, there are still people out here that that need to be connected. So if we continue to sign people up, and they can continue to see that there are people we need to assist, hopefully, it won’t go away.”
How to Tell Your Story WebinarNetwork:On partnered with the Glen Echo Group and NDIA to present “How to Tell Your Story,” a webinar for digital inclusion professionals on how to communicate about their impactful work. Presenters Lauren Gaydos, Dani Leopold, and Yvette Scorse discussed the importance of compelling and effective storytelling. The interactive webinar allowed participants to discuss their organization’s audiences – from community leaders to local policymakers to libraries and senior centers—and share what they’re most proud of this Digital Inclusion Week. One participant said they’re most proud of recently connecting their 300th family to ACP which is certainly a story worth telling! Watch the full webinar below:
