Building for Digital Equity Podcast

In this episode of the B4DE Podcast, Chris talks with Abraham Camez, a digital navigator at Hoopa Valley's Acorn Wireless ISP, about the impact of the Affordable Connectivity Program's end. With 40% of Acorn Wireless's customers facing potential disconnection, including 80 individuals helped by Abe, they explore the challenges and hopeful stories amid the uncertainty, highlighting the importance of ongoing efforts to address digital equity.

This episode of the Building for Digital Equity Podcast features Dr. Shaun Glaze, Research Director, and Chris Webb, Digital Equity Lead, from the Black Brilliance Research Project in Seattle, Washington. They discuss the project's roots in response to George Floyd's tragedy in 2020 and their unique research approach, emphasizing the transformative power of connectivity in uplifting marginalized communities.

Our Building for Digital Equity podcast series is back with an insightful conversation with Pierrette Renée Dagg, Director of Research for the MERIT Network in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Pierrette discusses the importance of using research to inform community engagement and digital equity strategies, as well as the use of community-facing research methods like surveys and qualitative/quantitative analysis. She also highlights the importance of considering broader systemic issues that should be taken into account when forming digital equity strategies.

Ebony Cooksie is the Market Development Manager and Government Affairs Coordinator for NextLink Internet and we talked at Net Inclusion about how she transitioned from working in education to digital equity. With so many people new to this field, transitioning often from health and medical fields, we thought it would be helpful to talk about the transition.

Dave Sevick, Executive Director at Computer Reach in Pittsburgh, has taken his experience helping people with devices and supercharged it for digital equity work. Computer Reach refurbishes computers and sends digital navigators into the home in both urban and rural areas, which is an interesting challenge that many have not attempted. We talk about how they are funded and why they often use Linux-powered devices, among many other topics.

Marvin Venay is the Chief Advocacy Officer for Tech Goes Home in Boston, a digital equity organization that has been building tech skills and working on the digital divide for longer than most. Sean Gonsalves talks with him about their process, how they continued to thrive even after the BTOP money dried up years ago, navigating the pandemic, expanding further into Massachusetts, and their future plans.

Brandon Forester is the National Organizer for Internet Rights at Media Justice. We talk about organizing for digital equity and more specifically Brandon's vision for communities having agency over how technology shows up in their neighborhoods and digital communities. We discuss how Media Justice came to prioritize prison phone justice, what organizing is and how local solutions may differ in different communities, and the need to avoid purity politics in doing this work.

Laura Breeden, board member of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, joins us to talk about the beginning of NDIA - which happened in a bar among friends, along with most other good ideas. We also talk about what progress has been made on digital inclusion and reflect on some of the deeper history of the Internet and digital inclusion, going back to the early 1990's.

Ini Augustine is a technologist who was ready to organize with her community to improve access to computers and Internet access when the pandemic hit and many low-income neighborhoods in Minneapolis and Saint Paul were cut off from education and other resources. More recently, she organized the Black Broadband Summit and the Family Broadband Coalition. We talk about her work and the promise and challenge of forming a cooperative to bring better Internet access to people who have been abandoned by traditional business models. Related Links: https://www.projectnandi.com/ https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/century-link-internet-speed-minneapolis-redlining-black-brown-broadband/ https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/09/23/as-classrooms-go-online-theres-more-to-the-digital-divide-than-who-gets-a-hotspot https://www.blackbroadbandsummit.com/

Jessica Strom, Digital Inclusion Manager for Opportunity Home - the Public Housing Authority of San Antonio, shares the challenges of digital inclusion on their many properties as well as leaving us with exciting success stories of how people landed well-paying jobs after completing their courses. We also discuss the challenges for housing residents to avoid scams and the importance of free Wi-Fi to be ready if ACP runs out.

Sean Gonsalves interviews Deb Socia, President and CEO of the Enterprise Center, about Chattanooga's remarkable municipal fiber network, which began offering free, high-speed service to thousands of low-income families during the pandemic under a program called HCS EdConnect. They go on to talk about one of Sean's favorite slogans, "If it isn't affordable, it isn't access." And finally, they discuss some advice for people newly joining digital equity work.

Bill Callahan, Executive Director of Connect Your Community, joins Christopher Mitchell to talk about some of the history of digital equity and the before-times that led to the formation of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. We also discuss Cleveland and later NE Ohio more specifically after exploring how Internet access has changed in the area since their landmark report, "AT&T’s digital redlining of Cleveland."

Sean Gonsalves speaks with Dwight Thomas, who build the first citywide municipal fiber network in Texas in Mont Belvieu. They talk about Mont Belvieu as well as the importance of engaging the community and how to make sure people can use the network once it is built. Dwight also discusses his passion for discipleship and sharing his knowledge.

At the time of this interview at Net Inclusion, Aneta Lee was wrapping up her FUSE Corps Fellowship with the city of Birmingham in Alabama. We talk about the FUSE Corps Fellowship and her time at the city of Birmingham. Aneta discusses the ACP outreach campaign she put together and where she sees her future taking her - HINT, it could be to your community if you act fast!

Susan Corbett is the Executive Director of the National Digital Equity Center and has long been involved in policy around Internet access and digital equity both in Maine and across the United States. Susan and I chatted at Net Inclusion about how she got going in this space in 2005 as the owner of a small ISP in rural Maine.

Emma Gautier interviews Kim Ilinon and Ella Silvas, two Interactive Media Design students from the University of Washington-Bothell, after they presented their lightning talk at Net Inclusion. Ella and Kim discuss their path into digital equity from a design background, including the Dear Digital Equity web site, and what they have learned about who is doing digital equity work in Washington state.

Mikhail Sundust is the Digital Connect Initiative (DCI) Executive Director for the Digital Connect Initiative at GRTI - Gila River Telecommunications Incorporated. GRTI has offered telecommunications and now high-quality Internet access to the reservation (and beyond with subsidiaries) for more than 30 years. We talk about lessons DCI has learned along its digital equity path, including making sure people have the basic digital skills needed to build more advanced skills and confidence. They developed a "bring your own device" program for learning and have crafted their programs to work well with elders. We also discuss how other Tribal telecom companies are starting to incorporate digital equity planning into their work.

As she'll note in the beginning of this interview with Sean Gonsalves, Gina Birch loves her job as Program Coordinator at the Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center in Cleveland, Ohio. She discusses the remarkable transition in Cleveland from a city lagging in digital equity metrics to one toward the top of its game. They discuss the Affordable Connectivity Plan, ACP, and some of the challenges associated with the digital divide. Finally, they discuss some of the lessons they have taken from the Net Inclusion conference.

Our interview with Margaret Kaufer, President of the New York-based STEM Alliance about their digital equity efforts. We talk about lessons they have learned in delivering low-cost Internet access to people in Yonkers and beyond. They gave a wireless CBRS network a long workout but recently retired it and embraced signing households up for the Affordable Connectivity Program.

This is a placeholder for the beginning of this podcast series, which will start after Net Inclusion 2023 in San Antonio.