Just two months into 2023, Community Tech Network has been able to start the year strong. We are building relationships with new partners and continuing to work alongside our current ones to advance the fight for digital equity. We’re honored to have your support, and we’re excited to share some of our recent updates with you.
CTN recently offered its digital navigator training to 17 high school juniors and seniors who are volunteering within the San Francisco Public Library system. To provide this unique training, we customized our already-existing LibraryLIFT capacity-building solution (designed for librarians and adult volunteers) to create a format better suited to youth. Youth volunteers have been trained across nine library branches, and the two digital navigators at the Main Library alone recently served 122 people in a 30-day span! Read more about this training and its success.
Community Tech Network is thrilled to be named one of 22 national nonprofits to receive a grant through the Alliant Quarter Million Dollar Challenge. CTN was chosen as a grant recipient since our work aligns with the Alliant Foundation’s mission “to provide reliable broadband, digital literacy resources and technology equipment for underserved communities including rural, digitally-challenged and under-resourced populations.” Read more about the grant.
COMMUNITY TECH NETWORK SPOTLIGHT
BEN BOONE: PREDICTING AND BUDGETING FOR CTN’S GROWTH
CTN has grown exponentially in the past few years, and we plan to continue expanding. Ben Boone, CTN’s Finance and Administration Director, is excited to help lead these efforts. He says: “I love forecasting and future growth budgeting. This ensures that we can grow and create efficiencies while staying financially stable so that we can serve more people.” Learn more about Ben.
STAY INFORMED
- What Is Digital Redlining and How Does It Perpetuate Poverty? Internet service providers, or ISPs, often intentionally underinvest in low-income, minority communities, assuming that they will earn larger profits in wealthier neighborhoods that lack diversity. In such cases, low-income areas have less digital infrastructure and slower internet speeds, but residents often pay the same price for internet services. This discriminatory practice is known as digital redlining. Read our blog to learn more about digital redlining, how it prevents upward economic mobility, and what can be done to address the issue.
- Digital Mythbusting: Why Smartphones Are Not Enough to Bridge the Digital Divide. Imagine that you’re a high school student writing a 10-page essay on your phone. How difficult is it to switch between all the tabs on your browser that contain your research? How long will it take you to type all of the content using your phone’s little keyboard? Some 15% of Americans are smartphone dependent, meaning that they do not have reliable home internet to supplement their cell phone coverage. In our blog post, the first installation in a digital myth busting series, learn why this is a problem.
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