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Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Coalition Building Success Takes Center Screen On B4DE Livestream
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As Digital Inclusion Week 2024 swings into action, frontline digital inclusion practitioners from across the nation will come together for a timely Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) livestream event today that focuses on “Coalition Building for Success.”
The popular (and free) virtual gathering – co-hosted by Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) – will go live today from 3 to 4:15 PM ET.
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For Digital equity advocates or interested guests who have yet register for the event, there is still time to register here.
The third #B4DE of the year will delve into how coalitions are finding success in pushing the digital equity movement forward as Digital Equity Act grant programs are being established.
The keynote speaker for today’s livestream will be Georgia Savage, Deputy Director of #OaklandUndivided, who helped lead the way in securing $38.5 million in grant funding that will expand broadband infrastructure and distribute Internet-connected devices to thousands of low-income households across East and West Oakland, California.
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Savage, who we have written about here and here, will share hard-won lessons on how a cross-sector digital equity coalition organized to secure grant funding to bring high-speed Internet connectivity to 14 community anchor institutions (CAIs), nine public safety buildings and thousands of unserved and underserved addresses that until now had been left on the wrong side of the digital divide.
Sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber and co-hosted by NDIA’s Pamela Rosales and ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director Christopher Mitchell, the livestream will also feature Samantha Musgrave, Director of Development & Strategic Partnerships for Project Waves in Baltimore, Maryland. Musgrave will share with #B4DE attendees how Project Waves built a coalition that was able to bring high-speed Internet service to low-income housing developments at no cost to residents.
Before the main speakers take center screen, however, lightning round presentations will focus on a variety of coalition-building underway across the nation from digital equity advocates working in the trenches in three communities.
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Davida Delmar, Digital Inclusion Manager at AMERIND Critical Infrastructure (ACI), will offer insights on her digital inclusion work across Indian County; Jordan Davis, Executive Director of Smart Columbus, will share how Smart Columbus is working with the Franklin County Digital Equity Coalition to administer $20.2 million in grant funding to improve Internet access and digital literacy in and around the capital of Ohio; and Monique Tate, Co-Director of Community Tech New York (CTNY), will talk about the collaborative work CTNY is doing with city and state officials to push “community centered” digital equity.
The livestream will be available (and later archived) on Facebook, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn with live viewer questions answered by the invited speakers and presenters.
We recommend viewing it on YouTube where the live chat will be most engaging. Other questions can be submitted using the #B4DE hashtag on X.
Watch the livestream below:
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