Tomorrow, Gigi Sohn – one of the nation's premier broadband-for-all advocates and Executive Director of the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) – will join ILSR's Community Broadband Networks team and an emerging network of local digital inclusion champions in San Antonio to delve into what it takes to create an ecosystem for digital opportunity.

Hosted by the Digital Inclusion Alliance of San Antonio (DIASA) and the Texas Digital Equity Network (Texas DEN), the free event - "Eco-Bytes: Weaving the Digital Opportunity Web" - will be held on June 27, 2024 at the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) headquarters beginning at 8 am.

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Similar to other ILSR Urban Digital Bootcamps in other cities across the nation, the agenda is packed with informative content designed to support community leaders working to close the digital divide in San Antonio.

The day will include interactive activities and opportunities for engaging conversations, as well as a fireside chat with Gigi and Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director and event co-organizer Christopher Mitchell.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to visit San Antonio and the growing network of connectivity champions doing the important advocacy work for telecommunication policies and infrastructure investments that promote a healthy democracy and a just society," Sohn said.

“It’s vital that we foster community centric solutions that ensure everyone has access to the technologies necessary to fully participate in our society, our economy, our health care and education systems."

Event Highlights:

In case you missed it, on Monday we streamed our second Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) event of the year. The focus this time: "Pathways To Affordable Connectivity" in the absence of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

You can watch the livestream in its entirety below.

As expected, the agenda delivered a number of gems for those working in the trenches to bridge the digital divide.

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Co-hosted once again by Pamela Rosales with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and Director for the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative Christopher Mitchell, #B4DE began with a concise and candid acknowledgement of the moment: namely, the collapse of the ACP.

However, despite the challenge the loss of that program poses, #B4DE offered a lineup of digital inclusion practitioners providing a grounds-eye view of how they and their organizations are continuing the work of knocking down affordability barriers.

The three lightning round speakers covered devices and the creation of "device ecosystems." Attendees heard from Dave Sevick, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania-based Computer Reach; Ashley Martinez, Digital Equity Manager with Free Geek in Portland, OR; and Scot Henley, Executive Director of Digitunity based in North Conway, NH. Click on their names below to see their slide decks.

On a map, the Crenshaw District is a 2.9 square-mile neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles, home to nearly 30,000 mostly black residents.

In the popular imagination, Crenshaw is the backdrop for the Oscar-nominated movie "Boyz In the Hood" – the real life neighborhood that cultivated the likes of former Los Angeles Mayor Thomas Bradley; rappers-turned-actors Ice Cube and Ice T; and the late rapper/entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle.

But on the streets of Crenshaw, a transformative vision is unfolding – an initiative local leaders describe as “a reparative development project.”

The idea is to inspire and empower neighborhood residents with strategic investments rather than displace them through gentrification. The effort is being led by Destination Crenshaw, a nonprofit community organization established in 2017 to celebrate the history and culture of Black Los Angeles.

The most visible part of the vision is to create the largest Black public art project in the nation along Crenshaw Boulevard, the 1.3 mile spine of the neighborhood – or what Destination Crenshaw describes as an “open air museum” centered around “pocket parks” and a “comprehensive streetscape design” that will feature commissioned murals and sculptures from local Black artists.

As FCC Chair Jessica Ronsenworcel this week lamented the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the next Building For Digital Equity event is ready to address the now-what question.

Slated for June 10 from 3 to 4:15 PM ET, the upcoming #B4DE will focus on “Pathways To Affordable Connectivity” and will serve up plenty of food-for-thought and actionable intel for those working in the trenches to bridge the digital divide.

While the event is free and will be livestreamed, attendees should register here in advance for full access.

Co-hosted by Pamela Rosales with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and Christopher Mitchell – Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) – the agenda for the popular virtual gathering is now locked and loaded.

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It will begin with lightning round presentations that will each highlight the crucial importance of getting devices into the hands of those who have a hard time affording them, as well as those who don’t feel they have the digital skills necessary to use them.

Next week an array of public interest groups, federal lawmakers, FCC officials, and digital equity advocates will converge on the Shaw/Watha T. Daniel Library in the nation’s capital for an Affordable Connectivity Program Rally.

Organized by Public Knowledge, Civic Nation, National Hispanic Media Coalition, National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), Digital Progress Institute, and Broadband Breakfast, the event will be held on April 30 beginning at 11:30 AM ET and will highlight the importance of the ACP and what happens if Congress allows the popular subsidy program to expire.

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They will be joined by U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, and FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks as the rally aims to bolster the chances of a discharge petition making its way to a House floor vote to extend the ACP in the face of reluctant GOP leadership.

The rally will be livestreamed by Broadband Breakfast here.

With the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) upon us, digital inclusion practitioners are encouraged to save the date for the second Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) event of the year.

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 be held on June 10, 2024 from 3 to 4:15 PM ET.

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Coming on the heels of our last B4DE event in March, the theme for this installment will be “Pathways to Affordable Connectivity.”

It will feature an informative agenda that focuses on what digital equity advocates across the nation are doing to address broadband affordability and the pressing need for creating sustainable solutions for communities. 

You can register for the event here.

As with the previous #B4DE events, the June live stream will once again be sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber and co-hosted by NDIA’s Pamela Rosales and ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director Christopher Mitchell.

Our Building for Digital Equity podcast series is back.

Featuring short interviews with digital inclusion practitioners from across the nation, we are set to launch a brand new season that focuses on the frontline work to expand Internet access, address affordability, and help provide the digital skills and devices necessary to fully participate in a digital world.

The first episode of 2024 features 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.

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Our regular followers may recall her appearance on Episode 449 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast back in March of 2021 where she and John Egelhaaf share the history of efforts in Berrien County, Michigan, and how a group of residents and local officials first began pursuing better Internet connectivity.

Today, the first Building for Digital Equity livestream of the year will begin at 3 PM ET. The entire event will zoom in on the imminent end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) with the lineup of speakers sharing on-the-ground perspectives and approaches being adopted at the community level as they work to keep financially-strapped households connected beyond ACP.

Last minute registration are still being accepted to fill up the last few seats for the virtual gathering here.

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Here’s the run-of-show:

NDIA’s Amy Huffman will set the table on where things stand with the ACP wind down process before two lightning rounds take center screen.

For the first lightning round Margaret Käufer, President of The STEM Alliance, will give an overview on the short and long-term community work her organization is doing in upstate New York in the face of ACP’s demise. That will be followed by Jason Inofuentes, Program Manager for the Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Office in Albemarle County, VA, who will spotlight an ACP supplement program his office is pursuing and how they see things moving forward.

Bringing together a nationwide cross-section of leading digital inclusion practitioners, the first Building For Digital Equity (#B4DE) livestream of the year is set to zoom in on the imminent end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

Co-hosted by the ILSR's Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the popular (and free) virtual gathering will focus on “Life After ACP” – as the FCC continues to wind down the program with the $14.2 billion fund on track to run out of money by the end of April.

Set for March 20, 2024 from 3 to 4:15 PM ET, the lineup of speakers will share on-the-ground perspectives and approaches being adopted at the community level as they work to keep financially-strapped households connected beyond ACP.

While virtual seats for #B4DE fills up fast, registration is still open here.

Here’s the run-of-show:

NDIA’s Amy Huffman will set the table on where things stand with the ACP wind down process before two lightning rounds take center screen.