Digital Inclusion Partnerships – The Impact of Collaboration
August 7 – 9:00 am to 9:45 am
Plaza Court 8
Melanie Colletti, Digital Equity Manager for Colorado’s Office of the Future of Work, will facilitate a panel of leaders from community-based organizations that have contributed to the creation of Colorado’s Digital Access Plan. While BEAD funding provides expansion of broadband infrastructure, the Digital Equity Act simultaneously funds adoption by ensuring device access, digital skills training, and identifying affordable internet service for all.
Colorado invested almost half of its planning funds back into communities to hear directly from individuals impacted by digital exclusion. By connecting with the organizations working with members of the covered populations identified in the Digital Equity Act, the Digital Equity Team has built relationships that will help ensure the state’s ability to create a digital inclusion ecosystem that gets folks connected and teaches them how to achieve their goals online. The success of recent historic federal infrastructure investments cannot be achieved without adoption.
Representatives from Bridging Digital Divides, Innovations in Aging Collaborative, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Denver Indian Center, and iSAFE will share their experiences supporting Colorado’s Digital Equity Team in data gathering and public comment, and several clients of these organizations will also join the conversation.
Speakers
Farduus Ahmed
International Survivors and Families Empowered (iSAFE): Executive Director/Founder
Trey Grimes
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance: Theatre/Technical Director
Erin Maruzzella
Innovations in Aging Collaborative: Executive Director