ZeroDivide Receives Stimulus Funding to Foster New Generation of Technology Adopters in Underserved Youth and Tribal Communities

[Source: ZeroDivide, August 18, 2010]

ZeroDivide was today awarded $2,070,399 in two grants from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Vice-President Joe Biden announced the grants as part of 94 Recovery Act investments in federal broadband projects in 37 states.

ZeroDivide’s first grant of $1,384,242 will help to create a new generation of youth technology users within underserved communities in California,  Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington states. The second grant of $686,157 will be used to quadruple broadband adoption rates within the 19 Native American reservations that encompass the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association (SCTCA). Broadband adoption rates for American  Indians are currently the lowest of any ethnic group within the continental United States.

ZeroDivide, a cutting-edge public foundation which supports technology adoption and capacity-building in underserved communities, received the $2,070,399 in NTIA funding through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.

The “Generation ZD Digital Literacy Program” targets low-income, minority, disabled, and otherwise underserved youth between the ages of 5-25, who have limited or no access to digital and information technology in the home. These young people will be served through a three-prong approach of a digital literacy skills curriculum; an online content creation and distribution program; and capacity-building and sustainability efforts at community anchor institutions within each participant state.

“Our increasingly complex and technology-driven world exacerbates the social and economic inequalities that affect underserved young people,” said Tessie Guillermo, President and CEO of ZeroDivide. “Access issues like cost and lack of relevant content combine with social issues such as race and cultural incompetence to create huge barriers to broadband adoption. We are proud that the Federal Government has chosen ZeroDivide as a partner in lifting these barriers and opening up opportunity to the young people who are in greatest need.”

Working in partnership with 7 community anchor institutions across 6 western states, ZeroDivide will train new broadband users, build replicable best practices digital media curricula, and provide technical assistance and capacity-building support.

Said Cece Hughley Noel, Executive Director of Community Anchor Institution Portland Community Media, located in Portland, Oregon, “We are extremely excited to partner with ZeroDivide and bring this program to underserved youth in Multnomah and Washington Counties. We have something tangible to offer African-American and Latino young people who are on the other side of the digital divide.”

Through the “Tribal Digital Village Broadband Adoption Program,” ZeroDivide will work with SCTCA to implement a four-prong broadband adoption strategy which encompasses an outreach and public awareness campaign; basic digital literacy skills training; advanced content creation training; and sustainability. The proposed program is expected to raise broadband adoption among SCTCA’s 8,900 Tribal community members from the current 17% baseline to over 70%. It will also augment deployment of a residential broadband 
network to 2,000 Tribal homes. The National Congress of American Indians estimates that only 5-8% of Native Americans living on reservations has residential broadband access.
“Tribal members must have affordable, sustainable access to broadband technology to meet basic education, health, and vocational needs,” said Ms. Guillermo. “Geographic isolation and cultural barriers make tribal communities particularly vulnerable to disparities in broadband deployment and adoption. Federal stimulus funding is essential in enabling ZeroDivide and SCTCA to address these critically important disparities.”

With more than a decade of funding successful programs, ZeroDivide will provide TDV with technical assistance and capacity building to guide the implementation in support of sustained technology usage and ongoing adoption.  ZeroDivide‘s strategy will go beyond affordability and network access to include a revenue-generating component to create a self- sustainable  enterprise capable of building a consumer market for future broadband services and applications.

Matthew Rantanen, Director of Technology at SCTCA, stated, “Through this and other broadband stimulus initiatives, Native American residents in our  community will have the ability to develop skills for higher-paying jobs; engage in the democratic process; learn fading tribal languages; and have more options in determining their own futures. An opportunity for ‘self-empowerment’ is the easiest way to describe access to such a valuable resource. It’s life changing.”

The youth to be served in the “Generation ZD project” reside in Humboldt and San Benito Counties, CA; Maui County, HI; City of Santa Fe, NM; Multnomah and Washington Counties, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; and King, Snohomish, Skagit Island, and Pierce Counties, WA.

The Community Anchor Institutions for “Generation ZD” are Access Humboldt, CA; Akaku: Maui Community Television, HI; Boys & Girls Clubs of  Santa Fe, NM; Community Media Access Partnership (CMAP), CA; Portland Community Media, OR; Reel Grrls, WA; and Spy Hop Productions, UT. They will  be supported in disability accessibility work by the Alliance for Technology  Access, CA.

SCTCA encompasses the reservations of 19 federally recognized tribes,  rimarily located in San Diego County, California, and reaching from southern Riverside County southward 150 miles to the US-Mexico border.

About the Foundation:

ZeroDivide increases technology adoption among underserved communities by  providing financial support, capacity building and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations that benefit low-income, minority, immigrant, non-English speaking, LGBT, seniors, and disability communities.