Digital Equity Pooled Fund
Moving together to close the digital divide.
Housed at the Michelson 20MM Foundation, the Digital Equity Pooled Fund is a collaboration between multiple funders focused on advancing digital equity in California.
Our fund aims to ensure that equity is at the forefront of how broadband infrastructure dollars are invested in California. We ensure advocates, communities most affected by the digital divide, and local leaders are heard during critical regulatory processes at the state and federal levels.
OUR APPROACH
Uplift Community
Uplift the voice of community in the fight for digital equity
Bridge Gaps
Bridge knowledge gaps for digital equity advocates, municipalities, and counties
Galvanize Philanthropy
Galvanize philanthropy in support of systemic change
Build Capacity
Build capacity at local grassroots organizations to engage on digital equity issues
Provide Assistance
Provide technical assistance to support organizations
The Problem
California has over 450,000 unserved or underserved households lacking quality broadband service.
Speed tests from over 15,000 student households in Oakland, CA revealed 52% of students experienced a speed classified as “unserved” at least once over a two-month speed test window.
One third of rural CA households and about 20% of low-income households still lack broadband access at home.
Grantmaking Priorities
Education, Awareness, and Narrative Change
- Bridge the knowledge gap for digital equity advocates, local municipalities, and counties so their voices are heard in current proceedings
- Build the capacity of local grassroots organizations to engage on digital equity issues
- Create a public awareness and call for broadband as a necessary public good – a utility
- Institutionalize support of sustained community engagement at the CPUC on broadband, digital literacy, and beyond
Policy Advocacy
- Sustain progress made on digital equity policy in California, and counter potential threats to the state’s reporting and accountability mechanisms, including reductions to the authority of local public entities
- Regionalize and localize technical assistance hubs for ongoing legislative, regulatory, and implementation advocacy, prioritizing both content and availability for 1:1 technical assistance for equity advocates and local leaders
- Direct overdue investments – public and private – in infrastructure to underserved, historically redlined communities
Movement Building
- Establish a mechanism for collaborative rural-urban collective action on digital equity priorities
- Foster philanthropic affinity groups, creating space to educate philanthropy on opportunities to support systems change strategies
Stay Engaged
For more information about our Digital Equity work please sign up for our newsletter or reach out to Cristal Mojica, Senior Program Manager.
Non-Profit Organizations
Funders
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Sign up for notifications, workshops, briefings, or schedule a 30-minute call with one of our partners.
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Interested in joining the Pooled Fund or learning more about our Digital Equity efforts? Get in touch with Senior Program Manager Cristal Mojica.