20MM News Archive

Breaking Barriers in the Smart Justice Space: A Year in Review

From Pell Grant reinstatement to the publication of California’s Best Practices: Pathways From Prison to College, 2023 was a pivotal year for smart justice. Learn more about the Spark Grantees, strengthened partnerships, and more.

Building Student Power and the Open Movement: A Year in Review

Throughout the years, our focus on making sure every student has the opportunity to succeed without the barrier of high course material costs continues to guide our work—2023 was no exception. Join Cailyn Nagle and Marissa Martinez as they reflect on the Open Educational Resources Initiative’s successes.

National Conference for Higher Education in Prison: Putting Education to Practice on the Inside

The theme of the conference was “Close the Distance,” which was accomplished both literally and physically via the inclusion of remote participants and speakers from inside prisons. In fact, four incarcerated individuals were given the opportunity to attend in person and inspired many collaborations across the state.

Get to Know the 2023 Student Basic Needs Spark Grantees and Their Projects

Knowing that tens of thousands of undergraduate students in California struggle to meet their basic needs, we are ecstatic to welcome three Student Basic Needs Spark Grantees: Believe in Students, Foundation for the Los Angeles Community Colleges, and the Student Basic Needs Coalition!

Welcoming the 2023 OpenEd Scholarship Recipients

The Michelson 20MM Foundation is proud to sponsor the 2023 Open Education Conference and is excited to welcome our 2023 Open Education Conference Scholarship Award recipients! Please join us in welcoming them.

Digital Equity and AI: What Is the AI Divide and How Do We Bridge It?

With recent leaps in generative artificial intelligence technology, we have seen the emergence of the potential for a new frontier of the digital divide: The AI divide. During Connecting California, a panel of experts answered the big questions: What is the impact of artificial intelligence technology on digital equity? If there is an AI divide, how do we collectively bridge it?

Can the Open Community Adapt to AI? Insights From the Creative Commons Global Summit

As part of the global movement for a more equitable and open higher education system, the Michelson 20MM Foundation was proud to sponsor the Creative Commons Global Summit, which explored how to survive under the primarily extractive forces of large language models, “generative AI,” and AI-based emerging technologies.

Celebrating Root & Rebound’s Decade of Impact Serving Justice-Impacted Individuals

Congratulations to Root & Rebound on a decade of smart justice reform! We were proud to attend their anniversary celebration and left the event inspired by their vision to create a clear roadmap for navigating reentry success and working on reducing the harms created by mass incarceration.

Digital Redlining and Insufficient Funding: Ringing the Alarm for the Implementation of the Middle Mile Broadband Initiative

Digital Redlining Middle Mile Broadband Initiative

Broadband redlining is happening right now to the communities in which we live and serve, and we risk them once again being deprived of their rightful share of this historic public investment. Our State’s agencies and Governor’s Office must prioritize investment in the highest need communities and ensure that the data, timelines, and process for allocating these investments keep equity at the forefront.

Learnings From Forging Equitable Futures for Student Parents

“Forging Equitable Futures for Student Parents” revealed that student parents often feel they shouldn’t have to advocate and push as intensely as they do, given the additional responsibilities they carry while navigating both the education system and parenthood. Learn more from the summit.

Student Basic Needs student parent summit