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About the Digital Inclusion Fund
New! Visit the Digital Inclusion Fund website.
The establishment of the Digital Inclusion Fund, a Donor Advised Fund at The Minneapolis Foundation, was one provision of the Community Benefits Agreement that was a part of the contract between the City of Minneapolis and U.S. Internet Wireless through which USIW became the vendor responsible for establishing a wireless network in the City of Minneapolis.
The purpose of the Digital Inclusion Fund is to support efforts to bridge the digital divide in Minneapolis by providing qualified organizations with financial resources to promote technology programs for populations including people with disabilities, people of color, low-income individuals, new immigrants, displaced workers, elders, and other new users of technology.
Under the City's contract with USIW, the company established the Digital Inclusion Fund with an initial $200,000 in 2007. An additional $300,000 will be contributed to the fund once the wireless network is complete in early 2008. In subsequent years, a percentage of USIW's revenue from wireless subscriptions will go into the fund.
Fund Advisors
Digital Inclusion Fund Advisors make recommendations for grants to be made from the Digital Inclusion Fund. With oversight from TMF, the advisors will establish annually how funds will be allocated and update funding priorities as needed.
The Digital Inclusion Task Force recommended the first group of Digital Inclusion Fund Advisors. The Advisors include one representative of USIW and one representative of the City of Minneapolis. The majority of advisors are from the community, including representatives from the community technology field, local nonprofits, economically disadvantaged and underserved populations.
Grant Awards
The Digital Inclusion Fund has awarded nine grants totaling $200,000 to organizations across the city for programs to promote technology access and technology literacy.
Awarded in December 2007, these are the first grants awarded from the Digital Inclusion Fund. The nine grantees were chosen through an RFP process, which yielded 45 proposals.
During 2008, the fund will seek more applications for a new round of grant funding.
The following grants were awarded:
- Minneapolis Public Library - $18,588 for the expansion of the basic technology training classes for Somali and Spanish language speakers and for people with disabilities.
- Phyllis Wheatley Community Center - $8,775 for its Bridging the Digital Divide project designed to bring diverse neighborhood youth together using wireless technology; also for the purchase of equipment, program materials, and accountability and evaluation services.
- Plymouth Christian Youth Center - $22,500 for increased technology access and literacy among youth and families in north Minneapolis by providing computer access and education for community youth enrolled in the school's alternative and after-school programs; also to offer access and education on Saturdays for families from the community.
- Project for Pride in Living - $25,000 for its new Learning Center Access Lab, which offers and array of resources and programs that help bridge the digital divide for low-income residents by providing computer skills and access.
- The Church of St. Philip (Patchwork Quilt) - $30,000 for its Patchwork Digital Divide initiative to continue providing computer hardware, software, and access to the Wireless Minneapolis network for low-income families with children and people with disabilities.
- TVbyGirls - $22,262 for a series of visual and media literacy workshops designed to work with girls in specific cultural communities.
- Twin Cities Media Alliance - $27,100 for recruitment and training of Minneapolis residents and neighborhood organizations to create local, relevant, and useful information for distribution through neighborhood portals, community partners and Twin Cities Daily Planet.
For more information, contact:
Valerie C. Lee
Community Philanthropy Officer
at The Minneapolis Foundation
(612) 672-3849
vlee@mplsfoundation.org
Wireless Minneapolis FAQs
(on the City of Minneapolis website)
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