Digital Inclusion Across the Nation with Gina D. Cooper Benjamin

The digital landscape is evolving rapidly. How can communities come together to ensure access for all? This season of Public Hearing is tackling all things Digital Equity - from small towns to national organizations - to better understand the obstacles and pathways to achieving digital equity.

In this episode, Josh sits down with Gina D. Cooper Benjamin, Deputy Director of The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (@netinclusion) to discuss digital inclusion coalition building, the importance of amplifying youth voices, and how you can support digital equity efforts in your state.

Public Hearing is a podcast from Action! by Design where we explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing Massachusetts' Gateway Cities as they work to create more equitable, liberated, and sustainable communities. Listen to all of our episodes at https://publichearing.buzzsprout.com/ and follow us on Twitter @PublicHearingMA to keep up to date on all things Public Hearing!

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Transcript

Joshua Croke (00:08):

Hello, Worcester and the world. You are listening to Public Hearing on WICN 90.5FM Worcester's only NPR affiliate station, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm your host Joshua Croke, and we are continuing our conversation surrounding digital equity today with Gina D. Cooper Benjamin from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. Public Hearing is Action! by Design's podcast and radio show where we explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing Massachusetts Gateway Cities as they work to create more equitable, liberated and sustainable communities. We're bringing you stories of community change work featuring the people and organizations working to make a difference in their cities. And we're so happy to be seeing listeners share and talk about this season and the importance of digital equity in our communities. Learn more about how you can support our show at publichearing.co. This is the Public Hearing podcast. Our guest today is Gina D. Cooper Benjamin.

Joshua Croke (01:04):

Gina is the Deputy Director at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. Gina joined NDIA in 2021. She uses technology and data for social good. She has spent almost 20 years working in under-resourced communities and with under-served populations to close education and housing gaps. Gina serves on two boards working towards equity, inclusion and belonging outcomes, and is passionate about introducing Black and Brown youth to technology and coding programs. She created “Hacking IT” where she teaches teenage girls to get loud, get political, and get tech-ing. Before completing her master of public policy from Tufts University's Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program as a neighborhood fellow, Gina graduated from Wellesley College as a Davis Scholar and then earned a certificate in nonprofit management and leadership from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice. Gina, welcome. Thank you so much for being here. Following that bio, I always like to invite folks to share any additional info about themselves, their identities, social location, anything you feel may be helpful to share that might give our listeners a bit more insight into you, your connection to the topics that we may explore today and to develop a bit of a relationship with you as we embark on this conversation, uh, today.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (02:22):

Hi Josh. Thank you for having me here today. I'm really excited to be here to be in conversation with you. As you said, my name is Gina Cooper Benjamin. I'm the Deputy Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, or NDIA. I'm located in Massachusetts. I spent nine years, um, in Milford, Massachusetts, so pretty close to Worcester. Recently, my husband and I, we moved back to the city. So we're in Boston, enjoying life, enjoying this warm weather. Looking forward to summer to for summer to begin. Yeah.

Joshua Croke (02:52):

Great. Well, thank you so much for being on the show, and I'd love to maybe start out for our listeners with an overview of, uh, NDIA. So could you share a little bit more about the organization and the work that you do there?

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (03:05):

Of course. NDIA, um, is the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and we advance digital equity by supporting community programs and equipping policy makers to act. The way that we do this is we provide spaces and opportunities for our affiliates who are practitioners, advocates, people in library systems, um, policy makers. We provide spaces and opportunities for them to get together and we all share and learn from one another. What we do with that information is we- in community with our affiliates, we create tools and resources. Um, we provide them on our website using a Creative Commons bottle. So you can go to digitalinclusion.org, you can see any tool or resource. You can download it, you can use it, you can customize it. All that we ask is that you credit us for it. Um, and then we use, and then we take what we learn, and when we're in conversations with policy makers, we can say, Hey, we just, um, got off this community call and here's what's happening in this local community or at our annual conference.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (04:09):

Net Inclusion, this rolls to the top as a really popular conversation. So we have a pulse on what's happening in local communities around digital equity. As one of our community members has told me, we also bring other community members to policy makers when we're in conversation. So we connect, we are a connector, we're community builders, uh, we are learners, we're educators. We do all of it. We're we build tools and resources. We do a lot of work. When we talk about, um, we talk about digital equity and digital inclusion a lot. So when I, the goal is digital equity, so that means for me, it means we want everyone, especially the most disadvantaged and disconnected to be able to have what they need to experience the digital world in the way that that's most productive for them. How we get there is, you know, you have the internet, so, or broadband.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (05:07):

So that's one, one thing you need, right? But that's not it. You also, once you get people online, they need devices, they need digital skills, they need tech support. And so some of the barriers that people are facing are affordability and costs. You know, it costs a lot for internet subscriptions. It costs a lot for devices, and devices have to be replaced pretty frequently. We also have to make sure people have the devices, um, that they, that are most useful for them. We have, uh, barriers, human barriers such as trust. So we need to make sure that we are addressing that. Um, when you are signing folks up for ACP or the Affordable Connectivity Program, you know, you have to build a trusting relationship in order for them to hand over their social security number and other private information, and we meet people where they are. So we want people, um, we want people to have what works best for them. Uh, this is why we advocate for affordable and free broadband, affordable and free devices, uh, digital skills training that's free or affordable, and then tech support in communities.

Joshua Croke (06:11):

I'm so glad that we're having this conversation at this point in our season because the, all of those things that you just brought forward, some of which we've, we've talked about with some of our guests, including Marvin Venay from Tech Goes Home, who was recently on the show, and we talked about the three legs of the digital accessibility stool, right? And you just shared devices, um, the internet itself at access and, and, um, resources and tools for learning how to use these, um, these resources. A piece that I'm very passionate about as a coalition builder and as a facilitator and as someone who, um, Action! by Design kind of sits at the intersection, a lot of social challenges and looks at how do we build, um, collective power spaces and hold change together and do change work collaboratively. I'd love to hear more about the critical nature of like connecting organizations from like a very, like national perspective, but also really getting onto the ground and doing this work in communities and, and how you build that mechanism so that authentic community-led work is happening, but also moves up to that, the national conversation to influence policy, funding practices, et cetera.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (07:29):

That is a great- I love that you brought up coalitions because I would've mentioned it- them at some point during our conversation. So for our part, we are providing frameworks and tools and resources and best practices. One of our most downloaded tools is a digital inclusion coalition guidebook. It's how to successfully build a coalition, a digital inclusion coalition. So I think coalitions get built in different ways, but who, like, what, what structures do you need in place? What strategies, who's gonna lead this coalition? Because, you know, a lot of the times people create coalitions, there's not a leader, and then it, it, it peters out after a while, right? Um, and so that's, that's important. And then we connect. We, we have this way of connecting community members from different areas of the country who are themselves trying to either build coalitions or are in existing coalitions.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (08:20):

And so they, they are resources for one another to talk and communicate and learn best practices as well. Um, we also have our digital navigators model that we created in col- collaboration with our affiliates. So col- I don't know if you talked about the digital navigators yet, but digital navigators or those trusted community members, and you see them, um, in, in during the pandemic we saw them digital navigators, um, in different ways, but one of the primary places we, we saw them were in library systems. So you go to the library, you ask the librarian, how do I get the internet? Or how do I get, um, or how do I get a device? And you know, at that time, some libraries were providing, uh, devices and hotspots. The model has evolved since then in these short three, two to three years since the pandemic, the model has evolved and we see digital navigators, um, embedded in healthcare systems, for instance, because they can, that that's, those are trusted, they're trusted, um, representatives in healthcare systems or who are building trust with, with, um, patients.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (09:22):

So that's a good point of contact for, uh, for getting people connected. And so I that, so on our site, you'll see a digital navigator webpage where you'll see, um, how to successfully establish a digital navigator program, what goes into it other, in other models of the digital navigator program. And we also have a digital navigator working group where people, where digital navigators from across the country show up and they're talking to one another. Here's what's happening now, here's what I'm learning. We tried this, it didn't work very well. Um, what, what are some suggestions you have? So there's always this constant connection around that. We just released a state digital equity planning toolkit, um, which a lot of states are using to help build their state digital equity plans. We have Digital Inclusion Week, that's the first week in October every year. And this, this year, it is October 2nd through sixth.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (10:13):

And, um, and, you know, there are prob- I could probably think of a bunch of other things, but those are the, the, the things that popped to the top of my mind. Daily, I get to experience all the great work happening across the country. So even locally, there's a, a lot of people don't know this, but there's a lot of great digital inclusion work happening. And so I, I get to, I'm friends with Marvin Venay and the, uh, and Dan Noyes and all the other team members at, uh, Tech Goes Home, I know them well. And then you have the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, or MBI, they're doing great work. So they just funded, I was just at an event in Springfield where MBI fund- they funded like millions of dollars to Vinfen, Tech Goes Home and Mass Bay Health to, um, really amplify their digital, uh, equity efforts.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (10:57):

And then, um, I visited Salem to see how North Shore Community Development Coalition, they set up their community wifi network. I know that Tech Goes Home is expanding to program, uh, it's expanding programming to Gateway cities. You have MAPC, they began installing free wifi, free wifi networks at public housing sites in Chelsea and Revere. And then I know that at least for AmeriCorps, uh, they selected 15 partners to host, um, the American Connection Corps Fellows. So that's all to say that there's a lot of great work happening, right? And the way in what, in our, our executive director, Angela, she, in 2015 when she started NDIA, she can, she didn't predict the Pan- Pandemic, right? But she knew that all of these people doing all this great work across the country, were gonna need to talk to one another. And so that's kind of what we do. We have a community of affiliates, um, and they connect to one another. And then I'm listening to what folks are doing on a daily basis. It's quite amazing.

Joshua Croke (11:55):

It really is. And, and you mentioned libraries and it brought forward, like, uh, event, I actually recently attended in Springfield, um, with Sean Michael Hallman, who is a library and civic tech innovator who's part of, um, the, uh, Harvard's LOEB Fellowship currently. And he really challenges us to think, um, about what the library looks like now and in the future, kind of thinking beyond the bookshelves and libraries as like central access points for, um, you know, community communicating and, and sharing information and accessing information and really looking at how that kind of spreads, uh, impact within, you know, within neighborhoods and within communities. So I, I love the both the really thinking about how are we repurposing or, or thinking about our, what I'll reference as like our civic commons, like the places that we share, those spaces that we walk into, um, that should have the lowest barrier to entry, um, you know, to access resources.

Joshua Croke (12:56):

And then the power of communities of practice and coalitions that formed to share best practices because, and this is why we actually, Public Hearing as a show was initially very much focused on Worcester. We spoke to all folks in Worcester, and then we're like, there are artists, agitators, activists, advocates that are doing so much similar work and facing similar challenges and addressing them in similar, and different ways that we want to broaden, like the scope of how we're, you know, um, amplifying things that are going on so that other folks maybe who are listening in Revere or Springfield can say, oh my gosh, I gotta connect with this person in Worcester, or vice versa. Um, so I so appreciate the work that, that you're doing something. And, and I know, and I want to jump, maybe not back, but I, I know that something that you're really passionate about is youth programming, um, and getting youth involved in their communities and digital accessibility, equity and inclusion, I think are such critical pieces.

Joshua Croke (13:56):

Cuz you know, even in our conversation already for listeners, you've heard about some of these tools and the resources that NDIA makes available and those are a lot of online tools and resources, right? So having access to that virtual and in, you know, internet driven space is so powerful at connecting people more closely or can be when it's done, uh, effectively, authentically, and in a way that nurtures and builds trust with community. And so from the, from the youth perspective side, you know, I think, so we spoke with Marvin from Tech Goes Home and we talked about like the racial equity issues in this work such as digital redlining, et cetera. And so you're really passionate and work closely with Black and Brown youth to connect them to technology and coding programs. And can you talk a bit more deeply about the importance of building programs that provide affinity space and also kind of just like full, like community space, um, for young people that really support their needs and are rooted in lived experience?

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (14:55):

Yeah, so I have a project called “Hacking IT.” Um, you, you introduced it perfectly. It is designed specifically for, um, young, Black and Brown girls. The theory behind it is that a lot of the times Black girls and Black women were told we're too loud at some point in our lives, right? And in that process they're, you create silence sometimes. So then Black women and Black girls step into certain spaces and they're quiet and then people are like, why are they quiet? It's cuz we had these traumatic experiences happen to us. And so the, I created the project because I wanted to give Black girls and Brown girls a space to figure out where that, like where their silence is coming from, where it stems from, and, and start to think about the issues that matter most to them. So I say get loud, so don't be afraid to be loud.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (15:46):

I get loud sometimes, you know, we all get loud sometimes. Um, get political and get tech-ing. And the, the, the one of the cohorts I like to say that I ran actually led me to NDIA. So this cohort happened during the pandemic, it was probably like in the fall of 2020. And they taught me more than anything. So I, I was in conversation with them and we're talking, and so we're in the get like exploring their silence and exploring their, the issues that are most impacting them. And at this time they were, they had Zoom fatigue before I even knew what Zoom fatigue was. They, um, they were telling, uh, they were expressing that, hey, you know, in my household, it, like they were, some of them were in intergenerational households. There was not enough devices for everyone who was required to stay home.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (16:39):

And even when there were sometimes enough devices, the broadband speeds were terrible because everyone can't be on Zoom at the same time. Then they had to deal with, um, and so then they had to deal with being in class and sometimes their, their teacher's not understanding the space I'm in, I can't turn on my camera, like even, like, I can turn on my camera, but I'm in a space shared by eight people sometimes and my mom's in the kitchen cooking behind me. And so hearing out some of those issues and hearing how they advocated for themselves so that people understood what they needed, I had, I learned more lessons than anything and I kind of just was just like, oh my gosh, this is something I need to like do something about. And a few months later, I am applying for the deputy director position at NDIA and I got it.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (17:26):

And I'm just like, yes. Like this is it, you know, when those moments Yes, exactly. You get those moments and you're just like, I, so I want to think that cohort of, uh, young ladies who kind of open my eyes a bit to their experiences. And I think that hearing their voices is important because they inherit the solutions or problems we create, whether or not they like it. And so, you know, understanding what they're saying now is important to any, all of the systems we're building, all of the policies we're making, you know, they have a voice. And a lot of the times it, it is, it helps us learn as well.

Joshua Croke (18:01):

Absolutely. I think youth voices are some of the most undervalued assets in our communities. Um, and especially in change work. Um, you know, you said it perfectly that they're inheriting the solutions or problems that we're addressing. And as someone who works with a lot of young people, um, primarily, uh, queer and trans young people in, in the Worcester community, you know, I go into these spaces and I'm like, I'm definitely not a teacher. I'm like a sh a a someone who's here to share and learn a learning experience together because we regularly are learning from these young people. Um, and really just building a community of, of support and a community of of practice, both in just how we show up and exist in the world authentically. And then how do we also nurture and support the passions that young people want to pursue in, in kind of a, a social climate and, and culture that often suppresses that, um, you know, passion based pursuit.

Joshua Croke (19:01):

And so I think, um, uh, someone who's also very passionate about educational equity work, um, devices and the conversations that we're having around internet open up so many doorways, um, for young people, uh, like the fact that, you know, you can put on a VR headset now and walk around like the Louvre in France or go down, you know, go it, it, it, it regularly amazes me and I'm like, if our classrooms were configured in a way that really enabled personal exploration of our galaxy, you know, you could even go as far out to say like, oh, I want to, you know, see what they're looking at up at this international space station right now. And, and I can do that if I have the tools. I really think, you know, we would propel ourselves so much farther forward as a, as a society. But now I'm on a soapbox.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (19:53):

No, it's an incredible soapbox. Cause I agree with you. Isn't it amazing how far like the opportunities that are going that exist now or the, the way technology is evolving and, um, it, yes. So I, I agree with you. I agree.

Joshua Croke (20:06):

And so the other thing that I, I wanna really uplift about NDIA's work and, and the value of looking at this nationally is, uh, your Digital Equity Scorecard. Um, so I'd love for you to share a little bit more about the, the Digital Equity Scorecard to listeners and and listeners. Uh, spoiler alert, last year in March, Massachusetts scored a 2.5 out of six points for lacking a comprehensive plan to address digital gaps, having lack of online digital skills training, lack of state broadband plans, and insufficient state collection and dissemination of data. And so I'd love to learn a little bit more about the equity scorecard and then, um, jump into like what states like Washington, North Carolina and California that have the highest scores are doing that we should look to be modeling here in Massachusetts.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (20:58):

First of all, OMG that you navigated to the scorecard on our site, I'll tell our comms director and she'll be thrilled. Um, I'm so happy about that. To answer your question though, you know, so in all fairness to Massachusetts, at the time that the scorecard was created, the score reflects, um, the reality based on the criteria. So, um, I think that Massachusetts is, the good news is that I don't personally, I know a lot of people doing work in this state. I don't think Massachusetts is that far behind anymore. I think we'll see gaps addressed and Massachusetts first dig digital equity plan and broadband a equity access and deployment plan, which they're working on now. Um, all states are working on these plans right now at the same time. So early next year, when you look at the scores, I think Massachusetts will be, um, one of the top states, if not the top states.

Joshua Croke (21:55):

Yes. 

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (21:55):

So I, I, yeah. So I think that, um, a lot, I think that there is an opportunity here for all states to kind of do something great, right, with these State Digital Equity Plans and their B plans. I would say that, um, so something that Massachusetts and all states should be doing is that we need more resources dedicated to digital equity, and the state can support efforts of local community programs doing the great work that we've talked about so far, um, that, like creating sustainability is one way the state can help. So resources, dollars, you know, connections, partnerships, however it goes. Um, and I think that it requires engagement and resource allocation at different level levels. So we have our federal funding, which is great, it's a good start. We know that that's not going to close any divides, especially the digital divide. So state engagement and corporate engagement, those are also great ways.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (22:59):

Um, those are also great ways to res uh, for resources for local community program digital equity programs. And I just wanna, I just wanna point out though the scorecard is very helpful. It's one of our most, uh, most viewed tools on the website, I believe. But just because your state didn't score high doesn't mean there isn't great work happening, right? Of course. Um, there's great work happening in, um, Massachusetts, I pointed out there's great work happening all over the country. So we just came back from Net Inclusion in San Antonio at the beginning of March. There's so much great work happening on the ground in San Antonio, Texas, uc communities. There's, um, there's Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Detroit, Michigan is doing a lot of great work. I know there's amazing work happening in, um, Hawaii. They have this great, um, ecosystem map that I'll maybe send it to you after this call. I know there's a lot of work happening in the Black rural south, um, and especially I know a group down in Alabama who's doing some work. We talked about the, um, the Massachusetts score and you know, Boston has like, it, it might low, but we have Tech Goes Home and they have a national model for how to do this work. Um, support from states helps this work to continue at the local level. So just because your state scored low, there's still great work happening on the ground in communities across this country.

Joshua Croke (24:26):

Yeah. And and I expect that

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (24:28):

They can support that work. Is is what yes.

Joshua Croke (24:31):

Absolutely. Yeah. And, and I expected even looking at the, having been working on producing this season on digital equity, even in the past few months, the work that Massachusetts has been doing has been amplified even more. And there have been greater funding commitments that are coming in. And so that is really, um, that brings a lot of kind of hope and excitement. And we also had, um, someone on the show, um, Michael DeChiara, who is from a small town in yeah, Massachusetts, who had supported leading an effort to bring municipal broadband to their town of 1700 folks. And now it's over 90% of folks are online and accessing, uh, the internet through that work. And so there's also like the diversity of the and difference of need between rural and urban communities and ensuring that equity is at the center and that we are prioritizing that everyone is getting access to these resources is so critical.

Joshua Croke (25:26):

And so this has been such a, like an amazing series of conversations that we've been having. And I have like 8 million more questions for you, but we have about two and a half to three minutes left already. It, I told you the time flies, but, so I wanna pause and ask you what do you want to share? What should we be talking about? What should folks be thinking about around this? And you know, what do you hope folks who are listening take away from today's conversation and what do you hope they do with that information?

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (25:55):

Oh my gosh, there's so much, so much. So one thing, I just wanna go back to something you just said. So we, um, we emphasize yes, because I think you hit on, you hit like one of the nails on the head. Some people are just like focused on rural or urban, and we focus on rural, urban, and tribal communities because all three are in need of digital eq, like in need of digital inclusion projects, in need of digital equity. So it's not just one, it's all of them at the same time. Um, and then, okay, so, so things, so I would say that people who are interested in getting involved in digital equity work, figure out, figure out who's working on the state digital equity plan in your state and reach out to them because turns out they have to listen to community members and do meaningful community engagement.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (26:41):

And so make sure if you're interested in this work, um, I would reach out to MBI, I know that they're working on this. Um, and so they, in, they're interested in hearing community voices, they, there are covered populations required to be, um, required within this plan. So if you are someone who works with, I can't remember all of them, but aging populations or incarcerated populations, that's another big one. Immigrant populations definitely reach out and, you know, express the needs of these populations. Um, to, to MBI. Um, also I would like to uplift, um, our annual conference net inclusion. So Net Inclusion. So lemme tell you how incredible Net Inclusion is. Net inclusion, first of all, shameless, shameless plug here. Net Inclusion is the premier digital inclusion conference in the country. It happens once a year. We choose, uh, a really involved, um, city that, uh, city that's really involved with digital equity, um, with digital equity or doing great digital inclusion work.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (27:42):

And, and since, um, and since in the last year, so this year we were in San Antonio, Texas, and in 2022 we were in Portland, Oregon. And in that year, the number of attendees doubled. So that is indicative of how many, how, how much of like how many people are in this work now, how many people are doing the work, and then the interest in learning more about the work. Um, streaming and re-watches have more than doubled. There are more diversity and voices in conversations at the conference. One way the field is changing is this concept of digital navigators continues to evolve and expand. So we see digital navigators and healthcare systems now we see digital navigators in urban, rural, and tribal communities. Um, they're just different models of that now. And we are, we are, we have a digital navigator working group that, um, that, that meets and talks about how it's evolving and changing.

Gina D. Cooper Benjamin (28:37):

Um, and then we have, oh, this, this part, I don't wanna forget this. And then we have policy makers who are really paying attention now. So this is important. So at this year's net inclusion, not only did we have, uh, mayor Ron Nirenberg and um, and one and one of the councilwoman show up and join us on stage, but the Secretary of Commerce, uh, Secretary Ramono, she was previously the governor of Rhode Island, fyi. She showed up and she sat and she did a plenary on the main stage. It was like a fireside chat with our executive director, Angela Siefer. And that conversation was amazing. And so there's a lot of intention, uh, attention on this work right now. And I invite everyone to join our community. So join NDIA, it's free. Um, we love having new members and the way you can do it is by going to digitalinclusion.org/join.

Joshua Croke (29:27):

Amazing, Gina, thank you so much. We've been talking to Gina D. Cooper Benjamin, Deputy Director at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance for our series on digital equity. Thank you for listening to Public Hearing, our podcast and radio show that airs Wednesdays at 6:00 PM on WICN 90.5FM Worcester's only NPR affiliate station and can be heard wherever you listen to podcasts. I'm your host, Joshua Croke, founder of Action! by Design. Learn more about us at actionbydesign.co. Our audio producer is Giuliano D’Orazio. Thank you to our production team, Kellee Kosiorek and Jack Tripp, who also make this show possible and the work continues, folks. Thanks for listening.