Last week I had the privilege of attending Connect Todos: Digital Inclusion and Upward Mobility, a digital inclusion summit organized by the San Antonio Digital Inclusion Alliance. Pictured here are the three co-organizers; from left to right: Jordana Barton, Amanda Keammerer, and DeAnne Cuellar.
The day kicked off with Councilman Manny Pelaez, who shared his path to understanding why digital inclusion is important. He believes that in order to be resilient, the city’s most vulnerable people need to be connected.
There were seven panels of speakers representing all aspects of San Antonio life. They brought together city officials and department leaders, business leaders, school district representatives, university staff, and nonprofit leaders. They spoke on topics ranging from being a SMART city to an innovative solar-powered Wi-Fi mesh network at a property managed by San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA).
The theme was economic development, but social justice came up several times. This deeply resonated with me and made me excited to connect more with this particular group of leaders. Going to this summit renewed my passion for the work to get everyone connected. We need access for homework, research, communication, entertainment, and so much more.
One attendee asked, “what can I do to help?” which shows there are people who care and want to take action. While CTN doesn’t have a volunteer training program in San Antonio, we do in San Francisco and Austin. If you are interested in helping your community benefit from the power of the internet, please visit our volunteer page to learn more. If you’re interested in starting a volunteer trainer program in your city, email me for more information.
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