KC Digital Drive awards $20K in digital literacy micro-grants; aims to boost digital inclusion
August 26, 2022 | Startland News Staff
KC Digital Drive announced today its first cohort of micro-grant recipients for “KC Goes Tech,” a new program that helps community organizations teach digital skills, such as how to use email and stay safe online, and it connects participants to funding for home internet and a computer they can take home after completing 15 hours of training.
Leslie Scott
The KC Goes Tech beta pilot will provide each of the 10 training partner organizations a $1,000 stipend or honorarium to a staff or community member who will join a trainer cohort and deliver digital training to the organization’s clients. Another $1,000 can be used in whatever way the recipients would like.
“We saw an urgent need to help direct service agencies right now by providing new training tools plus a small dose of financial support so they can better help their clients build digital skills and more fully participate in our digital society,” said Leslie Scott, digital inclusion program manager at KC Digital Drive.
Micro-grant awardees for the beta cohort are:
- Black Family Technology Awareness Association
- Central Avenue Betterment Association
- Healing House
- Jewish Family Services
- ArtsTech
- reStart
- Hispanic Economic Development Corporation
- The Toolbox Small Business Resource Center
- Sala de Arte
- DAVE’s Place Community Impact Center
Launched in July 2022, KC Goes Tech was inspired by the proven and cost-effective “Tech Goes Home’’ program founded in Boston in 1999 and expanded into Chattanooga by one of KC Digital Drive’s peer organizations in 2015, each of which has trained thousands of participants.
Micro-grants are designed to support grantees’ ability and capacity to deliver digital literacy services, to connect diverse service populations, to build upon the ecosystem support model of Tech Goes Home and adapt it for Kansas City with key core partners, to provide technical assistance to a larger network of training partners, and to identify additional partners to connect program participants with more advanced training opportunities to help them fulfill their digital aspirations.
Click here to reach out to Scott to learn more about KC Goes Tech, a train-the-trainer effort for direct service organizations.
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
2022 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
It began as a one-man DJ; now this ‘Platinum’ experience is landing KCI’s first big event at the new terminal
In-person events are back with vengeance, said Kris Nardini; and Platinum XP is positioned to plan experiences coming only from one’s wildest imagination. “Platinum XP is a single-source, full-service event planning agency. This means that we can quickly create proposals — that are very creative — but also on budget,” explained Nardini, the owner and…
‘Every business matters, every job matters’: How $69M in federal funds is already boosting KS entrepreneurs
Kansas will use a recent influx of federal funding to strengthen the state’s small business and venture capital ecosystems, according to project leaders of a new high-profile effort focusing on equitable access. The state was allocated $69 million earlier this year as part of the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), a federal program that…
Your body at work: Park further from the entrance and take a shower (plus all your vacation time) for better health (Holistic Hustle)
Kharissa Parker is a news producer, writer, certified health coach, and columnist for Startland News. For more of her self-care tips on how to keep your cup full, visit kparker.co. Editor’s note: This commentary on physical fitness — and its impact on the strength and energy a person’s body needs to carry them throughout the…
Scavenger Tech greenlights indoor-outdoor exploration with box that only unlocks by visiting GPS markers
An inventor’s GPS-driven scavenger hunt device provides needed adventure in the physical world — minimizing screen time while unlocking meaningful challenges and experiences, said Jeff VanDeusen. “I’ve always been someone who likes to go outside and enjoy nature, and I know that’s not always what engineers are known for,” said VanDeusen, creator of Scavenger Tech and…