Google selects two Kansas Citians to bridge digital divide

Two Kansas Citians hope to increase digital inclusion by participating in a new fellowship opportunity through Google Fiber.

Photo by Alejandro Escamilla

Google announced Friday that Eze Redwood and Leslie Scott were selected to participate in Google Fiber’s Digital Inclusion Fellowship program, a year-long program created to help community organizations get more people connected to the Web.

In partnership with Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), Google Fiber announced its fellowship opportunity in May and recently chose 16 participants to pair with local community organizations in the eight Google Fiber metro areas: Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Kansas City, Nashville, Provo, Raleigh-Durham and Salt Lake City. Google Fiber has committed $1 million to support the program, which includes compensation and resources for participating fellows.

“The digital inclusion fellowship is Google kind of putting their money where their mouth is,” Redwood said. “It’s them saying ‘We understand that digital literacy, and the digital divide is a real problem and we’re going to put people out here to invent creative solutions for that.’”

Redwood and Scott will be working with Literacy Kansas City and the Full Employment Council, respectively, and the fellows’ work will be specific to their organizations.

“When I met with Literacy KC, the first thing that came up was ‘How can we create something that innovates the way in which digital literacy is taught right now?’” Redwood said. “I think that my role as a fellow, as it relates to Literacy KC, is strengthening their programming, seeing what works and doesn’t work, what the communities need, and how to work with the community groups to tailor it and then greatly increase awareness that the services are out there.”

Throughout the program, fellows will travel to Mountain View, Calif., to receive specialized training from NTEN on how to build effective digital inclusion programs.

Redwood and Scott will fly to Google Headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., this Sunday for leadership training alongside the other fellows and the two will begin their work in Kansas City immediately following that trip.