Connected mn mn blandin broadband conference 10-13-21

Editor's Notes

1. 10 minute presentation Anne and Hussein intro themselves, their roles in ConnectedMN DROP WEBSITE IN CHAT FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION Partnership for ConnectedMN was established in May 2020 to address digital inequities surfacing in the height of the pandemic for K – 12 students. To date, ConnectedMN has provided almost $7M in grants to organizations providing devices, internet connectivity and digital support to  Minnesota students. The partnership has also established and continued to build a learning community for community leaders working in this area, culminating in a virtual roundtable with over 180 attendees in July 2021. Anne and Hussein will share how the partnership was established and focus on how the group continually adapted to provide community-informed relief and support for Minnesota students over the last year and a half.
2. Anne – public-private partnership (government, philanthropy, providers) to address an emergency and emergent community need of digital inequities in pandemic, holistic solutions, towards purpose
3. Share grant examples Northfield Healthy Community Initiative in Northfield, MN to connect more than 450 students with internet access through Charter Spectrum services and partner with Bilingual Navigators to provide culturally responsive distance learning support to over 700 students. They are also distributing 150 connectivity hotspots to further bolster their impact and reach with an emphasis on serving Latinx and Somali families. 30,000 Feet is a Roseville-based non-profit that offers youth educational programs centered on arts, culture and African American empowerment. Their project expands on a Distance Learning Support Program launched in September 2020. Connectivity, a laptop computer and small group learning opportunities are combined with mentoring, access to food and basic needs and mental health services.  100 students participated in this program.
4. Anne Many learnings and experiences to share, but our focus here in the community-informed component: Expand the partnership – the original public-private partnership was established at executive levels of government and organizations. Steering committee was expanded to include more perspectives from providers, government, community and philanthropy. Including consultant support. Listen, learn then develop resources – while philanthropy is quick to do grants, we first sought input from education and tech community about what was needed in summer 2020 and developed a low-barrier grant application specific to that feedback. Surrender decision-making authority – we did not want the steering committee to hold decisional authority over grant dollars and distribution. There were potential conflicts with providers and more importantly we continued to not hold ourselves as the experts in this area. We put together a decision-making group – worked together for two rounds and learned from each other. Grant recipients were chosen by a review committee comprised of community members with a broad range of geographic, community and education and education technology expertise. This approach was furthered in our decision to allocate $1M to community-led investments where we gathered Indigenous-led and Black-led action groups to distribute grant dollars. Acknowledge there is still power in strategic decision making at SC level, which is why voice is so essential in the room and informing the room. Adapted approach (ie changes application), targeted outreach based on experiences and provided one-time fixes – even decision making group adjusted (first round, significantly different). We are still learning and adjusting – for example, we thought community led solutions would wrap up, but are learning there may be more to do. Transparent process, transparent decisions – potential grantees and community knew about each evolution of the partnership, who was involved, how grantmaking opportunities were developed, what the goals were and how the review committee was comprised. We had an open line of communication with organizations and applicants and a willingness to talk with anyone who was interested.
5. Hussein Key learnings from the community participant experience and how it was built from and led to community-informed work GEOGRAPHY: The first round, a clear identified and drastically underserved need in rural Minnesota led committee to distribute funds about 70/30 to rural and urban. Then, in the second round, this was flipped. DIGITAL NAVIGTOR: The committee also adapted and responded with an emphasis on digital navigator grants in the second round, after learning about this expanding need. UNEARTHING OF HIDDEN INEQUALITIES: Digital divide in areas not known for it