Connecting People to Trusted Support

CDE Digital Navigators play a critical role in helping residents access technology, build digital skills, and navigate an increasingly digital world. This year, we focused on expanding the reach of Digital Navigator services while strengthening the quality of support provided to community members.

This Year’s Focus

Expand Access

Growing CDE Digital Navigator services through trusted community partnerships and new service locations.

Build Confidence

Helping residents develop digital skills that support work, healthcare, online safety, and everyday life.

Improve Quality

Strengthening the resident experience through feedback, follow-up, and continuous coaching.

Measure Impact

Building better data systems to evaluate services, improve outcomes, and guide future growth.

Creating Opportunity Through Technology

When artist Harvey Boyd wanted to share his artwork beyond his local community, technology stood between his creativity and new opportunities. A CDE Digital Navigator worked with Harvey to identify the right technology, helping him gain the tools and confidence to photograph his artwork, share it online, and begin reaching audiences far beyond Charlotte.

For Harvey, technology wasn’t the destination—it became the pathway to sharing his life’s work with the world.

Expanding Access Through Partnerships

CDE Digital Navigators provide personalized, one-on-one support that helps residents overcome technology barriers and confidently use digital tools to achieve their goals. Throughout FY26, CDE expanded access to these services while deepening the quality of support available across the region.

One of the year’s most significant milestones was expanding Digital Navigator services through new partnerships with the Goodwill Gastonia Career Center, the Goodwill Charlotte Career Center, the Cabarrus County Library System, the Community Shelter of Union County, and the Mecklenburg County Community Resource Centers, bringing trusted technology support into more communities.

As services expanded into new geographies, CDE also gained valuable insights into how Digital Navigator programs can be adapted to meet the unique needs of different communities—lessons that will continue informing statewide expansion.

Every new partnership represents more than a new service location—it represents new opportunities for people to achieve their personal goals through technology. Behind every support request is a resident with a unique challenge, and every interaction is an opportunity to build confidence, remove barriers, and open new doors.

Deepening Support for Residents

As community needs evolved, so did the role of Digital Navigators.

While total support requests decreased, the depth and complexity of assistance increased. Rather than focusing primarily on device access and connectivity, Digital Navigators increasingly helped residents build the skills and confidence needed to use technology effectively.

Support expanded to include cybersecurity education, health literacy, job readiness, digital skills coaching, and ongoing guidance—reflecting a broader understanding that digital opportunity requires more than access alone.

Strengthening Quality and Continuous Improvement

In addition to expanding services, we invested in systems designed to improve the resident experience and strengthen how we measure success. 

This year, the team developed new feedback mechanisms to better understand the resident experience. Additionally, we implemented 30-day follow-up communications for residents who received a device or participated in digital skilling. This approach is intended to support long-term relationship building with residents, confirm if resources provided previously were helpful, and verify if additional support is needed. Lastly, we replaced the existing feedback survey (sent after ticket interactions are closed) with the industry standard  Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) survey. CSAT surveys measure how happy residents are after their interaction with a CDE Digital Navigator.  

Working alongside Stratagon, CDE also created a new data model within HubSpot that will support stronger performance management, service evaluation, and continuous improvement efforts moving forward. 

Together, these efforts help ensure that Digital Navigator services continue to grow not only in reach but in quality, consistency, and impact. 

FY26 at a Glance