1. What are you doing towards Digital Inclusion in Charlotte?
We work with CMS to help lower-income families and students obtain home-based laptops, new operating & productivity software, digital broadband access and the digital literacy training needed to help these students close the “homework gap.”
We believe that the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County will only prosper if the dreams of quality education can be realized by all of its school students using 21st-century learning tools. With great partners such as Digital Charlotte and CMS, we have been able to end the digital divide for over 3,000 CMS students.
2. Why are you working towards Digital Inclusion in Charlotte?
To paraphrase Nelson Mandela: “A nation should not be judged by how it takes care of its rich but, rather, how it helps it’s less fortunate to succeed.”
Charlotte is a great city due to its historic overarching belief that all of our citizens can and should prosper and that we, as a community, have the resources and inclination to buttress those who need a little help.
Charlotte became great due to our incredible tradition of building effective public/private/non-profit partnerships. The resources necessary to resolve the digital divide in Charlotte are already here…we just need to work together to execute a plan that will assemble and distribute the solutions to families.
E2D considers it an honor to be a part of this dynamic community that, when it sees a societal imbalance, works to level the playing field.
3. What does a digitally connected community look like to you?
From E2D’s perspective, a digitally-connected community is one in which 100% of its school students have the necessary tools to become successful academically. This community is one that features higher graduation rates and more students entering the 21st Century workforce.