Craig Newmark Philanthropies Gifts $25,000 to Help Human-I-T Empower Detroit Women with STEM Training
Ever since Human-I-T first partnered with Craig Newmark Philanthropies (CNP) back in 2018, we’ve always been energized by our collaboration’s capacity to end the gender gap in STEM by ensuring everyone can use technology to unlock their full potential. Together, we’ve provided 250 laptops to low-income women and facilitated vital digital literacy training to 160 mothers.
Every individual served is a resident of Detroit – a city which exists at the heart of our work and deeply shaped Newmark’s career before he founded Craigslist. Many of these women want to access STEM training so they can be more competitive on the job market. For them, having these devices is often the deciding factor in being able to actually take advantage of opportunities available to them. Put another way: having access to technology is life-changing for them.
As we continue to work deeply within the City of Detroit we look forward to building on our partnership’s tradition of empowering Detroiters with access to technology. And, thanks to a recent gift of $25,000 from CNP we’ll be doing exactly that. This generous gift will enable us to provide 100 laptops to low-income mothers in Detroit, through our partnership with Brilliant Detroit’s “Quality Education Initiative”. This initiative offers households headed by women access to support services including STEM tutoring, financial literacy training, and more.
These devices will go far beyond the classroom, too. Our recipients will be able to use these devices to access social services, access voter registration and absentee ballot resources, read independent and trustworthy news sources, and more. To put it simply: they will be able to fully connect the digital world.
Of course, we all know that bridging the digital divide goes far beyond just putting devices into people’s hands. Instead, people have to be able to operate their device, safely browse the internet, and troubleshoot technical issues. To a person without an internet connection or digital skills, a device is about as useful as a paperweight.
To ensure that each recipient can take full advantage of their device, each device will be paired with one year of free tech support and a hardware warranty.Additionally, recipients will be able to access sign-up assistance for the Affordable Connectivity Program and reduce their monthly internet bill by $30. Recipients will also be able to take advantage of our low-cost internet assistance program.
Our organization is dedicated to empowering low-income disadvantaged communities with access to digital connections which unlock limitless STEM, education, and employment resources. We deeply admire Craig Newmark Philanthropies’ commitment to solving the gender gap in technology, and are thrilled for the opportunity to partner once again to help people reach their full potential.
