EducationSuperHighway, a non-profit that connects 47 million K-12 students to the Internet, has announced a mission to close the divide. To mark the launch of its “No Home Left Offline” campaign, EducationSuperHighway highlights affordability as the main cause of the divide. Despite the availability of broadband, nearly two-thirds of households are offline because they cannot afford to connect.
“We must seize this moment,” said Evan Marwell, CEO, EducationSuperHighway. “That’s why we are launching a new mission. Congress is making resources available to close the affordability gap, and ISPs (internet service providers) continue to increase the availability and speed of affordable broadband plans. We must remove the barriers that keep low-income families from connecting or risk wasting this opportunity to ensure no home is left offline.”
EducationSuperHighway also launched free Wi-Fi programs to help low-income Americans overcome the obstacles to signing up for broadband and home broadband service. Both programs target “America’s most unconnected communities,” where more than 25% of people don’t have Internet.
“Building a robust digital inclusion ecosystem requires free and low-cost home broadband for those who cannot afford it and overcoming the barriers to broadband adoption,” said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). “As we saw during the pandemic, these solutions are possible by investing in local solutions and building on the trusted community relationships that are essential to effective digital inclusion work.”
EducationSuperHighway is also announcing a partnership with the City of Oakland to deploy Wi-Fi in low-income apartment buildings and establish a broadband adoption center to help eligible households enroll in the Affordable Connectivity Program.
“Public-private partnerships, exemplified by the success of #OaklandUndivided, are critical to achieving equity in cities across the country,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. “Oakland is proud to partner with EducationSuperHighway, a critical leadership partner of #OaklandUndivided to remove affordability barriers and dramatically increase broadband access for our most vulnerable populations and close the digital divide for good.”
EducationSuperHighway is also working to expand its program to help trusted institutions identify unconnected households. The organization’s K-12 Bridge to Broadband program partners with 130 regional and national Internet Service Providers to enable states and school districts to identify and connect unconnected student households. The program covers 90% of households and has already helped identify the connectivity status of over 3.5 million students in 11 states. With the support of ISPs, EducationSuperHighway hopes to make this critical data tool available to other trusted institutions serving low-income households in the near future.
The non-profit completed its mission to close the K-12 classroom connectivity gap in just seven years and is focused on repeating this achievement. Several foundations and philanthropic organizations have made a $16 million multi-year investment in EducationSuperHighway’s mission including, Emerson Collective; Blue Meridian Partners; Ken Griffin, Citadel, and Citadel Securities; the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; Walton Family Foundation; and Zoom Cares Fund.
“In only seven years, EducationSuperHighway executed on their mission to connect every classroom to high-speed Internet,” said Emerson Collective President Laurene Powell Jobs. “We know Evan and his team will bring the same creativity and ingenuity to deploying broadband into homes across the country, bridging the digital divide and increase access to opportunity for all families.”
“Internet access is a gateway to opportunity. Yet, 18 million American households currently struggle to afford this vital lifeline to education, job training, and healthcare,” said Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel. “I’m proud to support EducationSuperHighway’s work to increase access for families and close the digital divide.”
“EducationSuperHighway has played a pivotal role in closing the digital divide, paving the way for broadband access in K-12 classrooms at an unprecedented scale,” said Jim Shelton, Chief Investment and Impact Officer at Blue Meridian Partners. “Given the need for affordable home broadband, which has become even more apparent during the pandemic, EducationSuperHighway now has the opportunity to amplify its impact and close the affordability gap in America’s most unconnected communities.”
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