Project Title:
Connecting Durham through the NCCU Digital Equity Leadership Program
Funding Program:
Connecting Minority Communities Program
Project Purpose/Type:
North Carolina Central University's (NCCU) Digital Equity Leadership Program (DELP) aims to directly address the lack of broadband access, connectivity, adoption, and equity at the University and surrounding anchor communities. NCCU will develop innovative ways to help residents in the anchor communities who may lack the digital literacy skills needed to seek, obtain, and retain employment, as well as to perform other tasks in daily life.
City/Town/Service Area:
State(s):
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$2,919,534.00Funding Amount$2,919,534.00Total Project Cost0.00Non-Federal Cost Share
The DELP project has four core activities: a) Digital Equity Assessment and Planning; b) Digital Equity Training; c) Community Engagement and Service; and d) Evaluation. The Digital Equity Assessment and Planning Core Activity will assemble a team comprised of NCCU faculty and members of the Digital Durham Collaborative that will conduct a community focused multi-stakeholder assessment of the digital equity needs related to online education, digital inclusion, workforce, and digital skills development in the anchor communities in Durham. The Digital Equity Training Core Activity is a multi-organization collaboration that consists of three interrelated activities to serve the needs in the qualified anchor communities in Durham. NCCU and its partners will provide educational programs; scale up digital navigator services to residents from the eligible anchor communities; provide software engineering, quality assurance engineering, and digital foundations for business and entrepreneurship courses and provide employment placement services; and offer continuing education courses on various information system topics. The Community Engagement and Service Core Activity is an outreach collaboration of engagement activities focused on digital equity. NCCU will provide participants with resources to serve the community through volunteering and community engagement to expand experiential learning and workforce development. The Evaluation core activity will evaluate the project’s success and the benefits delivered to project beneficiaries.
The NCCU DELP-Durham project will advance digital equity in Durham, North Carolina. The activities implemented by the university led community-focused consortium of organizations will improve digital inclusion and digital proficiency among individuals and organizations in North Carolina Central University's anchor communities.
North Carolina Central University's project will benefit NCCU and the surrounding Durham, North Carolina anchor community. Residents in the anchor community will have access to resources to improve their digital literacy skills and to serve the community.
The Triangle Nonprofit and Volunteer Leadership Center will assist with community engagement and volunteering to place digital navigators with organizations in eligible anchor communities to provide digital literacy training to the public and build capacity in organizations. The Digital Durham Collaborative will provide strategic planning guidance, help convene stakeholders, update Digital Equity plan, and liaise with local organizations. The Kramden Institute will provide computer training, devices, and broadband access using the Northstar digital literacy curriculum. The Durham Public Schools Foundation will provide digital equity programming through the Parental and Caregiver Digital Literacy pilot for parents including non-English speaking parents. Finally, the Durham County Library will provide digital literacy training and technical assistance through four branch locations in eligible anchor communities and TechMobile.
The applicant does fund a consortia. The applicant’s activities do occur in the surrounding anchor communities. Details of community involvement are described below.