This newsletter contains information on:

• Sharing Success Stories, our latest Experience Paper
• MAPPINGS Grants- a simple way to get funds for new initiatives
• Plans for Portland in April, 2020, including AFTRR meeting and Net Inclusion 2020 conference
• Information about Digital Inclusion Week

Sharing Success Stories

We have completed our latest experience paper. These were previously branded as white papers, but we determined that experience paper is a better description. Our latest one is Sharing Success Stories, and is available at https://pbdd.org/experience-paper-sharing-success-stories/. We thank all of our partners who shared their experience and stories with us.

Don Hewitt, the creator and head of “60 Minutes” for 36 years, would say these four words whenever someone came with a pitch: “Tell me a story.” As https://allgoodtales.com/2019-year-tell-great-stories/ notes: “We tell stories to share concepts and ideas. We tell stories to make others laugh and we tell stories to become closer to people.” Click here for the full experience paper.

MAPPINGS Grants

PBDD is launching a funding initiative for busy agencies. Thanks to the Jack & Lucy Rosenberg Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation, we have available funds for a limited number of $500 grants. The application is an electronic postcard via web page form or email. Our goal  is to provide our smaller non-profit partners the incentive and opportunity to ask themselves what they can do to better provide digital inclusion services within their communities.

Just tell us in ONE or TWO sentences: What could you do with an extra $500 to help bridge the digital divide.

Feel free to apply more than once. Our expectation is that the money would be used within six months of receiving the grant. The only follow-up required is to share a story with us about what you did and how it worked. Again, only a couple of sentences.

 For example:

1. I’d create a survey to contact 100 of my clients and follow-up on a class offering.

2. We have training, but not in Spanish, and would use this money to adapt a specific class.

3. Your example…

We call it MAPPINGS – Money Assisting Partners to Provide Impactful New Good Stuff.

If your organization is big enough that $500 won’t make an impact, consider helping us fund additional grants to help smaller organizations that can put it to good use.

Planning for April 2020

In preparation for the Net Inclusion 2020 conference in Portland, Oregon, April 7-9, and the AFTRR (Alliance For Technology Refurbishing & Reuse) meeting that will be preceding it on April 5-6, PBDD has reserved a large AirBnB with many bedrooms, less than a half mile from the Net Inclusion conference location. If you are a partner agency and would like to go to the conference and/or the AFTRR meeting, but housing costs makes it unaffordable,  please contact us. We will need to know in advance, as space is limited, and we need to let our AirBnb hosts know.  We have reserved the place from Sunday April 5 through Thursday, April 9. People are welcome to join us for the entire four nights, or less if that is all they need.

Since Net Inclusion overlaps with the beginning of Passover, and since our house rental has the space to support it, we plan on hosting a Digital Inclusion Seder on Wednesday evening, April 8th which is the first night of Passover. This will not be a traditional seder, instead it will be a participatory experience, using the framework of a Passover seder telling of the Exodus from slavery as a means of telling the story of digital inclusion. It is designed for Jews and non-Jews alike to have an interesting, and thought-provoking experience. Please let us know if you are interested in participating. It is not intended as competition for the conference reception, but rather as an alternative for those who may be uncomfortable ignoring the start of Passover to attend a social gathering.

Digital Inclusion Week

The U.S. National Digital Inclusion Week has completed its move from spring to autumn to align with International Digital Inclusion Week. It is being held October 7-11, 2019 and provides an opportunity to join with others to raise awareness of issues surrounding digital equity. For details see NDIA’s Digital Inclusion Week page. If you are hosting an event, please register as a host and your event will be listed on the NDIA regional list and map.

Barry Glicklich, President PBDD

Katherine Lato, VP Communication PBDD