Digital Literacy Fellows Sought for Kansas City

by | May 28, 2015 | Uncategorized

Access is the first step. Inclusion is the second.

Google Fiber has already brought about tremendous progress in bridging Kansas City’s digital divide by placing its network in many of our poorest neighborhoods.

But all that fiber won’t make a difference unless people are using it.

That’s why we at KC Digital Drive are excited that Google Fiber is partnering with the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) to place Digital Inclusion Fellows in KC and seven other Google Fiber metros.

Read the announcement on the Google Fiber blog. Two fellows will be placed in each city. Applications to become a fellow are open until June 10. Those interested should apply here: http://www.nten.org/community/dif

Digital Inclusion Fellowship Graphic

Google & NTEN are looking for fellows to help bridge the divide in KC.

“We’re excited about the projects that they and their fellows will lead, and the impact they’ll have on closing the digital divide,” said Kansas City Google Fiber Community Manager Rachel Merlo in an email last week.

The Kansas City fellows will work through the Full Employment Council and Literacy Kansas City to develop programs and work with clients. According to Merlo, the FEC will offer digital literacy classes in computer labs across the city and educate people on affordable home Internet options.

Best known for teach adults to read, Literacy KC has recently begun offering excellent computer classes (peggy video). As part of this program, LKC will conduct research and hold focus groups to determine what new classes are needed and then work those classes into their curriculum.

Recruitment for the fellows begins now, so if you know anyone with the skills and passion to teach digital literacy, encourage them to apply!

Further Reading

Insights from Digital Navigators at the July Coalition Meeting

The July 2026 meeting of the Kansas City Coalition for Digital Inclusion explored the results of the National Digital Navigator Corps pilot and featured a dynamic panel of local navigators. The session highlighted the importance of trust, “third spaces,” and culturally responsive support, while also addressing urgent federal policy shifts regarding E-rate funding.

Read More

When Your Address Determines Your Access

The June meeting of the KC Coalition for Digital Inclusion brought together four voices from the region’s affordable housing and digital equity sectors for a rich conversation on how housing stability and internet access shape each other. Health Forward Foundation’s Adriana Pecina and John Tramel, LISC Greater Kansas City Executive Director Geoff Jolly, Hispanic Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) Executive Director Pedro Zamora, and Phoenix Family Program Manager Jessica Welch joined KC Digital Drive Digital Inclusion Program Manager Leslie Scott to explore what it means to live at the intersection of two of Kansas City’s most persistent inequities.

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How Researchers Address the Digital Divide Through Social Drivers of Health

In recognition of May as “Research Month”, Children’s Mercy Research Institute’s division of Health Services and Outcomes Research organized several “Lunch and Learn” sessions to highlight important topics for their researchers. The final session focused on the challenge of representative studies for improving both for quality and reach. KC Digital Drive worked with the CMRI team to provide further context for the session’s presentation, but also to help them create a version of Digital Drive’s Digital Divide Simulation (DDS) so that the researchers could see first-hand the circumstances which touch many of their patients and even more families beyond.

Read More