Lessons learned from the digital divide

Applying worker-centricity to policy and philanthropy

“However, what is not being discussed — and should — is how the digital divide undermines workers’ ability to organize and build power, which is especially critical during crises in our digitally connected world. We must close the digital divide for all workers if there is to be any meaningful increase in worker power.”

Last week, I reviewed an eye-opening new report by Phela Townsend, an entrepreneur at Next 100, a startup think tank for and by the next generation of policy leaders. The piece, titled, “Disconnected: How the Digital Divide Harms Workers and What We Can Do About It,” is packed with insightful knowledge about the roots and implications of America’s digital divide, and includes a comprehensive set of solutions and policy recommendations.

I encourage you all to read the full piece and share it among your networks. For me, reading Townsend’s piece presented new lenses on age-old questions about power — what is it, who holds it, and how does it mold our country’s systems?

Her words, coupled with last week’s XPRIZE webinar about designing solutions with a worker-centered approach and next week’s impending election results, have me thinking more about the collaborative role that philanthropy…