The Kansas Health Foundation has announced the recipients of the Kansas Digital Equity and Inclusion Collaborative.

Through the forty-two-month initiative, multi-sector community collaboratives will each receive $250,000 to develop and advocate for policies, programs, and services with the potential to promote greater digital access, adoption, literacy, and inclusion among families of color, low-wage worker households, and other Kansas residents experiencing systemic barriers. Grantees will spend the first year planning and engaging their communities and subsequent years implementing plans and policies.

Recipients include the City of Topeka in support of the Topeka Digital Equity Inclusion Partnership Program, which will create part-time technical and digital navigator positions to collect and share community-based resources and provide digital literacy training, equipment, and basic technical support for minority and low-to-moderate-income communities; the Groundwork Northeast Revitalization Group, which will establish a hotspot library and a digital equity taskforce and create a channel for grassroots advocacy and co-learning around digital inclusion for residents experiencing barriers to digital access; KC Digital Drive in support of a collaborative network of stakeholders working to develop projects, programs, and advocacy efforts in partnership with Kansas residents who are low-income, low-wealth, in distressed neighborhoods, or members of minority racial/ethnic groups; and the University of Kansas Center for Research for evidence-based technology education to support reintegration into society for women transitioning from incarceration.

In addition, California-based Harder+Company Community Research will receive $95,000 to evaluate the initiative.