our work

digital equity

Advancing Digital Equity

ECCF’s multi-year, $3 million commitment to empower all residents with the access, education and equipment necessary to successfully navigate our increasingly digital world.

vision for change

By working collaboratively with our communities, we aim to….

connect 20,000 Essex County residents with free or affordable access to the internet.
train 1,000 individuals and business owners to confidently use a computer and perform tasks online.
provide 5,000 Essex County residents with reliable devices so they can engage fully in the digital world.
engage over 100 partners who together will build resiliency for future digital challenges by acting as a countywide network of support.

the data

To better understand the inequities in our communities, ECCF partnered with the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tisch College, Tufts University to produce a baseline analysis of how the digital divide impacts each of Essex County’s 34 cities and towns.

> Read the report in English

> Read the report in Spanish

investment areas

Access

Increasing available opportunities for affordable, quality Wifi or broadband internet service.

Recent News:

Stack of old laptops with dark background

Devices

Working collaboratively with community partners to equip residents with the hardware necessary to connect to and utilize the internet.

Recent News:

January 2022 Devices Update

Group Young Coworkers Making Great Business Decisions.Creative Team Discussion Corporate Work Concept Modern Office.

Literacy

Amplifying digital literacy programming designed to train residents to operate digital devices and successfully navigate the internet.

Recent News:

Website design. Developing programming and coding technologies.

Ecosystem of Support

Uniting cross-sector leaders in a coalition to generate ideas, form partnerships and share information to find sustainable solutions to our region’s digital inequities.

Recent News:

looking forward

ECCF aims to further the depth and scope of this work by identifying and investing in innovative opportunities that break down additional barriers that may intersect with issues of digital inequity, or simultaneously address more than one of the above facets of this work.

Recent investments:

New Telehealth Navigator Program

advancing digital equity media

Six Month Donor Update

January 2022

Advancing Digital Equity Initiative Launch

June 2021

Stratton Lloyd

Rising Together event

North Shore CDC

Salem, MA Access Project

Support ECCF’s efforts to advance digital equity in Essex County.

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learn more about the work

digital equity news

ECCF, Tech Goes Home, The Philanthropic Initiative Talk Digital Equity at National Conference

Chicago – On May 17, Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF) and its partners, Tech Goes Home and The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), spoke to a national audience about regional systems efforts to close the digital divide. The trio was selected to speak at the 2022...

‘This is right where ECCF wants to be’

ECCF sponsors Digital Equity Challenge; MakeIt Haverhill Wins First Place MakeIt Haverhill, an organization that focuses on workforce development initiatives for the city’s residents, was the winner of the Digital Equity Challenge, a pitch competition for innovators...

Federal Funds, showcasing progress highlights of ECCF’s Digital Equity Coalition meeting

Billions of federal dollars will soon make their way to Massachusetts to help the state and local municipalities bridge the digital divide, a technology gap that’s been revealed as a chasm during the pandemic. Across the state, kids attended class in library parking...

Equipment and internet access are key, but training ties it all together

By Michelle Xiarhos Curran ECCF Communications Writer Having a computer and access to the internet is critical to functioning in the everyday world, especially now that so much of what we do happens online. But those things only represent half of the equation. “If you...

Digital equity begins – but doesn’t end – with a reliable device

By Michelle Xiarhos Curran ECCF Communications Writer Melissa Marrama, an insurance executive and avid volunteer from Andover, is known for making good things happen when there is a need anywhere in the community. When she heard about Jeffrey Williams – an Amesbury...

Like electricity and clean water, access to the Internet is a basic need

By Michelle Xiarhos Curran ECCF Communications Writer The Point – a densely populated, culturally diverse neighborhood in north Salem with a large immigrant population – is home to a strong and tight-knit community of residents, students and businesses. It’s also a...