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:

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

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

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:
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.
learn more about the work
digital equity news
‘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...
Access Opportunities the Focus of Third Meeting of Digital Equity Coalition
By Michelle Xiarhos Curran ECCF Communications Writer More than 80 members of a new Digital Equity Coalition working collaboratively to bridge the digital divide in Essex County met on Dec. 9 to learn about some innovative ways to connect more residents to the...
digital equity newsletter
get in touch

Kate Machet
Director of Strategic Initiatives
k.machet@eccf.org