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

View Impact Map

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

2022 study

> Read the report in English

> Read the report in Spanish

2020 study

> Read the report in English

> Read the report in Spanish

measuring impact

Executive summary: Advancing Digital Equity in Essex County Year 1 Evaluation Report Executive Summary

investment areas

Access

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

 

Devices

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

Literacy

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

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.

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

digital equity newsletter

get in touch

Kate Machet headshot

Kate Machet

Director of Strategic Initiatives
k.machet@eccf.org

ECCF Logo in White Overlay

GET IN TOUCH

  1. 175 Andover Street, Suite 101
    Danvers, Massachusetts 01923