Technology Integration

Today, leading nonprofits are working towards technology integration — weaving technology strategies throughout their organizational cultures to enhance programmatic efforts and social outcomes, as well as operational effectiveness. Below is a list of projects and initiatives we are currently implementing with our philanthropic partners:

To select a category, please click on the links below:

Broadband Adoption

Community Leadership Project

Building Healthy Communities

Pioneers in Justice

Web Made Movies

Broadband Adoption

ZeroDivide was awarded $2,070,399 in two grants from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). As part of the Federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), we are in the implementation stage of two programs focused on broadband adoption.

Generation ZD - Youth Media Initiative (Arizona, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington)

Tribal Digital Village Broadband Adoption Program (California)

Generation ZeroDivide (Gen ZD)

ZeroDivide is creating a new generation of youth technology users within underserved communities in California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington states.

The “Generation ZD Digital Literacy Program” targets low-income, minority, disabled, and otherwise underserved youth between the ages of 5-25, who have limited or no access to digital and information technology in the home. These young people will be served through a three-prong approach of a digital literacy skills curriculum; an online content creation and distribution program; and capacity-building and sustainability efforts at community anchor institutions within each participant state.

Working in partnership with 7 community anchor institutions across 6 western states, ZeroDivide will train new broadband users, build replicable best practices digital media curricula, and provide technical assistance and capacity-building support.

The Community Anchor Institutions are Access Humboldt, CA; Akaku: Maui Community Television, HI; Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Fe, NM; Community Media Access Partnership (CMAP), CA; Portland Community Media, OR; Reel Grrls, WA; and Spy Hop Productions, UT. They will be supported in disability accessibility work by the Alliance for Technology Access.

Access Humboldt is an innovative, self-sustaining media resource for community anchor institutions, residents, local governments, educational institutions and in Humboldt County, CA. Access Humboldt will conduct sustainable training, skill-sharing and workforce development programs for the North Coast region of California, including youth from the Native American Table Bluff Wiyot Tribe, Karuk Tribe, and Hoopa Tribe.

Akaku: Maui Community Television is designated by the Hawaii Dept. of Commerce and Consumer Affairs as the sole provider of Public Education Government access services in Maui. Akaku’s key role is to implement digital literacy training to Maui’s rural Native Hawaiian and minority youth through its (Project YBEAM) Youth Broadband Education & Awareness Mentoring), an online peer-to-peer program for and about Maui’s marginalized youth. YBEAM provides computer literacy training and raises awareness of broadband technology through TV, radio, webstreaming, and education. The Akaku Y-Beam Project will recruit interpreters to work with their computer technology/broadband/media literacy trainers to culturally/linguistically competently serve youth constituents who speak Ilocano, Tagalog, Spanish and various Pacific Islander dialects. The project will also acquire adaptive technologies such as Merit ESL, Interchange, and Connect in order to help students master new media skills.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Fe (BGCSF): This Intel Computer Clubhouse will provide low-income youth ages 6 to18 with access to broadband technology, hardware, interactive software, and mentorship and training. Over 50% of BGCSF staff is bilingual, and most BGCSF materials are offered in both English and Spanish, to serve members for whom English is not the first language or the language spoken at home. BGCSF is also culturally sensitive to the different approaches needed to serve Spanish-speaking new immigrant families versus multi-generational Santa Fe resident families of Hispanic origin.

Community Media Access Partnership (CMAP) provides free and low-cost media literacy, multimedia storytelling, technology, and video production trainings to residents, community organizations and educators. Through digital media content creation and internet literacy programs, CMAP provides broadband education, awareness, training, access, equipment, and support to community anchor institutions, job-creating facilities, where vulnerable populations are served. CMAP’s large limited English English proficient population will be served through bilingual (English-Spanish) instruction, including Spanish language video and multi-media production trainings.

Portland Community Media (PCM) is dedicated to increasing technical proficiency and reducing technology disparities among youth, the economically disadvantaged, persons of color, immigrants, veterans and persons with disabilities. PCM will implement a Youth Media curriculum for youth aged 14 to 18 to help participants develop a passion for technology, resulting in improved study habits, critical thinking, problem-solving and team-building skills. Media produced by participants will air on PCM’s cable channels.

Reel Grrls empowers young women from diverse communities to realize their talent, power and influence through media production. Reel Grrls is the first all-girl, year-round media training program in the US. BTOP funds will support an afterschool and weekend digital literacy program, and expand a three-month apprenticeship into a year-round program where teen girls produce videos for non-profits. Reel Grrls participants come from populations most vulnerable to recession effects, including young women on probation, foster care, and/or from low-income neighborhoods.

Spy Hop Productions is a youth media arts center that provides safe after-school mentoring programs in film/video production, radio, music, sound engineering, digital design, and animation. Participating youth (K-12) use media to engage in their communities and to learn critical thinking. BTOP funding will support programs, which provide hands-on and project- based learning experiences to promote positive youth development through individuality, creativity, leadership, and intellectual curiosity.

GenZD is a project of ZeroDivide funded by the U.S. Government's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

Tribal Digital Village Broadband Adoption Program

Through the “Tribal Digital Village Broadband Adoption Program,” ZeroDivide will work with Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association (SCTCA) to implement a four-prong broadband adoption strategy which encompasses an outreach and public awareness campaign; basic digital literacy skills training; advanced content creation training; and sustainability. The proposed program is expected to raise broadband adoption among SCTCA’s 8,900 Tribal community members from the current 17% baseline to over 70%. It will also augment deployment of a residential broadband network to 2,000 Tribal homes. Geographic isolation and cultural barriers make tribal communities particularly vulnerable to disparities in broadband deployment and adoption.

SCTCA encompasses the reservations of 19 federally recognized tribes, primarily located in San Diego County, California, and reaching from southern Riverside County southward 150 miles to the US-Mexico border.

Tribal Digital Village Broadband Adoption Program is a project of ZeroDivide funded by the U.S. Government's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

Community Leadership Project: Building Technology Capacity

ZeroDivide is working to strengthen the technology capacity of 100 minority-led, community-based organizations in the Bay Area, Central Coast and Central Valley as part of the Community Leadership Project, a project of the Hewlett, Irvine and Packard foundations. Through this program, ZeroDivide is conducting organizational technology assessments, developing strategic technology plans, implementing technology solutions, joint training and peer learning sessions, and ongoing support.

Building Healthy Communities: Technology Capacity Assessment

In partnership with The California Endowment, ZeroDivide is supporting the achievement of the 10 Building Healthy Community (BHC) Outcomes by providing a better understanding of the technology capacity of the 14 BHC Hub/Collaboratives. ZeroDivide will provide recommendations on how each Hub/Collaborative can utilize technology to achieve greater impact of the BHC initiative in its community.

Pioneers in Justice – Social Media Cohort

ZeroDivide is working with a group of next generation San Francisco-based social justice leaders, selected by the Levi Strauss Foundation through their Pioneers In Justice Initiative. Highly motivated to leverage social media, these key influencers, understand the value of enabling their organizations to expand their reach and achieve their mission. ZeroDivide is providing strategic advice on program design and implementation, and conducting a technology/social media capacity building program for each organization.

Web Made Movies: Media Literacy Skills

Mozilla and ZeroDivide are working with young media-makers in Oakland, California to explore the possibilities of web-native storytelling. Using tools like Popcorn, and Butter, participants will weave live data from sources like Twitter and Google Maps into original video content. Participants will create four state-of-the-art, web-native video productions for local community organizations. In the process, they will learn practical web development skills to make them active learners in their digital environment. The video shorts will be screened locally and at mozilla.org.