Mission: Tech Goes Home empowers communities to access and use digital tools to overcome barriers and advance lives.
|
|
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Kicking Off the Fall Season
- TGH is Changing Lives
- Introducing Our Newest Board Members
- TGH Ambassador Spotlight: Trainer Jessica Elias
- Summer Celebration Recap
- TGH in the Media
- Digital Inclusion Reading Round-Up
|
|
KICKING OFF THE FALL SEASON
|
|
Sonny Walker Computer Center - Capital One Ready, Set, Bank Course
|
|
In 2019,
3,384 learners have already graduated from 248 TGH courses. Right now, more than
1,000 learners are enrolled in 85 courses. Our dedicated learners are investing in themselves and navigating the Internet to communicate with their child's teacher, checking their bank account, and exploring health resources. For many of our learners it is their very first time accessing these tools.
|
|
Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation
|
|
Every year we conduct an annual follow-up survey to measure TGH's impact. We recently wrapped up collecting responses from learners who graduated in 2018 and
here is a quick preview of the results.
Because of TGH, this past year alone,
- 520 unemployed adults found jobs
- 1,366 adults got better jobs
- 1,108 kids improved their grades
I had never used a computer before and felt hopelessly outdated in the job market. Also, I did not now how to go back to school with only typewriter knowledge. I am now at Quincy College taking Computer 101 and am enrolled in Medical Billing and Coding. This is hard with little experience, but I now feel anything is possible. I needed Tech Goes Home!
– Carol, TGH Community Graduate
During the TGH Course, I learned how to turn on the computer and how it works, how to search in Google and how to log in and check my children’s grades. This leads me to reach my personal goals which are to know what grades my children are getting and based on that, help them improve their skills and grades.
– Aicha, TGH School Graduate
There is a lot more to dive into and we will be sure to share the full report once it is finalized.
|
|
INTRODUCING OUR NEWEST BOARD MEMBERS
|
|
David Elges, CIO for the City of Boston and new TGH Board Member speaks about the City's support for TGH at the Summer Celebration
|
|
Less than four years ago, TGH's Board of Directors was a small but mighty 'caretaker' board of two. As we've grown our programs and fundraising to support our expanded programming, we've recognized the need to cultivate passionate leaders to serve on our Board. We are now fortunate to have 13 dedicated professionals serving on our board and we'd like to briefly introduce you to our four newest members.
Aditi Taylor
-
Aditi is the Chief Risk officer at MFS Investment Management. She was formerly a Principal with Deloitte, where she worked for 18 years driving large scale advisory and implementation projects. She also led the Boston Diversity and Inclusion initiative. For the past two years, she has served as the President of the India Association of Greater Boston and is now bringing her problem-solving skills to TGH.
Bruce Glabe
- Bruce is the former Chief Financial and Chief Strategy Officer and a current advisor for the Appalachian Mountain Club, roles he assumed after a successful career in various executive positions for the computer and digital information industry. During his fifteen-year tenure with the AMC staff he helped lead conception, organization, and financing of several major strategic initiatives, dramatically expanding AMC’s program base. His penchant for “big thinking” is already helping us consider the future of TGH in new ways.
David Elges
- David is the new Chief Information Officer for the City of Boston and a member of Mayor Walsh's cabinet. Most recently, he was head of IT for Washington, DC. He brings 20 years of experience in the tech sector.
Maria Harris
-
Maria is the Director of Adult Education for Boston Public Schools and a 30+ year veteran of BPS. As head of the Adult Learning Center, a long-time partner of TGH, we have collaborated with Maria on many projects, including a recent set of courses teaching her
adult students and their children how to code using Scratch Jr.
We'd also like to thank former Board Members Chris Wixom, Claire Wadlington, and Laura Lee Mittelman for serving on our Board during a time of exponential change and growth.
|
|
TGH AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT: TRAINER JESSICA ELIAS
|
|
Jessica Elias teaching a TGH Community Course at BPL's Central Library
|
|
Jessica started at the Boston Public Library (BPL) as a floating librarian in 2014 and is now the Curriculum Development Coordinator. Jess' first TGH class was in January of 2016 and since then, she has taught six TGH Courses at multiple BPL locations, graduating 50+ learners.
Jess recognizes the vital role that libraries hold as a resource to the community and is committed to sharing her knowledge. For the TGH community, Jess hosted a TGH Trainer Professional Development workshop titled "Making the most out of BPL resources for your TGH participants!," which was greatly appreciated by our trainers.
Every morning, I embrace my day with a sense of humor and a friendly face. I am a teacher at heart and believe in building a teaching culture at the library. I wake up every day to think about how I can make someone’s life a little better. How can I use my job to better serve the people in my community-the unemployed, the homeless, the retired, EVERYONE.
Jess has a background in publishing and artwork. She enjoys listening to music from the 60’s, especially the lounge genre. Jess’s rich background in art and music has inspired her to tailor her classes in ways that help her adult learners overcome their fear of technology.
In one of my classes, I had an older man who would always apologize for everything. He was intimidated by technology. One day, we were searching for music on Youtube and it amazed him how we located a song he knew back when he was young. His face lit up and he wanted to know how to search for his other favorite music. He found songs from his home country (Columbia), and created a playlist for himself. This meant so much to him. The joy from this man makes me understand how technology can impact everyone differently.
As centers of knowledge and learning, libraries are an invaluable resource for our community. Over the past two years, librarians at various BPL branches have taught 28 TGH courses. TGH is grateful for our strong partnership with the BPL and for trainers like Jess, who make digital skills training accessible to our adult learners.
|
|
On a gorgeous Saturday in July, hundreds of TGH graduates and their families with TGH staff, board members, and volunteers celebrated our graduates' achievement of completing 15-hours of digital skills training. It was a fun-filled morning with m
usic, magic, dancing, face painting and so much more. Thank you to our community and our sponsors.
|
|
To see all the pictures from the event, view the the
flickr album
.
|
|
TGH IN THE MEDIA AND EVENTS
|
|
- BroadbandNow named the City of Boston one of its Digital Inclusion Trailblazers of 2019. BroadbandNow focused on the City's longstanding partnership and the foundational support it provides Tech Goes Home as a key indicator of the City's commitment for digital inclusion.
- TGH was featured as a resource for low-income families in The Boston Globe - Back to school: Internet access is essential these days, and yes, there are affordable options
- Comcast Internet Essentials recently announced the largest eligibility expansion in Massachusetts to provide low-cost Internet to families on public assistance. Business Insider covered the announcement and Tech Goes Home's partnership with Comcast to bridge the digital divide.
- Dan and Theo were featured at a Boston City Council Luncheon in July and presented about the impact of TGH on their constituents.
- Dan spoke on the panel Innovative Solutions for Digital Inclusion at the Internet Governance Forum USA held in Washington, D.C.
|
|
DIGITAL INCLUSION READING ROUND-UP
|
|
In this new section, we are including a few of the articles, reports, podcasts and other digital inclusion news we've been reading.
|
|
TGH’s work is only possible with contributions from donors, like you, and municipal, corporate, and foundation grants. Thank you for supporting TGH.
An extra thank you to the following lead donors for their extraordinary support!
|
|
For more information about Tech Goes Home, please call (617) 398-7831, email Dan Noyes at dan@techgoeshome.org, or email Theo Hanna at theo@techgoeshome.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|