A graduate with two Tech Goes Home instructors at North Suffolk Community Services in Chelsea, MA. Photo Credit: North Suffolk Community Services

We are thrilled to announce that, last week, TGH received a historic, $4.5 million grant from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) to support our programming and expand digital equity across Massachusetts. This grant – the largest single grant in TGH’s history – came from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars designated by the Federal government for digital equity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TGH's Chief Advocacy Officer Marvin Venay (center) with fellow grantees, MBI officials, and Massachusetts Sec. of Economic Development Yvonne Hao

TGH wouldn’t have been able to secure a historic grant at this scale if it weren’t for the commitment and partnership from our private sector funders and individual supporters. This grant represents a significant step towards narrowing the digital divide in Massachusetts. However, even with this historic investment, significant unmet need remains in cities and towns across our state. We look forward to growing our partnerships in the private sector to support and sustain our expansion work beyond the two-year grant period.

TGH recently released a report highlighting the success of our pilot programming across Essex County. In June of 2021, TGH and Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF) launched a partnership to make TGH's digital inclusion programming available to residents of Essex County. ECCF is providing three years of foundational philanthropic support to enable TGH to expand into seven municipalities across the county, including six Gateway Cities.

The partnership began with a pilot of 50 households across five program sites in five municipalities. When the pilot concluded in May of 2022, more than 100 learners had completed the program, and our data shows significant impact. Since the end of the pilot, nearly 200 additional learners have graduated from TGH programs in Essex County. Read more about TGH’s collaboration with one of our programmatic partners, MakeIT Haverhill (pictured above), in this article from The Eagle-Tribune.

TGH continues to build partnerships with more organizations in Essex County, with a focus on the Gateway Cities. If your organization is interested in partnering with TGH, please complete this form.

TGH's Chief Advocacy Officer Marvin Venay was honored as one of Boston’s Most Influential Men of Color for 2023 by Get Konnected!, an award-winning, nationally-recognized model for inclusive business networking and connection founded by Colette Phillips.

Since joining TGH in 2021, Marvin has led the organization’s advocacy efforts

aimed at deepening awareness about digital inequity in Massachusetts.

TGH's CEO Dan Noyes recently wrote an op-ed published in the Boston Business Journal highlighting the pervasive digital divide in Massachusetts and encouragaing the new governor's administration to prioritize digital inclusion.

TGH is looking to grow our network of partner organizations across our expanding service area! Partners include schools, libraries, community centers, social service providers, and nonprofit organizations that already work with community members who are facing barriers to digital access.

We are actively seeking partnerships in the following cities: Brockton, Chelsea, Everett, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Quincy, Revere, Springfield, and Worcester. We also continue to accept partners across our full service area. Click here for a list of all municipalities where we work.

If you are interested in partnering with TGH, please complete this form.

Left to Right: Demi Padilla, Mia Crabbe, Nicole Monique Beede, and Marwa Alnaal

TGH is excited to welcome new staff members to support our growing digital inclusion work.

Demi Padilla, Director of Operations (she/her) is responsible for the development and implementation of TGH's technological systems to support efficient, seamless operations of our scaling program.

Mia Crabbe, Chief People Officer (she/her) manages TGH's DEIB people strategy and processes related to the growth and development of TGH staff which will support our expansion.

Nicole Monique Beede, Manager of Partnerships (she/her) builds relationships with community organizations that host TGH programs at their sites in both existing and new communities where TGH offers programming.

Marwa Alnaal, Regional Advocacy Director (she/her) joins TGH as our first Worcester-based team member, and she will lead TGH's advocacy work in Worcester.

TGH is also currently hiring for several open roles. For more information, please visit our website.

We are thrilled to announce that Colin Cabral, Partner at Proskauer Rose LLP, has joined TGH's Board of Directors. Colin is a litigator and trial lawyer specializing in complex patent, intellectual property, and contract disputes. Prior to his current role, Colin served as in-house litigation counsel at a global life sciences company. He also served as a special assistant district attorney in Dorchester, MA. In addition to his board service at TGH, Colin currently serves as Board Chairman of FreeFrom, a charitable organization that helps survivors of domestic violence achieve financial independence.

The TGH team has been working to support community members in accessing the ACP benefit. We have already surpassed 100 learner enrollments in the ACP!

If you’d like to learn more about signing up for the ACP, check out this video. If you have any questions or would like one-on-one help enrolling in the ACP, please send an email to acp@techgoeshome.org.

For more information about the ACP, including how to sign up, click here.

In the four years that BEST Hospitality Training has been offering TGH programming, more than 300 learners have graduated from their courses. BEST integrates the TGH program into their job training programs, which prepare participants for careers in the hospitality industry, so that graduates have the digital skills they need to thrive in their careers. BEST's TGH courses cover topics such as using email, creating resumes and cover letters, and completing online job applications. Learn more about their impactful work here.

TGH was honored to be awarded a generous grant from The Devonshire Foundation that will enable TGH to dramatically expand our internal capacity and support the expansion of our digital equity programming to more communities around the Commonwealth.

Kate Grundy, Executive Director of The Devonshire Foundation, shared: “This support reflects The Devonshire Foundation's commitment to local organizations that are making an impact on systemic disparities affecting young people and their families and communities. Tech Goes Home has established a successful model and become a leader in addressing the digital equity gap. Providing funding to increase Tech Goes Home's organizational capacity will support their long-term growth, ultimately creating even stronger outcomes for the families and communities they serve.”

Thank you to The Devonshire Foundation for their critical support of TGH and our digital inclusion work.

Several members of the TGH team attended the Net Inclusion Conference in San Antonio, TX, where digital inclusion experts and practitioners from across the country shared ideas and exchanged best practices.

TGH’s Director of Evaluation, Barbara Kim, presented to attendees about TGH’s approach to evaluating our digital inclusion programming, based on our years of experience collecting valuable, actionable survey data and feedback from program participants. With so many examples of the power of digital inclusion, Angela Siefer, Executive Director of the conference’s host National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), shared her reflection that the philanthropic community’s support of digital inclusion work is likely to grow as more funders “realize that digital inclusion is part of their missions” to improve education, economic opportunity, health, and community engagement.

TGH is grateful to our current supporters who have helped meaningfully advance digital equity across Massachusetts, and we are excited to identify new partners who recognize the importance of digital inclusion for all.

• $14M to address digital divide in Massachusetts (WWLP)
• Tech Goes Home receives $4.5M grant to expand its digital equity outreach (MassNonprofit News)
• Digital access remains a problem (CommonWealth Magazine)
• Tech Goes Home receives $728K grant from the Devonshire Foundation (MassNonprofit News)
• We need to ensure that all patients have digital access (The Boston Globe)
• Uploading a resume is a barrier to employment for some job seekers, even during a labor shortage (New England Public Media)
• MakeIT Haverhill helps narrow the digital divide (The Eagle Tribune)

In collaboration with our network of outstanding partners, Tech Goes Home is working to advance digital equity in Massachusetts.

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Tech Goes Home is grateful to our lead corporate, foundation, government, and philanthropic supporters: