Awarded! Seattle, WA 2022 Digital Equity Grant Recipients

The city of Seattle, WA has announced its 2022 digital equity grant recipients. 19 non-profits which serve residents in all City Council Districts received a total of US$590,000. The nonprofits offer training in parent engagement, beginner digital literacy, career training, educational opportunities, along with general life skills. 

Funding for the awards comes from the Technology Matching Fund (TMF) grants and the Digital Navigator Cohort. TMF offers up to $25,000 for qualifying non-profit organizations with digital equity projects. The city’s Digital Navigator Cohort awards up to $50,000. 

The 2022 Digital Equity Grant winners include: 

  • The Seattle Jobs Inititative’s Digital Bridge  which offers offers multilingual training and digital literacy courses;
  • Path with Art provides hardware and digital connectivity to no/low-income adults living in permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, tiny homes, or unsheltered;
  • Dress for Success Seattle  provides digital training & technical assistance for women;
  • Mini Mart City Park is a community-led cultural center which hosts events, programs, and workshops;
  • The YWCA provides digital literacy instruction and coaching along with a new “loan to own” laptop program to 70 limited-English-speaking residents, immigrants, refugees, and other BIPOC residents;
  • PROVAIL provides The Technology Lab and the Adaptive Technology Lending Library;
  • Elizabeth Home provides technical equipment for use by its day center clients, for access to healthcare, government benefits, job searches, etc;
  • Jewish Family Service of Seattle will provide digital skills training and equipment such as phones, laptops, and Wi-Fi to 50 refugees and immigrants in the city;
  • The Prison Scholar Fund has a new program – the Information Highway Onramping (IHO) program – which has the goal of providing digital literacy to justice-involved BIPOC community members;
  • Renaissance 21 has a Technology Education and Employment Navigation (T.E.E.N.) Empowerment Project;
  • The Ethnic Cultural Heritage Exchange’s DIGITIZE Youth Programs provide an introductory understanding of coding, design, and digital literacy concepts;
  • The Khmer Community of Seattle King County plans to distribute tablets and Wi-Fi connectivity to 20 low-income and refugee families and match them with five young Khmer community members as Tech Support Buddies;
  • Helping Link’s 2022-2023 Enhancing Equity with Education & Equipment project will support the local Vietnamese American community with a new technical curriculum and devices;
  • The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is offering Crash Mobile – a series of free, immersive filmmaking workshops for BIPOC youth ages 8-13;
  • The Multimedia Resources and Training Institute (MMRTI) Digital Navigators Project will continue addressing digital adoption barriers experienced by community members disproportionately impacted by the digital divide;
  • The Eritrean Association’s Digital Navigator Project will offer comprehensive technical support to Eritreans of all ages;
  • Villa Comunitaria provides technical assistance and expertise to residents in Spanish;
  • Somali Community Services of Seattle provides digital literacy training to Somali residents; and
  • Kin On Health Care Center is a technology program designed to enable Asian seniors aged 55+ to increase technology skills and improve access to digital resources.

“Improving digital access, literacy, and equity is essential to our city’s future and is a cause I’ve championed for years. Every resident needs to have not only access to our digital world, but the skills to navigate it successfully,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “I’m thrilled the City is delivering these digital equity grants to support our communities as we work together to build a connected and thriving One Seattle.”