National Urban League joins Comcast in Chicago to talk about the digital divide, share results of a joint digital literacy skills training partnership
CHICAGO (October 1, 2018) — National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial and Chicago Urban League Interim President Barbara Lumpkin joined Comcast to celebrate a partnership has connected nearly 300,000 low-income Chicagoans to affordable internet access and provided hundreds more with digital literacy training.
“While African-Americans are among the most prolific users of digital technology and the leading influencers on social media, we are drastically underrepresented in tech jobs,” said NUL President and Chief Executive Officer Marc Morial, noting that the NUL has devoted 2018 to exploring the intersection between technology and racial justice.
According to the Urban League’s 2018 Digital Inclusion Index, less than five percent of the workforce in social media and technology companies is African American. “Increasing access to computers, the Internet and digital skills training will help close the gap,” Morial said. “The Urban League has been partnering with Comcast to grow digital skills and spread the word about Internet Essentials, because the program has been very effective in addressing the causes of the digital divide.”
Urban League affiliates around the country have been instrumental in connecting households with Comcast’s Internet Essentials, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive high-speed Internet adoption program for low-income Americans. Chicago remains the top city for participation.
The Chicago Urban League is one of eight affiliates where the partnership also includes a digital literacy training program. About 3,000 people will have been trained this year, nationwide, through the partnership with Comcast.
According to the U.S. Census American Community Survey, 80 percent of all Chicago households subscribe to an Internet service, but only 61 percent of households with an annual income of less than $35,000 do. Comcast developed Internet Essentials to close that digital divide by addressing each of the three major barriers to broadband adoption that research has identified. These include: a lack of digital literacy skills, the lack of a computer and the absence of a low-cost Internet service.
“Partnerships with non-profit organizations have been crucial to Internet Essentials’ success and Comcast’s efforts to close the digital divide,” said David L. Cohen, Comcast’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer. “We need to go into our neighborhoods with partners who are there every day, on every issue, and work alongside them to connect families one-by-one across the country.”
The Chicago Urban League was part of the first “Internet Essentials Learning Zone,” which launched in late 2013. Through the zones, Comcast has funded digital literacy training at several participating nonprofits in several low-income neighborhoods.
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