The Digital Literacy Alliance (DLA) announced its latest cycle of grant funding. This cycle focused on creative efforts to engage residents and community members as volunteers, peer leaders, and community ambassadors.  

The Independence Public Media Foundation (IPMF) awarded the Digital Literacy Alliance $157,000 to support this set of initiatives. AT&T also gave a grant of $25,000. In total, $205,000 was awarded to six organizations planning to engage community members to bring digital inclusion programs to life. 

The goal of the Digital Literacy Alliance is to lift up promising ideas that connect Philadelphia’s highest need communities with the City’s Digital Equity programs. This cycle will activate local residents to take on this charge and grow a valuable ecosystem of local residents spreading the word to their neighbors, friends, and family members. 

The following local groups received two years of funding:  

  • Asian Americans United (AAU): ($30,000) – AAU’s project will create multilingual outreach materials, activate AAU volunteers and youth peer leaders, engage youth participants in AAU’s year-round digital skills workshops, and train volunteers on digital voter engagement tools.
  • Center in the Park (CIP): ($30,000) – Center in the Park’s project will recruit and train a cohort of older adults to serve as Digital Ambassadors and volunteer peer educators. Volunteers will provide 12-week digital skills training courses at 8 partnering senior housing facilities, other senior centers, and organizations serving older adults in Northwest Philadelphia.
  • Health Federation ($40,000) – Health Federation’s “Building Digital Resiliency Project,” will place 1-2 Digital Health Navigators within local health care organizations and train existing team members and National Health Corps volunteers across the city in Digital Health Navigation.
  • Philly Community Wireless (PCW): ($40,000) – Philly Community Wireless will host a series Wi-Fi Town Halls with community-based organizations exploring how community–controlled Wi-Fi networks can connect residents with Philadelphia’s digital equity ecosystem. PCW will develop a Volunteer Guide providing technical instruction and recruit volunteer and community ambassadors.  
  • Temple University Community Gateway ($40,000) – Temple’s Community Gateway program will develop the “Digital Inclusion Discovery Passport” project, a gamification model of digital skills training. They will also promote existing city digital resources to North Philadelphia residents, enabling them to become Ambassadors in their neighborhoods.
  • The Welcoming Center: ($15,000 + $25,000 from AT&T) – The Welcoming Center’s “Digital Bridge Program” will develop a series of workshops for English language learners using Northstar Digital Literacy and TypingClub. They will train a cohort of TWC participants as Peer Facilitators who will lead the Northstar and TypingClub workshops for immigrant and refugee learners at TWC locations and other community-based venues. 

The Digital Literacy Alliance (DLA) is a coalition of digital inclusion partners working to overcome the digital divide in Philadelphia. DLA develops strategies, manages a seed fund, raises funding, and oversees funded programs. The DLA is coordinated by the City’s DigitalEquityPHL team and includes leaders in government, nonprofits, local companies, universities, and more. Members meet monthly for proposal reviews, grant-making, and fundraising.  

Learn more about the Digital Literacy Alliance (DLA)