Charlotte Unicorn AvidXchange has partnered with area organizations in an effort to ramp up efforts to close the digital divide.
AvidXchange, a payment automation solutions provider founded in 2000 by Michael Praeger and David Miller, launched AvidXchange Foundation in 2005 as a way to help school-age children in New Orleans who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Rob Phocas, the company's director of corporate social responsibilities, said since then, the foundation has remained focused on K-12 initiatives. He said at the start of 2020, the foundation had two main topics of focus - STEAM projects and career skills.
"When the Black Lives Matter movement exploded, we started taking a hard look at what we were doing and what we were not doing and challenged ourselves to get even more strategic," he said.
In response, the foundation launched Tech Rising, an initiative that will focus on bridging the digital divide in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District. Phocas said Tech Rising will be a three-year, three-pronged initiative that will provide access to tech for 5,000 elementary school students, STEAM programming for 16,000 middle schoolers and career training for 8,000 high schoolers.
Phocas said the foundation is working with organizations that share its mission, including E2D -- “Eliminate the Digital Divide", Charlotte Area Technology Collaborative, Road to Hire, Out Teach, Junior Achievement and Digi-Bridge, as well as corporate partners like Bank of America, Microsoft and Wells Fargo.
"This isn't something we can or want to do alone," he said. "We're working on the goals simultaneously... [Tech Rising] came together quickly, in part to bring more attention to the divide, but also to recognize the work that's already going on."
Phocas said though the initiative is still in its beginning phases, it officially kicked off over the weekend by distributing 400 refurbished laptops to families of students attending CMS Title 1 schools.
He added, "I don't know if we can completely solve [the digital divide], but we can have a big impact if we put our resources together."
