Google Fiber has named two Charlotte-based digital-literacy advocates among its 2022 cohort of Digital Inclusion fellows. The program provides nonprofit professionals with the resources and training needed to improve digital equity in communities across the nation.
Chantez Neymoss, senior program manager for Adult Services at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, and Natali Betancur, deputy director at The Center for Digital Equity in Charlotte, were among 17 leaders across the U.S. chosen to work with Google Fiber through the program. As fellows, the duo will plan, innovate and launch a sustainable digital-literacy program in the Charlotte area to simplify access to internet and teach people the skills to navigate it.
The yearlong fellowship, which was co-founded in 2015 with NTEN, a nonprofit technology enterprise, will also advance the local fellows’ mission in their organizations. Google Fiber and NTEN chose professionals that have deep connections with communities most impacted by digital inequality.
How Betancur plans to improve digital literacy in the Charlotte area
The Center for Digital Equity is an organization housed at Queens University of Charlotte that collectively strives to make Mecklenburg County the most digitally equitable community in America. CDE works with an advisory board and community council that includes the city, county, library, school system, nonprofits, residents and other organizations who share the same mission.
As deputy director of CDE, Betancur leads planning and execution of the community council’s collective goals. She also supervises CDE operations, including the digital navigator service. Betancur plans to apply the fellowship toward progressing digital literacy in the region.
“Whether it's providing devices, whether we're providing base technical support or when we're in the community just providing awareness,” she said. “It's really connecting those opportunities in what we hope to be a journey map, and that is focused on personas. Everyone in our community is different. We have different backgrounds. I know I do. And we have different goals that we set our mind to. So, we want to make sure that we create a journey map that really represents that, to ultimately help individuals through digital literacy be able to meet the goals that they have.”
Betancur, an immigrant from Colombia, said she was raised in a single-parent home. She knows what it's like to not have access to technology or internet.
“I have personally experienced what it's like to not have the access,” she said. “My mother worked three jobs. There really wasn't the opportunity to have extra items, which included internet, which included additional support, and so I think that has really given me the passion and has driven my passion in digital equity work.”
What are top priorities for Neymoss?
The second Charlotte fellow, Neymoss, has worked in public libraries for over 10 years and currently coordinates adult programming across 20 county locations, including digital literacy for adults. As senior program manager, she ensures Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is providing the educational resources and support adults need to succeed in today's society. Neymoss says digital literacy can be complex to address. With the fellowship, she hopes to make the educational process simpler.
“I would really like to use this opportunity to better connect our digital-literacy offerings across the county,” she said. “Since the pandemic, digital literacy is finally kind of getting the recognition that it needs and how important it is to have those skills. There's a lot of attention on digital literacy, and it's a really challenging thing to address. But we have a lot of wonderful folks in Charlotte that are working towards addressing digital literacy. What I’d really like to do with this fellowship is create a program that crosses all of these organizations and really allows it for a person in Mecklenburg County who wants to get digital skills.”
Neymoss started her career in 2014 at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Matthews branch. She taught a digital-literacy class that had one student attend the first session. The excitement the student received upon learning how to access the internet easier and safer is what pushed Neymoss to continue her digital equity journey.
“So, that was really what started me on this journey is seeing one-to-one how much impact you can make by just sitting down with someone and being supportive of their journey as they're learning digital skills,” she said.
The pair expects to collaborate
Neymoss and Betancur plan to collaborate during the fellowship program, which begins this week. Neymoss said one of those collaborations involves distributing 20,000 laptops over the next year through an $8 million grant the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library received earlier this year. The laptops will go to 10,000 families and households, and Betancur and her team will focus on how to integrate digital literacy once people receive their devices.
“I'm going to work on coordinating digital literacy across the county,” Neymoss said. “And then (Betancur’s) going to work on integrating that with the laptop distributions.”
Neymoss and Betancur, along with the other 15 fellows, will receive innovative training, connections, resources and opportunities such as speaking at conferences, presenting webinars and publishing articles.
