The end of the year may be winding down, but the digital equity community is gearing up for one last big Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) gathering.
“Digital Equity Unwrapped” – a special livestream bringing together advocates and broadband-for-all leaders who spent 2025 pushing for a more connected and inclusive nation – is slated for Wednesday, December 17, beginning at 3 pm ET.
Registration is available here.
Co-hosted by the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the final #B4DE of the year will open with a look ahead at Net Inclusion 2026, coming to Chicago this February.
A special gift-wrapped part of the #B4DE line-up will feature Kyla Williams Tate, who will share original poetry grounded in digital equity, reminding us that connectivity isn’t just about infrastructure – but about the human networks that do the work.
Then, attention will turn to a major focus of 2025 for digital equity proponents: fighting for affordability. For that, Lindsey Skolnik of the California Alliance for Digital Equity (CADE) will take center screen to discuss California’s push for statewide affordable broadband legislation.
Modeled on New York’s groundbreaking Affordable Broadband Act, the California effort represents one of the most ambitious state-level attempts to-date in the fight to ensure that cost is not a barrier to Internet access.
Co-host Regina Cooper will then carve out a few minutes to highlight the practical tools and resources that NDIA rolled out this year to support digital inclusion practitioners on the ground. From skill-building materials to community-engagement toolkits, NDIA’s work in 2025 expanded the capacity of local organizations to meet the needs of the unserved and underserved where they are.
To close out the program, attendees will have screen-side seating for a virtual fireside chat with NDIA executive director Angela Siefer and American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) executive director Gigi Sohn, two leaders who have shaped national conversations around broadband, digital inclusion, and local power. That conversation will be moderated by co-host Christopher Mitchell, director of ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks initiative.
Lastly, the livestream – once again sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber – will hold space for audience Q&A and reflections, giving advocates a chance to share insights or important questions from the past year, looking to gather momentum for the next.
The livestream will be available (and later archived) on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn with live viewer questions answered by the invited speakers and presenters, which is still being finalized. We will also be live posting from the Community Broadband Networks Bluesky page.
Registration and event details are available here.
We invite you to save the date, register and join us to wrap up the year with purpose, and step into 2026 ready to build the digital future.
Never seen a Building for Digital Equity event before? Check out our last one below:
Header image of group meeting around a table of laptops courtesy of Horse + Bow, CC BY-NC 4.0, Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
