In this episode of Unbuffered, Chris is joined by Samantha Schartman, Director of Philanthropic Programs at Connect Humanity, to discuss the Alt Funding Field Guide: Building Sustainable Funding for Digital Adoption. 

The guide is a new resource that maps how digital skills and connectivity programs create value across six sectors: education, healthcare, telecom, workforce development, housing, and local government.

Samantha shares the personal history behind the guide. She helped lead the BTOP-funded Connect Your Community program, which trained 33,000 first-time computer users across five states, only to see its staff laid off when federal funding ended. 

She describes watching the field rebuild during the pandemic with ARPA and Capital Projects Fund dollars, then shrink again after the Digital Equity Act was canceled. That experience led her to form the Alt Funding Working Group, which has grown from six people to more than 150 leaders nationwide.

Together, they dig into the core idea of co-investment. Rather than relying on the next grant, programs can show local stakeholders the value they receive and ask them to invest in proportion to it. 

That could be a hospital system cutting emergency costs, an ISP gaining subscribers, or a housing provider seeing more regular rent payments. Samantha explains why this requires programs to move from testimonials to measurable outcomes, and to redesign their work around community goals.

Concluding with a case for government efficiency, Samantha shares findings from her Connecting Cuyahoga report. It found that serving social service clients offline costs roughly four times as much as serving them online, meaning digital inclusion programs can pay for themselves. 

Chris and Samantha also take aim at wasteful policies, like Medicaid-funded tablets locked to a single use, and preview future episodes that will dive deeper into each sector.

For more information about Connect Humanity's Alt Funding Field Guide, click here!

This show is 48 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed. 

You can also check out the video version via YouTube.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Whitedrift for the song Operator, licensed Creative Commons Attribution (3.0).

In this episode of the podcast, Chris speaks with Jade Piros de Carvalho, the former head of the Kansas Office of Broadband Development. They delve into the complexities and challenges of addressing the digital divide, reflecting on Jade’s experience leading the office during a period of significant investment in broadband infrastructure.

Jade shares her journey from working in rural broadband expansion to being tasked with overseeing a historic influx of funding aimed at improving broadband access in Kansas. They discuss the multifaceted nature of broadband deployment, the importance of community-driven solutions, and the hurdles encountered, including navigating federal guidelines, local policies, and the practicalities of fiber deployment in underserved areas.

The conversation also touches on the personal and professional challenges of public sector work, the scrutiny faced by public officials, and the intense workload required to meet ambitious broadband goals. Jade highlights the critical role of collaboration and support in achieving lasting impact and her commitment to ensuring that broadband initiatives benefit Kansans for decades to come.kan

This show is 32 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Angela Siefer (Executive Director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance) and Matt Larsen (CEO, Vistabeam) to talk about connecting the unconnected and doing digital equity work as a small Internet Service Provider (ISP). They talk about creating a culture of inclusion inside and out and working with local communities to get the most value out of every dollar. In a marketplace that heavily favors the largest cable and telephone providers, Angela and Matt share the ways that they participate in grant programs and how they actively build peer networks to exchange knowledge and make sure the Internet works for as many of us as it can.

This show is 34 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed. 

Transcript below.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.