The Milwaukee area’s digital divide grew startlingly apparent with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When the world turned virtual, many people and organizations lacked the technology, internet access and digital literacy they needed.
In response, United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County stepped up to lead a collaborative effort to establish digital equity. The nonprofit’s “Techquity” initiative, which began in 2020, has three focus areas: broadband, devices, and skills and literacy. As part of that initiative, the organization is currently working to provide 50,000 laptop computers to those in need by 2027.
This initiative to address digital equity within the organization’s four-county footprint (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties) came as a surprise, said Amy Lindner, chief executive officer of United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. At the start of the pandemic, there was “an avalanche of requests for help” from United Way’s program partners in need of technology, Lindner said.
United Way’s early techquity-focused efforts included the distribution of smartphones and hotspots, along with data plans, said David Berka, digital equity manager at United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. The organization has also provided 9,000 students with earbuds or headsets with microphones for virtual learning since 2020, according to United Way’s website.
“That really evolved into a focus on computers,” Berka said. “We were getting all kinds of requests, and we still get all kinds of requests for computers, and that really led into the goal that we’ve set around computer distribution for techquity.”
If an individual doesn’t have access to a computer or internet at home, that person’s ability to participate in the economy is hindered, Lindner said. That person may not be able to apply for jobs, receive telehealth services in the privacy of their own home or help their children with schoolwork, she said.
“It’s just become the absolute norm and sometimes really the only way to connect with important things in our community and our lives,” Lindner said.
Berka said access to digital resources is closely intertwined with education, health care and employment accessibility.
“If you don’t have access to one or more of those things – affordable, reliable internet, a reliable device, and in particular, a large-screen device – you stand to be left behind or left out of a lot of resources or opportunities that might otherwise be afforded to you,” Berka said.
United Way is focused on “serving low-income households with as many digital resources as we can,” he added.
Low-income families, senior citizens, people with disabilities, people who are of racial or ethnic minorities, individuals with language barriers and those who are incarcerated are the most impacted by the digital divide, Lindner said.
“There’s so many impacts for folks (who are) incarcerated, but this could be one that you might miss,” Lindner said. “But staying connected to people, figuring out how to apply for that job when you’re going to be leaving incarceration or finding housing, whatever’s coming next.”
Digital skills in the workforce
Of the approximately 93,000 unemployed people in Wisconsin, about a third lack basic digital skills, Lindner said.
This poses a challenge, because 70% of open jobs right now require those basic digital skills, she said.
“That means a huge percentage of the job openings are just not right now an option for more than 30,000 people, so about a third of our unemployed folks right now in Wisconsin,” Lindner said.
Berka said that’s United Way’s best estimate “based on what research has been done and what has been published on workforce development specifically.”
To help equip individuals with digital skills, United Way has hosted digital skill-focused training events in partnership with organizations such as Everyone On and Microsoft, Berka said. United Way has also hosted skills training with La Casa de Esperanza in Waukesha.
“The skills work that we do is really situational, so we’re responding to needs in real time as we learn about them,” Berka said.
Supporting households in need
So far, United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County has distributed 8,000 computers toward its goal to distribute 50,000 by 2027, Lindner said.
The nonprofit was recently notified that it is receiving a grant from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, which will provide funding for another 21,000 computers to be distributed, Lindner said. The PSC grant can also help support digital skills-related work at United Way, Berka said.
“It’s going to take us a minute to get those next 21,000 out, but (we’re) definitely gearing up and are excited to do that as efficiently as we can,” Lindner said.
Over 100,000 households across Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties don’t have a computer at home, Berka said.
United Way has focused on devices in its approach to establishing digital equity because it’s “tangible,” Berka said. It’s “relatively easy” to distribute devices and find the people who need them, he said, with the help of United Way’s wide network of nonprofit partners and organizations.
“By distributing computers to those nonprofits, then they’re able to allocate those to individuals,” Berka said. “That’s really been the method so far, and a pretty straightforward means of doing mass distributions.”
United Way’s distribution partners include Milwaukee-based Digital Bridge and Madison-based Cascade Asset Management, which recycle and refurbish used devices. Berka said some companies have refurbished computers themselves and then given them to United Way to be distributed.
“That provides a great option for companies to use the resources and skills they already have themselves to benefit what we’re doing,” Berka said.
For its distribution efforts, United Way depends on volunteers and people from local companies who serve on the Techquity Advisory Council, Berka said. The council guides the work performed as part of the Techquity initiative.
But there are also 120,000 households in United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County’s four counties that don’t have home internet subscriptions, Lindner said, which “certainly overlap” with the households lacking computers.
United Way has done advocacy and policy work related to broadband accessibility and affordability, Berka said. The organization leads a group called the Milwaukee Broadband Partnership focused on those issues and worked to develop a “game plan” for communities to address digital skill and literacy barriers, he said.
“We’re always trying to link those skills and literacy opportunities with things like device distributions and information about affordable internet, where people can go to find low-cost offers, what kind of resources are available to them,” Berka said.
The Affordable Connectivity Program is one resource that hasn’t been available since May, when federal funding ran out, Lindner said. It was a national program administered by the Federal Communications Commission that provided a monthly stipend of $30 to eligible families to help make their internet subscription more affordable, Lindner said.
More than 420,000 Wisconsin households participated in this program before it ended, Lindner said. The United Way helped people with ACP eligibility and enrollment.
“It was a really abrupt thing for our community when that resource ran out,” Berka said.
Since 2020, 45 partners have supported United Way’s Techquity efforts, according to its website. United Way has also collaborated with the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Milwaukee Public Schools, Goodwill, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Big Brothers Big Sisters and many more.
“It’s not just United Way doing this, it’s United Way backboning this with the capacity, expertise, volunteer time, (and) goodwill of so many other partners,” Lindner said.
