National Digital Equity Competitive Grant Awards $12M to Support Digital Inclusion Projects in Bay Area
The grant will increase digital literacy training, provide device distribution and technical support, and establish workforce development programs to over 90,000 residents in Oakland, San Francisco and Contra Costa
For Immediate Release:
[1.27.25]
Press Contact: Patrick Messac
Director, #OaklandUndivided
518-542-8105
pmessac@oaklandundivided.org
Oakland, CA – On Friday, January 17, 2025, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recommended awarding the $12M Bay Area Digital Equity Coalition Competitive Grant. The project establishes the Bay Area Digital Equity Coalition (BADEC), a collaboration of 28 agencies serving Oakland, San Francisco, and Contra Costa. This includes community anchor institutions, and nonprofits, seeking to maximize the impact of their decades of work in digital equity and provide a platform for regional coordination and investment in outcomes for Covered Populations.
The $1.25B Digital Equity Competitive Grant, part of the $2.75B Digital Equity Act passed in 2021, aims to advance digital equity funding initiatives that ensure communities have the access and skills to fully participate in the digital world, regardless of their background or circumstances.
Spearheaded by the Bay Area Council, the BADEC project is one of only 65 projects awarded from over 700 applications requesting over $6.5B nationally.
The project awards over $6M for Oakland-based organizations. Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee explained, “This project is the first one to unite the core San Francisco Bay Area digital equity ecosystem, cohering strongly linked practitioners within Oakland, San Francisco, and Contra Costa County together to create a sustained platform for collaboration and service improvement. These partners will work to serve those for whom digital equity investments are intended, as noted in the State Digital Equity Plan.”
The Digital Equity Competitive Grant represents the culmination of three years of coordination from the City and advocacy from Oakland’s cross-sector digital equity coalition #Oakland Undivided, a project of the Oakland Public Education Fund, to advance digital inclusion in West Oakland, Fruitvale, and East Oakland. Launched in 2020, #OaklandUndivided consists of a coalition of trusted anchor institutions, over 20 community-based organizations, as well as civic and community leaders throughout Oakland with funding partners Amazon, Gilead, and PG&E.
This grant project received support from several local elected leaders, including former former Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, and Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins, as well as from the Kapor Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation.
