We see affordable housing as a distribution platform for digital adoption and technology solutions

Power Station

It takes exceptional people and organizations to solve our nation’s purportedly intractable problems. In this episode of Power Station, Marta Urquilla, who has led social justice initiatives in community groups and the White House, shares how the pioneering organization she leads, the Centri Tech Foundation takes a housing centered approach to bridging our nation’s digital divide, the deep gulf between those with access to the internet and those without. The need for digital access spans from urban centers to rural regions, and Indian Country, where infrastructure cannot deliver water or electricity, let alone broadband service. This reality sidelined millions of children from participation in online schooling and their parents from accessing vital information during the pandemic. Centri Tech Foundation partners with nonprofit affordable housing developers to embed connectivity to residents’ homes and guide them along a pathway to economic opportunity. It measures the state of digital access and provides a blueprint for improvement through its Muni Index. And its Social Justice Innovation Awards invest in Fellows whose projects leverage technology and cultural expression for the public good. This is a story about building a more just future that needs to be heard.