“We’re not the broadband foundation,” is something I’ve heard Bernadine Joselyn say many times, “We’re the Blandin Foundation.” It’s true and it isn’t true. The Blandin Foundation is so much more; they focus on student success, community engagement, rural leadership and more. But they’re also really good at broadband.
They started by recognizing early that broadband was a game changing tool – in a positive way for the communities and people who “got” it and negatively for those who remained on the wrong side of the ever deepening digital divide. So they have worked on informing policymakers by coordinating a Blandin Broadband Strategy Board that helps to define and champion a broadband vision for Minnesota. They worked on supporting practitioners with grants and community coaching. They raise the topic continually through annual conferences, other events and by maintaining this blog!
They have raised interest and emphasis in broadband in Minnesota and they are now in a position to encourage other foundations to do the same. The Council on Foundations just published a great piece from Bernadine that speaks to other foundations, making the case for supporting broadband in their areas and offering some lessons learned to help them get the efforts off the ground and headed in the right direction…
- Peers make great teachers. Peer-based learning formats that encourage local businesses to share practices, questions and experiments are a popular, low-cost, and easily sustainable tool to build a community’s technological savvy.
- 4. Engage tomorrow’s leaders today. Recognize and engage the talents of young people. This next generation of leaders brings energy and sustainability to any community initiative.
- Broadband is not an end in itself. It is a means to the higher ends of increased economic vitality, equal opportunity and improved quality of life for all. Framing this work in these terms is likely to be more successful than by calling out the technical infrastructure itself.
- Have patience. This work takes time. Look for and celebrate early and easy “wins” along the way, but think long-term and build capacity and energy for the long-haul.
- It all comes down to community leadership. Help local broadband champions get and use skills to frame issues, build and sustain relationships and mobilize people to build a community’s capacity to achieve its broadband goals