Monthly Archives: August 2021

Essentia Health in Duluth gets nearly $1 million from FCC for telehealth

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The FCC reports…

The Federal Communications Commission today approved an initial set of 62 applications for funding commitments totaling $41.98 million for Round 2 of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program.  Health care providers in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia, including those previously unfunded in Round 1, will use this funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic.  The FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program supports the efforts of health care providers to continue serving their patients by providing reimbursement for telecommunications services, information services, and connected devices necessary to enable telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, access to health care has proven to be not only a national issue, but also a local issue, and it is imperative that every community is given the tools to access this care as safely and effectively as possible.  The FCC is committed to ensuring that every state and territory in the United States receive funding as part of this program,” said FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.  “The FCC took action earlier this year to establish a system for rating applications in Round 2, factoring in the hardest hit and lowest-income areas, Tribal communities, and previously unfunded states and territories.  Now even more doctors and nurses in every corner of our country can establish or expand telehealth services to support patients and their families.”

This first set of awards will go to applications that qualify for the equitable distribution step, as required by Congress and outlined in the FCC’s rules, to ensure nationwide distribution of funding to health care providers in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia.  This step funds the highest-scoring applications in every state, territory, and the District of Columbia plus the second highest-scoring application from the states and territories that did not receive funding in Round 1, if multiple applications were submitted from those areas.

Round 2 is a $249.95 million federal initiative that builds on the $200 million program established as part of the CARES Act.  Now that funding has been committed to the highest-scoring applications from each state, territory, and the District of Columbia, the next funding awards will commit funding to the highest-scoring applications, regardless of geography, until at least $150 million has been committed.  The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau will then announce an opportunity for all remaining applicants to supplement their applications, as required by Congress.  After all remaining applicants have the opportunity to supplement, the remaining program funding will be committed.

Here’s the Minnesota recipient…

Essentia Health in Duluth, an integrated health system in Minnesota, serving patients in the upper Midwest, was awarded $981,204 to support the acquisition of remote monitoring devices and video carts with peripheral cameras and stethoscopes/EKGs for care during the pandemic, and to increase wireless broadband coverage at eight clinics to allow for additional space for telehealth patients.

OPPORTUNITY: Free Chromebooks for MN Families in Need

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From Minnesota Afterschool Advance…

Minnesota Afterschool Advance (MAA) is here to help your family get a device to assist your student’s education! By using both the K-12 Education Tax Credit and scholarship dollars from Youthprise, we’re committed to getting even more Minnesota families a Chromebook.

How can MAA help?

If your household income is under $33,500 in 2020 and 2021 and you file taxes, MAA can use a tool called the K-12 Education Tax Credit plus scholarship dollars from Youthprise to get you a Chromebook for no additional cost, plus save you 75% or more on afterschool and summer activities like tutoring, music lessons, and driver’s education. Learn more about how MAA works by watching a short animated video.

We are limited to one device per household due to tax credit rules.

How can I get a Chromebook?

  1. Apply to MAA

    The first step is to apply to MAA, so we can determine your eligibility.

    Since the computer hardware option is limited to one per family, you only need to submit an application for one eligible student, but you may apply for additional students if you want to use MAA to pay for afterschool and summer activities as well. We will generally review your application within a few business days.

  2. Select Your Chromebook

    Once approved, we will send you a special link to order your Chromebook and have it shipped to you.

  3. Receive Your Chromebook

    In most cases, shipping takes around one week or less depending on your location.

  4. Watch for Additional Instructions from MAA at the End of the Year

    MAA gets repaid by the State when you file your state income tax return at the end of the year. The Department of Revenue will directly repay the amount MAA advances to you from the Tax Credit dollars (these are additional dollars on top of your regular refund). To help with tax filing, MAA will provide instructions to assist you and also let you know about available free tax preparation services.

Is my student eligible?

For a limited time, we have expanded eligibility rules to qualify for a Chromebook!

Students are generally eligible if:

  • They are in grades K-12.

  • Your household income in 2020 and 2021 is under $33,500.

View detailed eligibility rules and guidelines.

Rep. Angie Craig talks about rural broadband investment

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Ag Week reports…

[U.S. Rep. Angie] Craig is one of the eight members who was appointed this summer to the Select Committee on Economic Disparity & Fairness in Growth. She said her job on the committee is to focus on rural communities, and she believes the best way to do that is to great good job opportunities for rural communities and make long-term investment in rural infrastructure.

Broadband was a hot topic…

“We’ll look at the issues fresh in today’s day and context,” said Craig. “A lack of broadband in some areas, as well as some of the consolidation that we’ve seen in farming.”

Craig said the committee will be able to put forward policy solutions that “hopefully will help lead to greater economic growth in rural America”. Rural broadband infrastructure is high on her list of priorities, and she said she’s “optimistic” that Congress is going to pass an infrastructure bill.

“There’s $65 billion in broadband investment in the Senate version of the bill, but personally I think it needs to be closer to 80 billion, if we’re going to get 99% of the country all the way to high speed internet,” said Craig. “But there’s going to be a massive investment — certainly the largest investment that I have seen in my lifetime.”

Anecdotally, Craig said rural areas are starting to hear more about the real estate industry shifting to their communities, where plenty of land can be developed.

“They’re saying that people are looking to get a little further out from cities, after the public health crisis of the pandemic has caused a lot of people to reevaluate their lives,” she said. “You could conceive a day where if you have broadband in every community, and you have an e-commerce business, you could live anywhere.”

Redwood County gets Lead for Minnesota Fellow to work on broadband

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Redwood Falls Gazette reports…

Lead For America, Land O’Lakes, Inc., the Mayo Clinic, Midwest Dairy and Scoular recently announced the placement of six American Connection Corps (ACC) Fellows in Minnesota, part of a group of 50 individuals placed in communities across the country. These Fellows will work to increase broadband access and digital literacy as well as contribute to critical community development initiatives in communities across Minnesota. Lead for Minnesota Fellow Patrick Garry was chosen for placement in Redwood County to work with the county EDA on broadband access throughout the county.

Garry arrived in Redwood Falls on Aug. 9 to begin his work as Redwood County EDA Broadband Coordinator. He is not a county employee, rather his position is a contract for service, with Redwood County Economic Development Coordinator Briana Mumme as his host.

Blandin plays a role…

The Fellow position in Redwood County is also funded through the Lead for America program, Americorps, the Blandin Foundation and the Southwest Initiative Foundation.

He’s hitting the ground running…

Garry said his first initiative is a “listening tour” of the county’s communities, businesses, farmers, healthcare providers, schools and any residents interested in access to broadband, to learn more about the needs and impact in the area.

Mumme and Garry agreed that recent federal legislation to fund broadband access throughout the United States will be a valuable tool for the goals of their program. They will be working with the Redwood area internet providers to learn their vision and goals for how best to fill the gaps in broadband access.

“What motivates our group is a shared vision for what rural America can be,” said Garry. “We hope to curate collaborative environments that foster innovation and build upon our past. We realize we can only complete this goal with community support and advocacy.”

FCC data shows growing fiber, need for upload

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C|Net reports…

Every six months, the Federal Communications Commission releases updated data on the respective coverage of every internet provider in the US. That includes coverage maps as well as metrics on the types of technologies being used, the number of customers that fall into each provider’s footprint, and the specific upload and download speeds available to those customers, should they choose to sign up. The latest update went live just last week, and brings the database up to date as of June 2020.

I have picked out the charts and notes they share that I think are most interesting…

Percentage of US Population covered by each ISP

  • by the nature of their technology, satellite providers cover a lot.
  • Starlink isn’t on the horizon yet – but this is from June 2020

Percentage of Provider’s Footrpint with access to FTTH

  • Fiber is increasing
  • The problem is that it isn’t available everywhere — for the most part, providers have focused on building out fiber networks in population-dense regions around America’s major cities, leaving rural internet customers out of the mix.

Percentage of provider footprint with access to each (upload) speed via technology

  • Of all of the internet providers that offer service to at least 10% of the US population (including satellite providers omitted from this chart), Verizon is the only one that offers upload speeds faster than 25Mbps to a majority of its customers.
  • upload speeds from most providers remain much slower than most customers would probably like. That’s largely because fiber is really the only mode of home internet capable of hitting triple-digit upload speeds, and as mentioned earlier, fiber is far from universally available.

Zayo Announces 400Gig-Enabled Network – passes through MN

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Businesswire reports…

Zayo Group Holdings, Inc., a leading global provider of fiber-based communications solutions, today announced the planned deployment of thirty-one high capacity, 400G-enabled long haul routes across North America and Western Europe.

The availability of 400G client-side wave capabilities will allow Zayo to deliver multi-terabit capacity across its underlying global network, enabling higher transmission rates, reduced cost per bit, increased data transfer speeds and significantly greater bandwidth capacity — key features that support enterprises on their digital transformation journeys. Up to 800G transmission will be available in select areas as Zayo deploys significant speed enhancements in anticipation of future network needs.

This optimized wavelength network is designed to provide a direct route for multi-cloud and multi-market connectivity, ideal for content providers, hyperscalers, carriers and data centers. The upgrade will also enable reduced physical space requirements as well as reduced operation and maintenance costs resulting from a 40% reduction in power consumption.

The race to 400Gb/s has accelerated in recent years, with an increasing number of users, applications and devices driving exponential demand for increased bandwidth. Exceeding the current standard of 100G, Zayo’s new routes will provide a fourfold increase in maximum data transfer speed, supporting 5G technologies including Internet of Things, cloud-based computing, edge computing, virtual reality, high-definition video streaming and artificial intelligence.

Big news for Minnesota? The network will pass through Minnesota. (See map below, which might misplace Minneapolis in MN but gets the network here.)

Minnesota requests almost $63 million from FCC’s n Emergency Connectivity Fund Program

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The FCC reports…

The Federal Communications Commission today announced that it has received requests for $5.137 billion to fund 9.1 million connected devices and 5.4 million broadband connections as part of the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program. The first filing window, which closed August 13, 2021, attracted applications from all 50 states, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia – including schools and libraries in both rural and urban communities seeking funding for eligible equipment and services received or delivered between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. In view of outstanding demand and the recent spike in coronavirus cases, the FCC will open a second application filing window for schools and libraries to request funding for connected devices and broadband connections for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons for the current 2021-22 school year.

“The Emergency Connectivity Fund is the single largest effort to bring connectivity and devices to students who lack them – and this robust response from applicants shows the tremendous need in our communities. This funding is an important down payment in closing the Homework Gap so that all children, regardless of their circumstances or where they live, have access to the tools they need to succeed,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The pandemic highlighted like never before the difference a reliable internet connection can make in a student’s education, and we want to make sure that as many schools and libraries can apply for support this school year. The need is there, and the opening of a second application window reflects that. Together with the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, we are investing more than $10 billion in American students and households, so more Americans can connect, communicate, and more fully participate in modern life.”

The FCC will open the second application filing window to provide support for the current school year in light of outstanding demand, including applications that were filed after the close of the initial application filing window, and resource challenges some schools faced with a summertime application filing window. Moreover, the rise of the Delta variant means off[1]campus connectivity remains vital to ensuring students, school staff, and library patrons can engage in remote learning as they face challenges and uncertainty amidst the ongoing COVID[1]19 pandemic.

During the second application filing window, which will run from September 28 to October 13, eligible schools and libraries can apply for financial support to purchase eligible equipment and services for students, school staff and library patrons with unmet needs. The acting Chairwoman has long made closing the Homework Gap a priority during her tenure at the Commission. Recent estimates suggest there may be as many as 17 million children struggling without the broadband access they need to fully engage in remote learning.

For the first application filing window, the FCC set a target to review and issue decisions for 50% of workable applications within 60 days of the close of the application filing window and 70% of workable applications within 100 days of the close of the application filing window. The funding is available for the purchase of laptops and tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, and broadband connections for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons in need, and is available to support off-campus leaning, such as homework, even if schools have returned to full time in-person instruction.

Minnesota requested: $62,868,827.25

Sen Tina Smith on Impact of Major Federal Investments in Broadband in MN

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This morning, Senator Tina Smith, MN DEED Commissioner Steve Grove, Hennepin County Board Commissioner Marion Greene and Tonica Abdur Salaam, Co-Founder and Head of JJ Legacy Schools, discussed the impact of state and federal funding in Minnesota, Hennepin County and specifically North Minneapolis. They specifically spoke about American Rescue Plan & Senate-Passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and state funding including the Border to Border Broadband grants and CARES grants through MN DEED.

Sen. Smith said that broadband is the infrastructure of the 21st Century and believes that Minnesota will receive a minimum of $100 million from the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill for its effort to connect 157,000 households currently without service. All speakers recognized that digital equity is necessary for rural and urban areas to thrive in Minnesota – and it’s not only about access. People need access to high speed broadband at home but they also need devices and skills to use it.

NTIA Establishes Two Broadband-Focused Offices

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From the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration)…

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the establishment of the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) and the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives (OMBI).

The establishment of the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth fulfills requirements of the ACCESS BROADBAND Act, enacted into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The OICG will be led by Douglas Kinkoph, who has served as the head of NTIA’s broadband program since 2015. The OICG will house all broadband activities at NTIA, including three active broadband grant programs: the Broadband Infrastructure Program, the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program. The office will also house BroadbandUSA, which provides community outreach, support for state leaders, technical assistance, and helps coordinate federal broadband resources and programs.

The establishment of the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives codifies NTIA’s work on its Minority Broadband Initiative since 2018. The OMBI, established within the OICG, fulfills requirements of the Connecting Minority Communities provisions enacted into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The office will continue NTIA’s efforts to collaborate with federal agencies; state, local and tribal governments; Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions; and any interested stakeholders to promote initiatives related to expanding connectivity and digital opportunities for anchor communities.

“NTIA is proud to establish these two new offices that reflect how broadband expansion and advancing equity in America are critical to our core mission and the Biden Administration’s agenda,” said Acting NTIA Administrator Evelyn Remaley. “With this new organizational structure, we are prepared to make significant progress in closing the digital divide through our broadband programs, bringing us closer to President Biden’s goal of connecting all Americans to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet.”

The changes to NTIA’s organizational structure were adopted on August 13, 2021, in a new Department Organization Order (DOO), which replaced a previous DOO dated September 2012.

Lunch Bunch conversation: What is basic broadband and should we be aiming for it? (Video from session)

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Thanks to everyone who joined the Lunch Bunch today, especially Micah Beck, Associate Professor at University of Tennessee, Knoxville on universal basic broadband. We had all of the right people in the room, some serious engineers, policy wonks, academics and folks on the frontline of unserved communities. It was nice to spend time thinking about thoughtful ways to build networks to everyone.

Micah recognizes that broadband is expensive – especially when we are talking about high speed symmetrical service to all corners of the state, country or world. He has said that, “the Internet was never designed for “universal service” reaching every mobile device in the world at a personally affordable cost. Instead he proposes a type of broadband where information and transactions don’t happen necessarily in real time but where there’s a modern distributed storage & processing techniques to overcome delays due to distance, interruption, disaster, oversubscription. This would be a service that could support all Internet services other than “synchronous telepresence”.

We talked about the costs, local ownership, the temporal windfall of investment that’s currently happening (or about to happen). We also talked about universal broadband as a redundant tool for served and unserved areas. It came back to a familiar balance – do we want high quality or ubiquitous access? Would basic broadband be an opportunity for local communities to focus on high quality last mile networks?

DLF Chair talks about broadband and other topics in Park Rapids (Hubbard County)

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Park Rapids Enterprise reports…

When DFL Chairman Ken Martin visited the Park Rapids area Tuesday, he discussed issues relevant to Hubbard County and the surrounding area in an interview with the Enterprise.

There were two questions on broadband…

What infrastructure needs will be addressed in this region?

We’re excited about the bi-partisan deal. It’s the largest infrastructure bill ever to pass in our country’s history. It is investing in the infrastructure of tomorrow while repairing the infrastructure of yesterday. It’s going to invest in bridges and roads, wastewater treatment plants, clean energy, electric vehicles, upgrading public transportation options and broadband.

I think of this through the lens of rural electrification that happened in the 1920s and 1930s in this country. It helped rejuvenate small town America and main streets. Without that, a lot of parts of the country would have been left behind.

Thanks to this infrastructure package, high-speed internet is going to be provided to every corner of our state. That’s an exciting development that should bring more jobs to communities here and that will allow people who work in different industries to stay in greater Minnesota.

Because more people are able to work remotely, there’s an opportunity to reimagine the workforce. But that requires good broadband access. We need to build that infrastructure that will result in economic development in places like Hubbard County and help diversify and expand the tax base.

When will better broadband reach this region?

As soon as this infrastructure bill is signed into law I think the money is going to start flowing out to communities. I don’t know the exact timeline for that but I think money will move quickly like with the American Rescue Plan. There is a great disparity in internet services in greater Minnesota because some internet providers have invested their own money in fiber optics and high speed internet capacities and others have not. This funding will help equalize that by providing money to companies who can then access it through grants to provide higher speeds and have the capability to do that, whether fiber optics or cell service. There are a lot of pockets in the state where you go five miles in one direction or the other and you are getting high-speed internet or not. That’s what we have to fix right now so it’s not this patchwork but wherever you live you will get the same level of service. This is an equity issue as well. A lot of people are being left behind. Their job or their schooling is being impacted by the fact that they don’t have access to high speed internet. We have a responsibility to address that. It’s a huge part of the infrastructure plan and will allow people in rural America to start to prosper again.

Senator Smith says the Infrastructure will help for generations

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In a letter to the editor in Litchfield Independent Review, Senator Smith says…

When the U.S. Senate passed a once-in-a-generation bill to make historic and long-overdue investments in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure this month, we achieved something that has eluded our nation’s lawmakers for decades.

The strongly-bipartisan measure will mean people in Minnesota and across the country will soon see a transformative injection of funds to fix roads, bridges, highways, water systems, railroads, ports, and electric grids. It also provides $65 billion to bring quality, affordable broadband networks to communities – especially those in rural America – that for too long have struggled to thrive without modern high-speed internet.

Details on broadband…

When I first came to the Senate, a top priority of mine was to increase access to broadband. It isn’t just nice to have, it’s a 21st Century necessity for communities working to attract families and businesses, and to create jobs and economic development. Broadband connects students to a top-notch education, and allows health facilities to provide much-needed, often life-saving services, like telehealth. The current pandemic has showed us just how important quality broadband is for people working from home, and for students learning remotely.

Unfortunately, I’ve heard too many stories of Minnesota parents forced drive to a fast food parking lot in order access a connection good enough to allow their children to do their homework. And even the most well-run businesses struggle to compete — and connect with customers — without quality broadband.

The infrastructure bill changes that. Minnesota will receive a minimum of $100 million, which will significantly boost our state’s effort to connect its 157,000 households currently without service. It also ensures that new broadband services are affordable and that any new systems provide quality connections, so that users –especially those in rural areas — aren’t stuck with sub-par or second class service.

There’s a hiccup preventing some people from getting Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB)

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Public Knowledge reports…

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in our country, millions of Americans cannot connect to the internet because they can’t afford to, preventing them from going to school, working, accessing government benefits and connecting with friends and family. To remedy this problem, Congress created the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), which offers low-income consumers a $50 discount on their internet bills. Unfortunately, because of a shortcoming in the National Verifier, the database used to verify consumer eligibility for the program, many of those in need do not access this important benefit, ultimately keeping the digital divide open.

Let’s paint the picture of how. Imagine you can’t afford broadband, and learn that, because you participate in a relevant federal program (like SNAP, Medicaid, free/reduced school meals, etc.), you are eligible for the EBB. Huzzah! To apply, you are told to use the Lifeline National Verifier. The Verifier is intended to be a one-stop shop to verify consumer eligibility for the EBB based on their participation in a different federal program. The idea is that eligible consumers enter their information on the National Verifier website and are approved if the database shows they do, in fact, participate in one of the qualifying federal programs. However, the Verifier doesn’t always work that way, because it doesn’t have data about participation in all qualifying programs. So, frustratingly, if the Verifier doesn’t have data about the program you quality through, you have to go through a whole big process to get documentation that you are eligible. Since you don’t have a lot of time on your hands as the head of a household, and don’t have the internet, you never end up enrolling and stay without internet.

The article goes on to explain how this happen – in short info on the relevant federal programs is not necessarily centrally or easily accessible. That leaves the onerous task of proving need to the potential recipient, who likely has issues accessing broadband if they are applying for EBB. I can only imagine the frustration of the user who knows they get SNAP (for example) but it’s not coming up on the database. We’ve all been there when something doesn’t work online and for many the first response is to assume user error.

The author does offer a solution…

How do we solve this problem? Congress must step in by enacting legislation to require that any agencies that have data share it with USAC in a timely manner, and to clarify that data sharing for verification purposes is legal. To the extent Congress needs to exempt such data sharing from existing privacy laws, it should include that in the legislation. Such laws are intended to protect a recipient’s privacy, but are not intended to be a roadblock to participation in other benefits programs. Moreover, the data to be shared is sufficiently minimal that it does not carry with it the broader privacy risks addressed by our privacy laws. Absent Congressional action, we will be left with a patchwork system, enabling some consumers to breeze through the application process, while others cannot.

The ease of enrollment directly correlates to the number of consumers that enroll. If we want to ensure that the EBB (and any future broadband subsidy) can fulfill their purpose of getting low-income consumers connected and narrowing the digital divide, Congress must ensure that all potential participants can be automatically verified through the Verifier.

US Senate has plans for better broadband maps but not for a while

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Roll Call reports on the good and bad news about broadband maps…

The Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill makes a $42.5 billion bet that the government will overcome an obstacle that has long plagued efforts to connect most Americans to the internet: notoriously inaccurate maps showing where they can get a signal – and where they can’t.

That’s the amount of grant funding that the legislation, which the Senate passed earlier this month on a 69-30 vote, would provide to states to fund broadband projects in areas currently considered unserved or underserved. To qualify, proposals would have to comply with new broadband maps drawn by the Federal Communications Commission.

There’s one catch: the new maps don’t exist yet. And they may not be ready to go for one or two years, experts say.

OPPORTUNITY: AmeriCorps VISTA Digital Literacy Project Proposals Request

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Literacy Minnesota reports on an opportunity…

Literacy Minnesota is expanding our AmeriCorps VISTA program nationally with a focus on digital literacy.
If you are interested in applying, please fill out this form for more information.  We seek proposals from government agencies, nonprofits and Tribal Nations interested in hosting one or more full-time AmeriCorps VISTA member to support digital literacy programs and services for low-income communities.
Additional information has also been pasted below.  The expansion and focus on digital literacy are informed by Literacy Minnesota’s core value of leadership and innovation, and we welcome the opportunity to work together.  Thank you for your consideration.
The Request for Proposals is attached and linked, here.  Please contact Meghan Paul-Cook, National Service Director (mpaulcook@literacymn.org; 651-251-9069) with any questions or to discuss project ideas.

  • Host site applications due online by October 1, 2021.
  • Literacy Leader VISTA members will start their service in January 2022.
  • Check out our website for more information: www.literacymn.org/americorps-vista.

Build capacity and invest in emerging leadership by hosting a Literacy Leader.
Literacy Minnesota seeks proposals from nonprofits, public agencies and Tribal Nations anywhere in the United States interested in hosting one or more full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members with our Literacy Leadership program’s Digital Literacy cohort in the 2021-22 program year. A Literacy Leadership VISTA enables your organization to turn a dream project into a reality, and to launch new, expand or improve digital literacy programs and services for low-income individuals and communities. Literacy Leaders receive a modest living allowance, Education Award, healthcare allowance, training and professional development, and other benefits.