In November 2022, Sacramento State received a nearly $3M award from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program.

The award supports the establishment of the Sacramento Regional Consortium for Digital Equity, a partnership between Sacramento State, Sacramento City College (SCC), Cosumnes River College (CRC), Valley Vision, and other community-based organizations. The goal of the Consortium is to address barriers to digital equity in the Lemon Hill community, as identified through the Valley Vision Report: Baseline Assessment of Digital Inclusion Needs: Lemon Hill Pilot Project.

The program trains students as Digital Navigator Interns (DNIs) and deploy them to Community Anchor Institutions, where students live and are familiar with the varied internet needs and challenges residents experience and can easily engage in one-on-one relationships that build trust, confidence and reach deep into the community that is their home.

Valley Vision, received $50,000 digital equity grant award from AT&T to support device distribution and training. The AT&T Neighborhood Transformation Grant is supports digital literacy and access to new computers for unserved and underserved residents of two public housing projects in the city of Sacramento, Marina Vista and Alder Grove.

As part of the grant, Valley Vision acquired 133 new laptop devices through partnership a with Human I-T. The next step for the project, led by Leataata Floyd Elementary and supported by Valley Vision and the Sacramento Housing and Development Agency, includes conducting a community needs survey, launching the Resource Center, and hosting the laptop distribution event.

Additionally, the grant is supporting the development of a Community Resource Center, with access to devices for families and a laptop lending program, to be managed by Leataata Floyd Elementary School. The Community Resource Center will feature digital literacy training provided by community partners.