FFB Week 36 – Addressing All Barriers to Digital Equity

Fiber buildout throughout the United States will not solve the digital divide alone. Though high-speed internet access is essential, we will only see success if we acknowledge and address non-deployment barriers. Inclusion must be built in from the beginning, not as an afterthought. Angela Siefer presents NDIA’s (potentially blasphemous) position in the fiber community and why implementing people-first digital inclusion solutions will be key to closing the digital divide.

Webinar Presenter: Angela Siefer, Executive Director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance

Angela founded the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) in 2015. Since 1997, she has been working in digital inclusion – she helped set up computer labs and digital inclusion programs in underserved areas, managed broadband conferences, conducted research, built a nationwide digital equity ecosystem, and testified multiple times before Congress. As the executive director of NDIA, Angela leads the digital inclusion movement and community of 1,400 affiliate organizations in 50
states, DC, and territories. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Schools, Health, & Libraries Broadband Coalition. Government Technology Magazine named Angela in their “Top 25 Doers, Dreams, and Drivers” of 2019, and she received the United Church of Christ’s Parker Award in 2021. Google.org named Angela one of seven global “Leaders to Watch” in 2023.