passed ordinance

*Authorize Director of the Office for Community Technology to execute Digital Inclusion Fund grant agreements not to exceed $250,000 for FY 2021-22

technology data
grant

Department: Planning and Sustainability (BPS)
Introduced by: Former Commissioner Carmen Rubio
Status: Passed

Impact statement

Purpose & background

This ordinance authorizes the Director of the Office for Community Technology (OCT) to execute Digital Inclusion Fund grant agreements in an amount not to exceed $250,000 annually. The goals of the Digital Inclusion Fund are 1) To ensure people, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color, People with Disabilities, and Seniors, and small and emerging BIPOC businesses are able to use digital technology and the internet and are building foundational digital skills to achieve economic, health, and social wellbeing; 2) To ensure trusted community-based organizations are building capacity—by sustaining existing services or innovating new services—to serve the digital adoption needs of people disproportionately affected by the digital divide; and 3) To learn about persistent digital adoption barriers and to document the types of services and supports people affected by the digital divide need that could potentially be supported by the Digital Inclusion Fund. The Digital Inclusion Fund is designed and operated using Participatory Grantmaking, which is an approach to funding decisions and strategies that emphasizes a human-centered approach and aims to shift traditional power dynamics in grant-making decisions to communities and those most affected by a social issue.

Financial impacts

This legislation has no financial and/or budgetary impacts. Funding is supported by the ongoing general fund allocation to the Digital Inclusion Fund. There are enough funds available to support these community-based grants.

Community impacts

The Community Digital Navigator and Small Business Digital Navigator Pilot Grant Opportunities, the inaugural funding opportunities supported by OCT’s new Digital Inclusion Fund, were designed to help build capacity in community-based organizations that understand the needs of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), People with disabilities, and seniors, and BIPOC small businesses that experience digital inequities. Last summer we engaged with Digital Inclusion Network members and interviewed community leaders at Hacienda CDC, Coalition of Black Men, Black Educational Achievement Movement, De Rose Community Bridge and Holistic Wellness, POIC, Urban League of Portland, Togo Community Organization of Oregon, The Rosewood Initiative, Portland Indigenous Marketplace, HAKI Community Organization, Black Community of Portland, Youth Organized and United to Help, African Refugee Immigrant Organization, Slavic Community Center of NW, Latino Network, Circles Willamette Valley, NAYA, CAT, Constructing Hope, Southwest Somali Community, Somali American Council of Oregon, Ethiopian and Eritrean Cultural and Resource Center, APANO, Camp Elso, Risen Community, Verde, Equitable Giving Circle, North by Northeast Community Health Center, Unite Oregon, The Islamic Center of Portland, Masjed As-Saber, YWCA of Greater Portland, IRCO, The Arc Portland Metro, Bradley Angle, Leaders Become Legends, Historic Parkrose, NAMI Multnomah, and Open Signal to learn about their organization’s and their service population's ongoing digital adoption needs. Over 71% of those interviewed strongly agreed that their organizations needed more resources to help their service population acquire internet service and computing devices. And that once acquired, residents needed in-person, individualized training and support to become independent digital learners. In addition, we engaged with members of BIPOC in Tech and the Inclusive Business Resource Network, both Prosper Portland small business initiatives, to learn about the digital adoption needs of small and emerging BIPOC businesses. As a result, under the guidance of the communities most impacted by the digital divide, the Office for Community Technology (OCT) developed two grant opportunities, one to serve residents and another to serve small business, focused on creating a network of community-led digital technology support programs (called ‘Digital Navigators’) throughout the city. Digital Navigators are people in the community who become experts in navigating internet service and computing devices options and who are able to provide cultural responsive digital skills training and support. The Digital Navigator model addresses multiple layers of becoming digitally included and supports tailoring services to the needs and goals of each individual served. Digital Navigators hired and trained by Digital Inclusion Fund Grantees will help residents and small businesses fully connect and participate in today's digital economy and society. Representatives from the proposed Digital Inclusion Fund Grantees, AfroVillage, Rosewood Initiative, and the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, have been invited to attend the Council meeting to present a brief description of their proposed Digital Navigator projects.

▸ Full text (the legislation as adopted)

The City of Portland ordains: Section 1. The Council finds: On June 16, 2021, Council approved an allocation of $250,000 to support an ongoing, annual Digital Inclusion Fund (Ordinance 190452). The City recognizes the unique and necessary role of government in helping to address digital inequities, and that this can be done through equity-centered digital inclusion programs. The City has an interest in encouraging digital adoption and addressing institutional and systemic barriers to equitable access to and use of digital tools and services for education, health, and economic wellbeing. Digital Inclusion Fund resources are designated to support efforts to bridge the digital divide in the community. Thirty percent (30%) of the resources are intended to support small businesses, and seventy percent (70%) of the resources are intended to support the needs of individuals and the community at large. The Digital Inclusion Fund is funded by an ongoing allocation from the City’s general fund and is a tool for community investment in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, People with Disabilities, and Seniors; populations disproportionately affected by the digital divide. The Office for Community Technology uses a community centered approach to identifying digital inclusion needs in the community and designs and implements community-led funding initiatives to address the needs. In FY2021-22, with direction from diverse community leaders, the Office for Community Technology (OCT) designed a grant initiative that requested proposals from non-profit organizations prepared to sustain existing services or innovate new services to serve the digital adoption needs of people and small businesses disproportionately affected by the digital divide. The goals of the 2022 Digital Inclusion Fund Pilot Grant Opportunity are 1) To build or scale Digital Navigator programs to ensure people, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color, People with Disabilities, and Seniors, and small and emerging BIPOC businesses and entrepreneurs are able to use digital technology and the internet and are building foundational digital skills to achieve economic, health, and social wellbeing; 2) To ensure trusted community-based organizations are building capacity—by sustaining existing services or innovating new services—to serve the digital adoption needs of people disproportionately affected by the digital divide; and 3) To learn about persistent digital adoption barriers and to document the types of services and supports people affected by the digital divide need that could be supported by the Digital Inclusion Fund. 11 organizations submitted proposals in response to the 2022 Digital Navigator Pilot Grant Opportunity, representing a total grant request of $950,000. Grant Selection Committees comprised of diverse community members evaluated the proposals using established equity-based selection criteria. The committee independently scored each proposal and deliberated to establish the funding selections. The Office for Community Technology is seeking authority to issue community-based grants that support the recommendations provided by the Selection Committee. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs: The Director of the Office for Community Technology to execute grant agreements in a form substantially similar to the agreement attached as Exhibit A with community-based organizations listed in Exhibit B. The grant agreements shall conform to the funding allocations designated by Council: 30% of the resources to support small businesses, and 70% of the resources to support the needs of individuals and the community at large. The total amount of grant funding authorized by this ordinance shall not exceed $250,000. Amendments to the grant agreements, including Scope of Work and grant agreement funding amount, may be executed by the Director of the Office for Community Technology or the Director’s designee, provided the amendments do not increase the fiscal risk to the City. In the event the Office for Community Technology is unable to execute a grant agreement with an organization listed in Exhibit B, the Office for Community Technology is hereby authorized to execute a substantially similar grant agreement with a qualifying grant applicant recommended by the Grant Selection Committee provided that the grant is equal to or less than the grant amount shown in Exhibit B to this ordinance. Section 2. The Council declares an emergency exists because a delay in funding could result in harmful delay in the provision of no-charge services to Black, Indigenous and communities of color by these organizations through these agreements; therefore, this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.

Tally

4 yea 0 nay 1 other