Not-for-profit Organizations in Malaysia, Mexico, and South Africa will receive cash awards, technology hardware, and mentorship, aiming to scale their reach and impact marginalized communities.
Contact: Jon Purves
jon.purves@aspeninstitute.org
Aspen Institute
Washington, D.C., March 30, 2023—Today the Aspen Institute and HP Inc. announced the selection of ten not-for-profit organizations and NGOs in Malaysia, Mexico, and South Africa for the 2023 Digital Equity Accelerator (“Accelerator”). Each organization is working toward the digital inclusion of marginalized populations and, with the support of the Accelerator, poised to expand their reach and impact over the next six months. The Digital Equity Accelerator, an initiative of the Aspen Institute in collaboration with HP Inc., fuels social innovation by investing into local NGOs working to address social and economic inequalities that are exacerbated by unequal technology access and use around the world.
The Digital Equity Accelerator was announced as a part of Vice President Harris’s Global Initiatives on the Economic Empowerment of Women, a nearly $400 million commitment to support key pillars of the Women in the Digital Economy Fund, announced by the White House on March 29.
The 2023 Digital Equity Accelerator cohort includes:
- Digify Africa, which works to address youth unemployment by reaching “high potential, low opportunity” young people across South Africa and providing them vocational programs, digital skills education, and job pathways. Their solution includes Digibot, a WhatsApp Chatbot.
- Dignity For Children Foundation, which provides access, education, and support for students and teachers across Malaysia to bridge digital gaps in a changing world. They have a focus on marginalized populations, including refugees, lower-income, indigenous, and stateless children.
- E-Cubed (DBE-E³), which works with South African educators and youth. Through TeacherConnect, a WhatsApp chatbot and online community, it provides tools to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and inspire success for young people.
- Instituto de Investigación para el Desarrollo de la Educación, A. C. (IIDEAC) which aims to scale Modelo Integral de Educación Digital (MIED), a comprehensive digital education model, deploying it to public elementary schools serving Mayan communities of the Yucatan.
- La Cana, Proyecto de Reinserción Social, A.C. in México, which provides education, training, and technical tools for incarcerated and released female prisoners, working to improve their social integration and enabling them to support their families upon release.
- National Cancer Society of Malaysia, the first not-for-profit cancer organization in Malaysia providing education, care and support services, aims to create an online database to enable early detection of cancer. It has a special focus on people in underserved communities including marginalized, aging populations, people with disabilities, and those at high risk of cancer.
- Science of Life Studies 24/7, which aims to create new modules teaching digital skills, professional and personal development, English and life skills and run learning workshops in Orang Asli and urban poor communities. The organization’s focus is on improving digital awareness and job opportunities for youth at risk of economic exploitation across Malaysia.
- Siyafunda Community Technology Center CTC, which aims to scale their Community Knowledge Centers by training existing community organizations and equipping them with curriculum and equipment. Their digital skills-building work focuses on unemployed youth, persons with disabilities, women and girls, and teachers and learners across South Africa.
- StartupLab MX, which will scale its Digital Transformation Program for women-led, low-income, and rural small businesses across southeast and central México, providing workshops, consulting, digital marketing material, and connecting them with capital and new clients.
- UNETE, IAP, which will scale its “Modelo Integral UNETE (MIU)” program designed to eradicate digital illiteracy in Mexican public schools which have never been equipped with educational technology through hardware, training, mentorship, and more. They aim to focus on communities in which migrants have left for the U.S., leaving populations of older people, women, and children.
The organizations were chosen from among 120 applicants in a highly selective process, which prioritized reach, impact, commitment to digital equity, and meaningful connections to the communities they serve. Selected not-for-profit organizations will be awarded HP technology solutions tailored to their needs; around $100,000 USD in capacity-building grants; and access to a robust network of international leaders, mentors, and coaches with expertise in technology, social innovation, non-profit management, and social impact. Additionally, the Accelerator will provide the cohort with opportunities for visibility on a global stage, including connections to local and international media.
Founded in 2022, the Accelerator has helped seven organizations from India, Morocco, and the United States scale their efforts, boosting their cumulative reach by 1.7 million people and counting.
HP is powering the Accelerator with technology solutions for each participating organization, progressing toward the HP commitment to advance digital equity for 150 million people worldwide by 2030.
“We are thrilled to continue building on the success of the Digital Equity Accelerator with an exciting new cohort dedicated to innovative solutions,” said Michele Malejki, Global Head, Social Impact, HP. “Digital equity is indispensable for access to education, healthcare and economic opportunity and HP is proud to partner with these organizations pursuing change in their communities.”
“We are humbled by the expertise of each local organization chosen for the 2023 Accelerator,” said Vivian Schiller, Executive Director of Aspen Digital. “This class represents ambitious projects, each addressing some of the most urgent challenges in digital inequity. We’re excited to help these 10 NGOs scale their innovations and deepen their local impact.”
“At its core, the purpose of the Digital Equity Accelerator is to strengthen the work of organizations addressing social and economic inequalities in their communities,” said Hazami Barmada, Director of the Digital Equity Accelerator. “COVID-19 revealed to the world that without full and equal access to the digital economy, inequalities in access to employment, education, healthcare and social services are exacerbated. In selecting this cohort, we sought organizations dedicated to solving issues at the intersection of technology and socio-economic inequalities.”
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About the Digital Equity Accelerator
The Digital Equity Accelerator, an initiative of Aspen Institute in collaboration with HP, Inc., works to advance social and economic equality by investing in not-for-profit organizations and NGOs that are accelerating digital inclusion. Launched in 2022, the Accelerator has successfully helped scale seven organizations from India, Morocco, and the United States, boosting their cumulative reach by 1.7 million people and counting. In 2023, the Accelerator expanded its programming to ten organizations from Malaysia, Mexico and South Africa. Visit digitalequityaccelerator.org or join the mailing list to learn more.
About Aspen Digital & the Aspen Institute
Aspen Digital is a nonpartisan technology and information-focused program of the Aspen Institute that brings together thinkers and doers to uncover new ideas and spark policies, processes, and procedures that empower communities and strengthen democracy. The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society.
About HP
HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) is a global technology leader and creator of solutions that enable people to bring their ideas to life and connect to the things that matter most. Operating in more than 170 countries, HP delivers a wide range of innovative and sustainable devices, services and subscriptions for personal computing, printing, 3D printing, hybrid work, gaming, and more. For more information, please visit: http://www.hp.com