Mountain Connect 2024: Key partnerships, digital equity, and the Illinois Broadband Lab

On this episode of Connected Nation, we talk with  Director of State and Local Government Partnerships at ready.net.  Plus, we sit down with a representative from the University of Illinois to discuss the Illinois Broadband Lab and catch up with the team at Digitunity to learn how the nonprofit is expanding its work to reach more Americans in need.

Related Links:
Ready.net
Illinois Broadband Initiative, Univ. of Illinois
Digitunity

Mountain Connect 2024 series
Opening episode
The Internet Equity Initiative and connecting the most remote, inhabited island in Michigan
The high-tech (and dangerous) broadband job that some say needs regulation now
Nokia's Network in a Box and the one thing most people get wrong about the company
Key partnerships, digital equity, and the Illinois Broadband Lab
BEAM's leadership on broadband expansion and accessibility across Mississippi
How BroadbandOhio is navigating BEAD

Chapters

• 0:59 Earnie Holtrey into and what is ready.net
• 4:58 Common trends with RFPs
• 10:30 Aneta Thomas Lee, Illinois Broadband Lab into
• 16:05 What exciting things are happening the in broadband space
• 22:34 Karisa Tashljian, Digitunity, Sr. Director of Programs and Strategic Partnerships and Chris Craven, Digitunity, Development Representative into
• 25:04 Federal funding for digital equity

Transcript

Jessica Denson (00:05):
On this episode of Connected Nation, I talk with the director of state and local government partnerships@ready.net. Plus, I speak with a representative from the University of Illinois about the Illinois Broadband Lab, and I catch up with Digit to learn how the nonprofit is expanding its work to reach more Americans in need. I'm Jessica Denson, and this is Connected Nation. It is day three officially at Mountain Connect, which is taking place in Denver, Colorado, and I am sitting with Ernie Holt tree, who's with ready.net. Welcome, Ernie. How are you?

Earnie Holtrey, ready.net (00:43):
Thanks. Glad to be here.

Jessica Denson (00:44):
Yeah. I like the way you spell your name. It's a little different than

Earnie Holtrey, ready.net (00:47):
The traditional Ernie, if you could see this, but this is a podcast. You point to your ear and then you point to your knee. Yeah, your knee, Ernie.

Jessica Denson (00:53):
Yes. You got it. Yeah. So Ernie, tell me why you came to Mountain Connect. Sure.

Earnie Holtrey, ready.net  (00:59):
I represent ready.net. I'm director of a state and local government relationships or partnerships, and I came to Reddy from the Indiana Broadband office, so this almost feels like home when you come to an event like this and you see so many state broadband directors, but then industry and the consultant partners that we work with or want to work with at Ready, and then just the national leadership and sitting in a room with hundreds of people who are all like-minded about internet for all that final connectivity that we need to bring to the rest of our country that's underserved and finding new and different partners to help us get there.

Jessica Denson (01:37):
Yeah, I think that's interesting you brought up partners because we've done some work Connect Nation and Ready Net are doing some work together. There are all kinds of people here. There's about 30 state broadband office directors, I believe, and then just all kinds of different groups. What are you looking for in a good partnership?

Earnie Holtrey, ready.net  (01:55):
Sure. That back and forth relationship, right? Anytime that we're looking to answer an RFP or an RFQ or do some work together with partners in a state, how can we help each other out? What are your strengths? What are our strengths? And how can we put those together in a quality package to help a state broadband office or a group of counties or ISP group or whatever that may be. But that solid back and forth, obviously open and direct communication. Money is always something. That's why we all work, but we like to focus a lot more on the good that we're doing and then everything else will flow from there.

Jessica Denson (02:37):
Definitely. The problem is so big. The digital divide is what I mean by the problem. It's so large. It's not something that you can do without partnerships. So when you agree you need that.

Earnie Holtrey (02:46):
Yep, for sure. And we're chartered as a public benefit corporation. I know you're chartered as a nonprofit, so I mean, there's some great relationships there that I think we can continue to build on working together. But just looking across this exhibition hall today and seeing how many people are passionate about what we're working on right now, both with the BEAD program and the digital equity and closing the Digital divide.

Jessica Denson (03:11):
So talk a little bit more about ready.net and what you do, what your role is with the company. Sure.

Earnie Holtrey (03:16):
So ready.net is a software as a service platform. Think of your tax and accounting software programs. The CPA uses those programs, so we're similar that state broadband office uses our platform, our software or that ISP uses our software to do a deep dive in some analytics on a single pane of glass where you can see dozens or even hundreds of data layers make quality decisions for your state broadband office or for your ISP. We're currently or have worked with 30 different state broadband offices on their challenge process. And then looking to see how we move forward into applications, which we call our Ready State platform. And then finally into the reporting piece, which we call arc, our automated reporting and compliance software.

Jessica Denson (04:06):
You mentioned you were with the Indiana State Broadband office previously, so that gives you a unique perspective. You can kind of understand what some of these leaders are looking for, what they need to say.

Earnie Holtrey (04:16):
Yeah. Yes. I came to ready to provide that seat in the room, right? Sitting in the Indiana broadband office, a director sitting in a broadband office, what are their needs? And try to read between the lines in an RFP or as we're developing a relationship on exactly what the pain point of that office is and how we can assist with our automated automation and software.

Jessica Denson (04:40):
And when it comes to solving such a big problem, you really do, the data is critical. What are some specific data pieces that you generally try to look at when it comes to, I mean, I realize that every RFP is different. They may ask for certain things, but in general, are there some common threads

Earnie Holtrey (04:58):
When we see an RFP? We're looking for words like portal platform, those sort of titles. Not the professional services, but the actual software solution. So with that would then come all of our data resources that are within our platform, but we really try to maintain that tight niche of the software as a service piece, staying away from the consulting and the time and materials and just focusing on in those RFPs and rf, PQS platform, software portal, those sort of words.

Jessica Denson (05:37):
So you said Ready dot networks across the country. Where is it based?

Earnie Holtrey (05:41):
So we are a hundred percent remote. We do have a small co-working office in DC National headquarters are now in Miami, Florida.

Jessica Denson (05:51):
That's similar to Connected Nation, although ours are in Bull Green, Kentucky, which is a nice place, but I want Miami. So let's talk a little bit about you. You said we mentioned several times that you were with the Indiana Broadband office. Do you live in Indiana still?

Earnie Holtrey (06:06):
Sure. I'm on the north side of Indianapolis. I've been there for over 20 years. I have two adult daughters that live there, and I now have two granddaughters that live within six miles of me.

Jessica Denson (06:16):
Oh, I bet you smile big. I bet that makes you happy.

Earnie Holtrey (06:19):
Yes. They keep my wife very busy, for sure. That's

Jessica Denson (06:21):
Good. What do you think? I'm actually right across the river in Louisville, Kentucky. So how is Indiana doing overall? Just in your opinion, what's the work that still needs to be done there?

Earnie Holtrey, ready.net  (06:34):
Sure. Yeah, there's some great leadership at the Indiana broadband office with state infrastructure coordinator, Steve Cox, who came on board shortly before I left, and he came from Indiana Homeland Security. So he's top notch when it comes to federal funding. He led Indiana through the covid relief days. So Indiana is in a great place with Steve and the team that he's built at the Indiana broadband office. They finished up their challenge process, I believe they're all the way through rebuttal now and doing some adjudication and have already started releasing some guidance for the prequalification for the sub-grantee program. So Indiana's moving along, they were in the first 50% of having their volume two approved by NTIA. So I'm really excited to see what Steve and the office do with the sub-grantee selection. And then in that final proposal,

Jessica Denson (07:27):
So Indiana is a little bit unique in the fact that there are some very highly populated areas like Indianapolis, and then it's got some rural areas, a lot of farmers and ranchers. Does that make some of the challenges unique or is that something we're seeing all across the country?

Earnie Holtrey (07:43):
I think the rural city is not the rural city suburb. Differentiation would be similar across the states. Obviously some states have more bigger cities than others. I think the real difference is the topography or the geography. If you look at a map or even if you drive in Indiana, you can see right where that glacier stopped, where things become hilly or the foothills of the mountains in southern Indiana. So I think that's more of the differentiator in states that ties more into the broadband piece and the mapping and how are you going to create a quality project based on what the terrain you're dealing with more so than the population centers.

Jessica Denson (08:27):
Got it. So last question, and this is probably the most important one. Like I said, I live across the river in Louisville. Can you please tell me what a Hoosier is?


Earnie Holtrey (08:38):
No, I cannot. So this is going to be a plug for Ohio State. I lived the first half of my life in Ohio. I'm a

Jessica Denson (08:47):
Buckeye. Oh, Buckeye

Earnie Holtrey (08:49):
Have partial season tickets this year for football. Met my wife during college and moved to Indianapolis. I have no idea what a Hoosier is, but what I do know is when we put the word Hoosier in some of our plans, part of the state did not like that. They don't, because the Purdue and Notre Dame and Ball State folks don't want to be referred to as Hoosier. They see that as IU and not necessarily the state as a whole.

Jessica Denson (09:13):
Yeah. One of my team members grew up in Indiana and it says that he says that about Purdue. He's like, I'm not a Hoosier Jessica. Right, exactly. Oh, well, I love how you clarified. I am a Buckeye. Yeah.

Earnie Holtrey (09:25):
We had to do a deep search for our five-year plan and change all the words Hoosiers to Indiana

Jessica Denson (09:32):
Residents. That is hysterical. Well, people are proud. The Indiana people are proud. They're great. It's a great state and thank you so much, Ernie, for joining me from ready.net. I really appreciate your time. I appreciate

Earnie Holtrey (09:44):
You having me on today, Jessica, thank you.

Jessica Denson (09:46):
Thank you. I am sitting at the Connected Nation exhibit booth at Mountain Connect. It's the third day and I was fortunate enough to meet Anita Thompson Lee who is with the Illinois Broadband Lab. Thank you, Anita for joining me. Thank

Aneta Thomas Lee (10:02):
You. Glad to be here.

Jessica Denson (10:03):
I was kind of listening to you speaking. You were so passionate and looked like you're so excited about the topics. Digital equity matters to you, doesn't it?

Aneta Thomas Lee, Illinois Broadband Lab (10:10):
Absolutely. I've been working in this space for almost 10 years, and it's my passion. I call it my passion work, my mission, my reason for being on the planet to help close the digital divide.

Jessica Denson (10:23):
And why do you think that is?

Aneta Thomas Lee (10:26):
Why do I think it's

Jessica Denson (10:27):
My passion? Yeah, why do you feel that way?

Aneta Thomas Lee, Illinois Broadband Lab (10:30):
So I started this journey as a digital inclusion fellow with N 10 and Google Fiber. And at that time, most of my professional work had been around just nonprofit program management, just going into the communities, empowering them, educating them, providing resources and things of that nature. And I was on a three year job unemployment because of the economic downturn of oh 8, 0 0 9. And the organization that I was working for had lost all their funding because of that. And so I stumbled upon this fellowship looking for jobs, and I was like, okay, I can do this. I can teach some computer classes, I can do that. I know the basics. And so hopped on and just it opened up my eyes to what the digital divide is. Understanding that is a major issue that not a whole lot of people know about and just kind of caught a bug or caught a fever, or however you want to call

Jessica Denson (11:31):
It. Yeah, love Aneta Thomas Lee (11:31):

It. It was like, okay, this is who I am. This is what I want to do. This is how I want to continue in my career.

Jessica Denson (11:38):
Well, those of us at Connected Nation relate. We love this topic. Talk about what the Illinois Broadband Lab is doing and what your role is with the organization.

Aneta Thomas Lee, Illinois Broadband Lab (11:47):
Absolutely. So the Illinois Broadband Lab is an initiative that sits up under the of Illinois system in all three campuses, Chicago, Champaign and Springfield. And they have an intergovernment agreement with the state's office of broadband. And how they came about was our executive director was one of the people that stood up the office of broadband back in 2019. And at first he was just doing it because his passion, he was from Minnesota and came to Illinois to do this work. And then once the bead money and all that stuff came coming down, he recognized that there was a lot of work that needed to be done that the office didn't have the capacity to do. So that's how he got into this intergovernment agreement with the university because they can kind of push forward some programming and some data analysis and mapping and all those sorts of things a little bit quicker than the state could. And so I was asked to come on last year to stand up a statewide digital navigator core because we understand that digital navigators are one of the key community members and key positions in this work that's going to get our communities ready for all this awesome broadband that's going to get eventually built out.

Jessica Denson (13:11):
So explain what a digital navigator is to your layman. To a layman.

Aneta Thomas Lee, Illinois Broadband Lab  (13:16):
Absolutely. So I like to think of a digital navigator. I put out the analogy as a case manager or a caseworker for technology in the internet. So this is usually a trusted individual that a family or a person can come to that will help guide them through their digital experience. So it's helping them find low cost broadband so they can adopt it in the home if it's available. It's about finding them devices and devices that they need in their home, either low cost or free. And it's also about providing them with digital skills. Either they serve as the digital skills instructor or they're help to sign them up for digital skills classes so that the family is aware of how to use the first two, which is the broadband on the

Jessica Denson (14:04):
Device takes away some of that fear. Or what do I do? Or how do I make these first steps when it is hard for people, I think, who have always had access to understand that there's some people that really don't even know where to begin. Right, right. So that's important. So talk about why you came to Mountain Connect. You had a panel that you were on, correct? Yeah.

Aneta Thomas Lee (14:23):
Yeah. So I was actually asked to be on a panel with what I call one of the digital equity goats, Deb Socha from the Enterprise Center in Chattanooga. She has been a resource and a mentor throughout my entire journey. Like I said, I've been doing this for about 10 years, and she asked me to be on a panel that talked about we know why we need digital navigators. This was talking about the how we need to have digital equity and inclusion, so obviously automatically you don't turn Dev Socha down. And so I came out and was able to get on a panel with some other amazing individuals to kind of talk to folks about how important it is to have digital equity strategies alongside all of this great broadband that's happening.

Jessica Denson (15:19):
Because having broadband access, that's the only one piece we talk about access, adoption, and use, which is really what this is working on is those other two pieces. And you could have all the technology in the world, but you need those other pieces. Right.

Aneta Thomas Lee (15:33):
I always say, I mean like I, it's about adoption. It's about access, it's about use. I say you can build all the pretty broadband all across the nation, but if you don't have a community that is adopting it, that is using it efficiently, then all you have is pretty lights up under the ground.

Jessica Denson (15:51):
That's a good way to put it. So talk about a little bit of a success. Do you have some stories that really motivate you or an example that makes you really excited about what's happening?

Aneta Thomas Lee, Illinois Broadband Lab (16:05):
One of the things that I pride myself on doing is backing up a little bit. You see all these numbers, 42 billion, and this state is getting 3 billion, and our state is getting 1 billion and hundreds of millions of dollars. And how many millions of families are not connected? How many hundreds of thousands of folks are underserved? And I feel like we can get desensitized with those big numbers. And what I consistently try to do is understand that these are human lives. These are human beings working day to day, our neighbors, our cousins, our grandmothers, our aunties that are just trying to make day-to-day life. And success for me is being able to be in a digital skills class where all I'm doing is teaching somebody how to turn this thing on and see the light bulb go off and be like, oh, aha. Oh, but that's what that meant, right? Because the technology is changing every five minutes. There's so much information that is being poured into our eyeballs and our eardrums every day about technology, and it gets overwhelming. And then to be able to see someone understand when we teach a concept and they get like, oh, so that's what they were talking about on TV the other day about X, Y, Z technology, to me, that's success. And

Jessica Denson (17:39):
Then they have access to resources and opportunities, and it just continues from there, don't you think?

Aneta Thomas Lee (17:44):
Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, when I have an opportunity to talk in front of policymakers and leaders and funders and things of that nature, I was like, name me one thing in the 21st century in global economy that doesn't involve technology. I'll wait.

Jessica Denson (18:05):
Yeah, we're going to have a silence. Yeah, there's nothing. Yeah,

Aneta Thomas Lee (18:10):
Right. So if you can't name the one thing that technology isn't a part of, then understand why this is so important for our communities and the people that we serve.

Jessica Denson (18:22):
I'm going to steal that. That's a great way to explain it. It's a fantastic way because you could rack your head for 30 minutes and probably not come up with one thing. Yeah. So that's a great point. So let's talk a little bit about you, Anita. What is your background? Did you grow up there in Illinois or are you from somewhere else? Yeah,

Aneta Thomas Lee (18:42):
I actually literally moved to Illinois because of the work. So I am from metro Atlanta, Georgia via New Orleans where my family is from. That's a nice way to go. I spent my childhood there, and that's where I've done most of the work, even though I've, some of the work that I've done was I of state, but my journey, like I said, it was about 10 years ago being a part of the first digital inclusion fellowship that was with N 10 and Google Fiber. And so since then, my winding journey has been in different organizations, but different institutions all sticking around this digital equity inclusion. And so I've always lived only in the Southeast. And it's very interesting that last year I had just finished up another fellowship in Birmingham, Alabama. I was in the city of bi Birmingham mayor's office. And so when I realized I wasn't getting a second year in that fellowship, it was like, okay, Anita, what are we going to do next? And so just putting myself out there, I literally was on another podcast at Net Inclusion in San Antonio as it's two years ago where I was like, Hey, I'm available, even thought about, so give me a call.

Jessica Denson (19:58):
Yeah, Aneta Thomas Lee (19:59):

Yeah. Even thought about doing the consulting work and still considering that as well and still want to do that. But yeah, I applied for a position at the University of Illinois and just like I said, just kind of throwing

Jessica Denson (20:12):
Just LED life. I didn't really even

Aneta Thomas Lee (20:14):
Dawn on me that this would come to fruition, but in the end, that's where I ended up and I was so excited because they were excited to have me. I was not necessarily fit the mold of either an academic or a government state employee. They really recognized that they needed someone that is in touch with the community and has the experience doing community work in order to be able to stand up a statewide program. So it's exciting for me because I've done projects here, city work, whatever. Now I'm doing something statewide. And so

Jessica Denson (20:50):
That is Aneta Thomas Lee (20:50):

Exciting. Yes, it's very, very exciting.

Jessica Denson (20:53):
But the really cool thing is that you're recognizing, in my opinion, that you're recognizing that even though it's about technology, we all need to work in the technology and stuff. It's really about the people. That's the bottom line. It is about how many people we help, what we do in these few years is going to matter so much.

Aneta Thomas Lee, Illinois Broadband Lab (21:09):
Absolutely. We have to get this right. We have to get this right. When I tell people what I do, they automatically think, oh, you're a techie person. And I was like, look, don't come asking me to code, whatever. I

Jessica Denson (21:26):
Dunno anything. Sending the girls who code right about

Aneta Thomas Lee (21:29):
This stuff. Even here at Mountain Connect, I'm looking at all this stuff and I'm like, oh, wide eyed. I'm like, Ooh, this is cool. This is awesome. I am not a tech person, but what I am is a community person.

Jessica Denson (21:41):
Well, the University of Chicago is lucky to have you. People of Illinois are lucky to have you. Thank you. Advocating for digital equity, and I really, I am lucky to have you on our podcast today. So thank you very much,

Aneta Thomas Lee (21:50):
Nita. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Anytime.

Jessica Denson (21:53):
I am still at day three of Mountain Connect in Denver, Colorado, and I have the pleasure of standing before two people who work with Dig Trinity, which is an organization that Connect Nation has done some work with, and we love them. You do a lot of great things for people, and we appreciate you. I'll just have you both introduce yourselves and tell me your title so people can kind identify your voices.

Karisa Tashljian, Digitunity, Sr. Director of Programs and Strategic Partnerships  (22:16):
Terrific. I'm Carissa Taschen, senior Director of Programs and Strategic Partnerships.

Chris Craven, Digitunity, Development Representative (22:22):
Yeah, and Chris Craven, development representative.

Jessica Denson (22:25):
Alright, let's begin with you, Carissa. Talk a little bit about what Digit is at its core so that our audience knows what you guys do. Yeah,

Karisa Tashljian, Digitunity, Sr. Director of Programs and Strategic Partnerships  (22:34):
Absolutely. We're so excited to be celebrating our 40th anniversary this year where we've been targeting and focused on getting devices, computers out to people who need them across the country. And we're really looking to aggregate things and do things at the national level that can really help state and local communities.

Jessica Denson (22:53):
And Chris, what's your role as development representative? What do you do with Digit Trinity?

Chris Craven, Digitunity, Development Representative  (22:59):
Yeah, we have, as Carissa just mentioned, we have a 40 year history of really focusing on device ownership. In just the last several years, we've really started to branch out and do a lot more advising and consulting type work with state cities and coalitions. And so my role is really to work with government type partnerships as well as we still have a lot of corporate partnerships we work with as well.

Jessica Denson (23:21):
And when you say that the governor partnerships, corporate partnerships, what kind of partnering is that? Are you consulting with them or helping with digital equity? Expand upon that just a little bit.

Chris Craven, Digitunity, Development Representative  (23:32):
Yeah, I'd say on the corporate partnerships side, it's kind of twofold, meaning we're a 5 0 1 C3 nonprofit organization. So we do of course, accept philanthropic funds and that's always important, but we also still take technology donations and try to give them to our partners and turn them right back around into the community. And so kind of a twofold partnership with corporations. And on the government side, it's a lot more of the advising type work on their digital equity planning process. And that's been done. We've done that at the state level. We've done that at the city and coalition level, and we're look to continue that as we kind grow as an organization.

Jessica Denson (24:05):
And Carissa, for you as a senior director of programs and strategic partnerships, how does your role unfold with the organization?

Karisa Tashljian, Digitunity, Sr. Director of Programs and Strategic Partnerships  (24:13):
Yeah, we really just keep focusing on who we're serving and why we're serving them and how to make that experience better. It's really difficult. We've been doing some focus groups with residents in rural communities and we're really getting to understand the challenges they face. We can't make solutions and come up with plans without talking and centering all of that. And actually each of those conversations, we adjust our strategy and it's been really insightful that way.

Jessica Denson (24:40):
So right now, obviously it's no secret, there's billions and billions of dollars out there for broadband, and there's also a portion of money that is going towards digital equity. I had love to hear from both of you what you hope, and not just in the role that you play, but what you hope to see happen with that in digit, within Dig Trinity's parameters and how you guys handle things.

Karisa Tashljian (25:04):
Well, I have a long memory and I remember btop funds and being very involved with that, and we really don't have much to show around computers and digital skills as a result of that program. And I just can't sit with having that happen again. So we really center sustainability in the strategies we come up with in solving local. We want to have someone in 10 years seamlessly find whatever piece of technology they need for free or low costs. There's no barrier, and then they have the support they need it. So that's what we're working towards every day for Digit Trinity. The things that I think we can contribute though are looking at, we really look at sustainable device ecosystems, so any type of aggregation or coordination or partnership where we can reduce duplication, increase efficiency, increase impact, that's what we're looking to do.

Jessica Denson (26:03):
And from your point of view, Chris,

Chris Craven, Digitunity, Development Representative (26:05):
Yeah, I think Chris has said it pretty well, but I think a lot of what we're trying to work with states on is really that focus of how can we not just use the funding to make a one-time purchase of devices and call it good, but how can we use this funding that's being received to create an ongoing ecosystem all the way from supply, whether that's corporations offloading old devices or government and getting them through a refurbishing process and then back into the community through a deployment network to those that need them. And so our real big hope is that we really want to focus on having this live long beyond our time. And if we never see these funds again, we really hope that this school will continue and we can help solve the digital divide on the device side.

Jessica Denson (26:45):
Chris, for you, why do you do this work? Do you just like to see the impact or what motivates you?

Chris Craven, Digitunity, Development Representative  (26:53):
Yeah, I've been a nonprofit most of my career and I really just love making a difference. But what I love about the digital Divide, it's such a timely time to really be in this field and it's super important with the funding that's coming down and the opportunity that we have at this point in 2024 to make a difference in people's lives on the digital side is like it's never been, I mean, doing this work 20 years ago wouldn't have been quite the same, and hopefully we'll have it solved 20 years from now, but such a timely part to be in this field, and I really think it's a great place to make a difference.

Jessica Denson (27:25):
And what about you, Carissa? Why do you do this?

Karisa Tashljian (27:27):
Yeah, I feel in my heart, let me say, having been, I guess I didn't even know I was in the digital equity space being a teacher of technology to non-native English speakers many, many years ago, and building curriculum of how to use technology and, excuse me, and just helping at the library, public library work with workforce development. I see what technology opens. I also see where people need a voice and the solutions are out there. We just need to elevate them. So that's what drives me really every day is to have a lasting legacy for folks and just give opportunity because wow, when you open the door to opportunity, I have seen amazing stories. Everyone in the world wants to do well and just we need to give them that opportunity.

Jessica Denson (28:22):
So I want to ask you both one final question. What do you hope our audience takes away from this conversation and what they remember most about Dig Carissa, I'll let you start. And Chris, you can round us out.

Karisa Tashljian (28:35):
I'm going to say two things. One is that broadband is wonderful, but if you don't have a device, and it's a very real 36 million people in the United States do not have a device, and that's not even counting the under device households, really, the investment is kind of for naugh. So we're looking at that, and I do want to put a plug in here because it's such a pleasure to work with the Connected Nation team. I was just telling Chris last night at dinner, you really are a true epitome of being great partners. Really open, honest, share the credit, share the contribution. It's really great. We have some and creative too. We're coming up with some really new ways of doing things and really, I think we'll have really long lasting impact.

Jessica Denson (29:25):
Yeah, I'm excited. I've heard some rumors of what some things are going on, some excited, but you guys are wonderful. So it's not hard to cheer you on. And you, Chris, you get final word. What do you want people to remember about Trinity?

Chris Craven (29:37):
Yeah, I think just people take away that they have the opportunity to make a difference. Whether they're an individual, they can go to our website and find a spot to donate their computer and be matched. The local organization, whether they work for a corporation or government, there's an opportunity to get your corporation involved, either philanthropically or on the device donation side, and then of course, influencing government. So I think the digital divide is something you care about and we think you should, because it's an important topic, there's an opportunity to make a difference regardless of who you are. So thank you.

Jessica Denson (30:07):
Yeah, it's a great way to leave it. Thank you, Carissa and Carissa, I appreciate you both joining me today.

Chris Craven (30:11):
Thank you.

Jessica Denson (30:12):
It's a pleasure. Thanks, Jessica. Our next episode of Connected Nation, I will continue our coverage from the Mountain Connect Conference taking place in Denver, Colorado. Until then, I'm Jessica Denson, and this is Connected Nation.