In our current age, we are all constantly learning, growing, and navigating a rapidly changing digital landscape. This reality has created a growing need for support systems that help people build confidence in the digital world. Ensuring that everyone can participate fully in that landscape requires intentional, community-based resources.

Programs like the American Connection Corps (ACC), an AmeriCorps program of Lead For America, support efforts to expand digital inclusion and bridge the digital divide by activating members to serve in their own communities alongside local organizations. Through this work, they help build the digital connectivity needed to expand opportunity and economic mobility. ACC members collaborate with these organizations to address the digital divide while gaining hands-on professional experience.

During my time as an ACC member, I served as a digital navigator at the Blasco Memorial Library in Erie (PA). We had many regulars who participated in our programs, and one in particular who stands out is Margaret.

Margaret is a 75-year-old Peer Navigator who works at the Blasco. Margaret moved to Erie from Pittsburgh more than 20 years ago. When we originally met Margaret, she didn’t know how to use a laptop and had very little experience with her smartphone or the library's desktop computers.

Over eight weeks, we held a Google Chromebook Essentials class that allowed graduates to take home a Chromebook. Margaret was very excited to join the class and was one of our first sign-ups! She and the other students did exceptionally well, especially towards the latter half of the course. A lack of confidence often gets in the way, so we encouraged folks to believe in themselves and reminded them that we’re human and make mistakes, too.

After attending the Chromebook course and getting her own, Margaret took off! She had a Windows laptop that she hadn’t been using because she was unfamiliar with it. She finally gave it a try and made it her main device. Margaret also enrolled in an online school and learned to navigate her university’s website. She can independently use any of the library's computers, and after a few one-on-one sessions, she can fully operate her phone and other devices.

Now attending PennWest Global Online University to become a social worker, Margaret is a testament to our community's ability to learn and grow, especially among our older residents who previously had limited access to digital tools and support.

Erie and our surrounding tri-state area are a complex community that’s Midwest, Rust Belt, and East Coast all at once. We are navigating the transition away from an industrial economy and must build new pathways to opportunity.

The role of a digital navigator involves a lot of one-on-one support with clients to help them attain a baseline understanding of a digital tool, primarily a smartphone or laptop. However, the work is much more than that; we end up becoming a trusted point of connection and support in the community.

During my time serving at the Blasco Library, I encountered a wide range of tech issues and support needs from community members. I listened to their stories and often acted as both a counselor and a tech support agent.

One thing that you notice when doing this work is how folks are actually very competent with tech, they just don’t know it yet! There are practical everyday skills that translate into digital skills the average person may not be thinking of, and it’s our role to be the interpreter and translate those skills.

Engaging with clients every day not only makes them better at tech but also connects you with them. You get to watch them start with absolutely no experience or very little experience, and most of the time, end up being able to do what they want with their device. One of my clients’ biggest triumphs came when Val joined Erie’s Community Access Media organization and began creating her own YouTube videos of herself playing the saxophone.

I’ve lived and served in Erie my whole life, with my focus always centered on my community. Having the ability to contribute through teaching and digital coaching has really expanded my view of the needs of folks in Erie County.

As a digital navigator, my role is to understand the opportunities, challenges, and obstacles people may encounter as they navigate an ever-changing digital landscape. Many people face barriers navigating systems that were not designed with them in mind. This work is about helping people build on the skills they already have, navigate those systems, and access the tools and information that support their goals.

We all use technology for different reasons, and we all need digital access. If digital navigation sounds like something you’d be interested in, applications for the American Connection Corps are open now for the upcoming program year. You can serve in your own community while building skills, gaining experience, and connecting residents to opportunities.

Organizations can also get involved. Host Site applications are still open for those interested in bringing an ACC AmeriCorps Member to their community to expand digital access and support this critical work.

Working together, we can build more connected communities and ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive in a digital world. Because at the end of the day, digital access is not just about technology. It’s about people, opportunity, and connection.

Michelle Frischkorn is a former ACC AmeriCorps Member who served as a digital navigator at the Blasco Memorial Library in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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