The Birth and Evolution of the Community Tech Lab

The Community Tech Lab was built at El Puente in response to a need for a tactile learning space and as a solution to the matrix of digital equity issues the community faces. El Puente serves primarily low-income, Spanish-speaking residents with limited access to devices and internet connectivity at home.  Additionally, the community faces risk from flooding, heat waves, and power outages. These circumstances increase an already vulnerable population’s potential for disastrous situations for which there are minimal to no preemptive emergency communication plans. Community Tech New York works together with community organizations to ensure that the skills and tools needed to communicate in this digital age are accessible to residents. To do this, CTNY and El Puente identified the need to create a space where people can discover technology together, learn at their own pace, and learn from people who understand the context of their neighborhoods and communities.

In New York City, Monique Tate, Co-Director of Community Tech New York, focuses on Community Tech Labs as organizing spaces for digital justice.