Free Geek, Devices, and Digital Equity
Free Geek, a nonprofit organization located in Portland, Oregon, offers digital navigation as a core service, in alignment with its mission to “sustainably reuse technology, enable digital access, and provide education to create a community that empowers people to realize their potential.” Importantly, Free Geek is a computer refurbisher, facilitating access to free and affordable devices—a critical component of digital inclusion. Refurbishing computers enables the organization’s digital navigator work in two critical ways. First, Free Geek digital navigators can easily connect the people they serve with devices. Second, a stream of refurbished devices that Free Geek sells to the public offers a source of revenue that is significant to sustaining the organization and offering digital navigation services. Digital navigation at Free Geek formally began during the pandemic; however, the organization had been engaged in many of these navigation activities for nearly a decade. Free Geek had long granted computer hardware to individuals and organizations. Doing this work attuned the organization to the role it might play in the digital equity ecosystem in Portland, as well as to the needs of the people receiving a computer, many perhaps for the first time.
Free Geek, Devices, and Digital Equity