Mayor Lightfoot Launches Chicago Digital Equity Council

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the launch of the Chicago Digital Equity Council, a cross-sector, community-driven effort to understand and tackle the nuanced barriers to digital equity and close Chicago (IL)’s digital divide once and for all. Chicago’s digital divide is a racial equity issue. Through a comprehensive community engagement strategy, the Digital Equity Council will make recommendations to close this gap, reaching a state of digital equity where all Chicagoans have the digital skills, tools, and resources they need to fully participate in society, democracy, and the economy. The Digital Equity Council was born out of Chicago Connected, a first-of-its-kind broadband program that has connected over 64,000 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students to at-home high-speed internet and made free digital learning resources available to families. The Digital Equity Council will build upon Chicago Connected’s historic progress in the K-12 space to pinpoint and tackle the barriers to digital equity Chicago residents face citywide. The Digital Equity Council is led by a group of community leaders, community-based organizations (CBOs), government entities, and digital equity subject matter experts. Known as the Guiding Team, this cross-sector leadership group is working to reimagine the relationships among people, programs, and organizations to achieve systemic change. With representation from communities across the City, this team ensures that Chicagoans most burdened by the digital divide are at the table and centered in decision-making.