Building a more equitable, resilient state where each and every student can learn, grow, and thrive.
What is ConnectedMN?
Partnership for a Connected MN was created in early 2020 by philanthropic and business leaders, in collaboration with Governor Tim Walz, in the wake of COVID-19 to ensure students from high-need and underserved communities have the tools and support they need to participate in digital learning and digital life. The work of the partnership continues today as an autonomous, non-partisan volunteer led coalition with guidance from the St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation and the partnership collaborative committee. The collaborative members represent community based organizations from all over the state, including initiative foundations, tribal communities, nonprofits, education networks, and business members from Comcast, Best Buy, and the Minnesota Business Partnership.
ConnectedMN is working to bring tech devices, high speed internet access and digital navigation support to students and families across the entire state who have been traditionally underserved, including students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. We distributed over $5M in grant funding to 65+ community based organizations across the state.
More recently we’ve worked closely with the MN Office of Broadband Development as they’ve organized Digital Connection Committees to gather data and input to develop the soon to be released Digital Opportunity Plan. We continue to support their efforts through developing a Digital Navigation Framework that providers can use to train the many navigators that will be needed to help new broadband users in the near future.
What do we do?
“The support from the Partnership for a #connectedMN has been invaluable for students and families in East Central Minnesota. The ECMECC digital navigators have assisted hundreds of students/families with device and access issues to ensure success with hybrid and distance learning.”
— Marc Johnson, ED, East Central MN Education Cable Cooperative
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