It hasn’t been six months yet, but in some ways, it feels like this was always my path. Leading SA Digital Connects, a private-public-community partnership that aims to close San Antonio’s and Bexar County’s’ digital divide, is complex and challenging, but also rewarding.
Like many of your own career progressions, the path to where I am now was anything but a straight line. While I started my career years ago as a special education teacher, I quickly learned I enjoyed spending time on large-scale initiatives or big projects that required layers of development and planning. I got to do this while working in local government and I am fortunate to continue this path in my new role.
As executive director at SA Digital Connects, I can balance my love for serving others and the constant pull I feel toward continuous improvement of ineffective systems. I get to be part of creating better economic mobility for people and their families; I get to be part of positive forward change in our community; I get to be part of the mission to close the digital divide in San Antonio and Bexar County.
The digital divide means some of our neighbors do not have access to the internet, are not able to afford reliable internet or do not have the skills or devices necessary to use the internet. Vital to success in today’s world, the internet and the tools and skills to use the internet are a necessity not just for improved quality of life, but also for someone’s trajectory in the workforce. The internet helps us find and apply for jobs, build and send resumes, apply to and attend college, access health care services and telehealth, reduce social isolation and find housing. Without the internet and the skills to use it effectively, it is difficult to fully participate and thrive in a digital society.
The best part about this work is that I don’t do it alone. We have a community full of digital investment champions with whom I work alongside and collaborate. Our private sector partners recognize the value that closing the digital divide brings and that its return on investment is measured in a higher-skilled workforce, higher educational attainment, lower unemployment rates and more business formations.
Our public sector partners have also demonstrated their commitment to closing the digital divide by executing contracts to connect over 35,000 households to reliable internet across San Antonio and Bexar County, one of the largest locally led initiatives in the country. We know the public-private partnership model can be effective, however SA Digital Connects has developed and implemented an ideal model for closing the digital divide — a model that includes key stakeholders providing direct service to our residents.
With the public-private-community model, we have seen significant success toward accomplishing our collective mission. It’s clear that with the strength of our private sector, the passion of our public sector and the dedication of our community organizations, we will soon shift from the digital divide to digital dividends.
This work is difficult and expensive. It requires sustained coordinated effort, influence at all levels and strong leadership. We see and acknowledge the various ways the internet plays a role in each of our lives and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
I love the challenge. I love the work that addresses big problems with no easy solutions. That’s the work that draws me in and keeps me going. The work that looks impossible makes me say, “Let’s go figure it out.”
Perhaps the greatest reward of all is the knowledge that our work is making a meaningful impact across our community. The impact of having access to reliable, affordable internet is greater economic mobility for current and future generations, helping local businesses succeed in a digital world and realizing the benefits of online banking tools. There are unlimited returns in having access to reliable, affordable internet and feeling safe, secure and confident online.
This work is not meant to exist in perpetuity, closing the digital divide in our community means working myself out of this role. So, what does that mean for my future? I’m not sure — but likely a new, big problem to solve and a new mission to serve.
