Community Benefit Fund Plan First Draft, February 13, 2013

Community Benefit Fund Plan
First Draft, February 13, 2013

Comments to Abdul Alkalimat,

1 Introduction

2 Draft mission statement

3 Manifesto

4 What is community?

5 Who are we?

6 What is the digital divide?

7 What is our community benefit program?

8 What is our organizational structure?

9 What is our timetable?

Appendix: Community Benefit Fund Resolution

1 Introduction

UC2B is a project to build a high speed internet system in the Illinois cities of Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy. We have been funded by the federal, state and local governments, as well as the University of Illinois and local hospitals and businesses. We expect that the high end users of computer technology will grab UC2B and run with it. But what about the rest of our community? We risk running so fast we create an even greater digital divide than the one originally created by the telecoms with their businesses plans that red lined poor, Black, and Latino neighborhoods in the first place.

UC2B was innovative and created a plan to include everybody! Why? We are living in a revolution, an information revolution. A revolution creates a new society, so the information revolution is creating a new information society. We can all see what’s going on. Things have changed in all aspects of everyday life. At the grocery store bar codes control sales and inventory right at the cash register. They also reduce the staff required to run the store. Take your car to be fixed and, yep, that’s right, computers are at work here as well. You can’t get a job at McDonalds without going online to fill out an application. Computers are everywhere and no one can escape this reality. We are living in a revolution and need to wrap our minds around this.

The legislation called for hooking up the “anchor social institutions” and serving the “vulnerable” neighborhoods. UC2B took this literally, so we became the only project in the country that included all of the homeless shelters, homes for senior citizens, women’s centers, social service agencies, and churches.

Our next move was to make sure that the cash flow through the project would create the opportunity to invest in activities to counterbalance the inequality of income, educational level, and unemployment. This inequality leads us to the digital divide. So we got serious. We passed a community benefit resolution to change our business model from the usual max profit orientation to share the revenue by investing from 2 to 5% in a community benefit fund (See the Community Benefit Fund Resolution in the appendix). Again, we are the only project in the country to do this.

This document is designed to begin the conversation to design the Community Benefit Fund process in the community, with the UC2B leadership, and the founding members of the intergovernmental agreement – the City of Urbana, The City of Champaign, and the University of Illinois.

2 Draft mission statement

The UC2B Community Benefit Fund is an investment to end the digital divide in Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy.

3 Manifesto

Introduction

This is a document that has been read and adopted at most of our community meetings leading up to this current conversation. It emphasizes the three values we need to implement the mission to end the digital divide: cyberdemocracy, collective intelligence, and information freedom.

Manifesto 2011: Community and Technology

We dedicate ourselves to become difference makers! An information revolution is underway, leading global transformation in health, education, business, culture and in the diverse activities of our daily lives.

This revolution cannot and will not bypass any underserved or low income community. Every person and every neighborhood is impacted and therefore challenged to act.

We rely on: cyberdemocracy, collective intelligence, and information freedom.

Cyberdemocracy means universal access: every person and every community organization able to make full use of new technologies.

Collective Intelligence means hearing all voices: all of us uploading as well as downloading.

Information Freedom means online information is findable, easy to use, and requires no special permission to access.

With these values, we will work together so all our communities and community organizations can communicate, represent themselves online, and use digital technology to create cyberpower for social change!

4 What is community?

5 Who are we?

6 What is the digital divide?

This is about digital technology – it’s all around us. Cell phones, radios and TVs, our cars and trucks, all of our financial dealings, and of course all levels of education from K-12 through PhD. The question is what digital tools (or maybe you call them gadgets) do you have and how do you use them? When? Who do you connect with and what do you do with what tools? All of these questions help us answer the question what is the digital divide. Answer these five questions:

Do you have email and check it at least 3 times a day?
Can you access your email with your cell phone?
Do you have a personal web page (facebook, my space, etc)?
Do you own a computer at home and use it once a day?
Do you have broadband?

If you gave even one “no” answer you face the digital divide

In the old days if you couldn’t read and write you had to make an X, then someone else would write your name for you. If you even gave one “no” above then you are a 21st century “X” maker.

Of course this is just about individuals. What if this is about an organization or institution?

Does your board communicate via email and the web?
Do your staff or members communicate via email and the web?
Do you have a webpage?
Is your facility wireless?
Do you have broadband?

Again, if your organization gave one “no” then you are digitally divided.

This is why we have a Community Benefit Fund, became there are so many of us suffering from the digital divide.

If all the kids at school have a computer then the education process can excel. If all the patients have broadband then health care can go digital and save time and money. If people get computer literate then they can more easily get a job. The game has changed. It’s time to learn how to play by the new rules, and even to shape them.

7 What is our community benefit program?

Computers: We will provide ways to get computers free or at low cost.
Connectivity: We will provide universal connectivity to high speed internet at low cost.
Classes: We will provide free classes in computer literacy for the public and the staff of anchor social institutions.
Cybernavigators: We will partner with the tech volunteers and other computer help programs in the computer labs of Champaign Library, Douglass Library, and Urbana Free Library.
Cyberspace: We will help every individual and organization use CU wiki as a free option for a web page.
Cyberpower: We will help community organizations in campaigns to inform the public about important issues.
Community help desk: We will organize volunteer and low cost assistance with maintenance of computers.
Community wifi: We will provide universal access through community wide wifi, one option for free, another at a low cost.
Campus-community collaboration: We will build collaborative linkages between UIUC and Champaign-Urbana-Savoy.
Cyberorganizers: We will carry out this program with a team of volunteers and staff with tech skills and a willingness to be information revolutionaries.

8 What is our organizational structure?

The main annual decision making process is a peoples assembly.
The peoples assembly will be a major community event to evaluate UC2B, and to discuss our progress in becoming a revolutionary information city.
Each anchor and other organizations with at least 5 members, as indicated in a signed petition) can register a cyberorganizer to be a voting member of the assembly.
The assembly deliberates on UC2B annual digital divide report, elects an executive committee.
Limited staff support with be negotiated with UC2B.
FUNDING:
Annual income will be negotiated on an annual basis between the CBF executive committee and UC2B.
Allocation in three streams: city wide programs, anchor social institutions, and the general public.

9 What is our timetable?

First stage is to complete the process in the yellow zone. Roll out as revenue allows. First budget based on first year of UC2B operations.

Proposed start up schedule:

AugustFirst UC2B digital divide report

SeptemberConvene first Peoples Assembly

Oct/NovCBF executive committee prepare first funding plan

Nov/DecUC2B approves funding plan

January 2014First appropriation of funds

Appendix: Community Benefit Fund Resolution

RESOLUTION NO. 2011-08

A RESOLUTION

STATING A POLICY TO ACHIEVE DIGITAL EQUALITY IN THE UC2B SERVICE AREA (COMMUNITY BENEFIT FUND)

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE UC2B POLICY BOARD, as follows:

1. The Policy Board hereby establishes a goal to achieve digital equality for all people in the UC2B service area,and adopts the following objectives to achieve the goal.

2. The Policy Board will issue an annual public report on the digital divide in the UC2B service area (the area of the seven rings including all of Urbana, Champaign and Savoy).

3. The Policy Board will convene an annual meeting of anchor social institutions to discuss the above report and set general goals for overcoming the digital divide. This meeting will be open to the public and scheduled as a regular meeting of all UC2B committees.

4. The Policy Board sets a goal to allocate 5% of its annual revenue and no less than 2% to a community benefit fund as a line item in the budget. Money from this fund will be dedicated to overcoming the digital divide, according to the general goals as above and the process as below.

5. Prior to the operational phase of UC2B, the Policy Board will appoint an Advisory Committee for Digital Equality to help it achieve the goals as above. The Policy Board will appoint two Advisory Committee co-chairs and at least seven committee members, including at least one member of the Policy Committee. All other committee roles will be decided upon by the Advisory Committee. A majority of the Advisory Committee members will be chosen from the anchor institutions which serve the underserved population of the UC2B service area. The Policy Board states its desire and intention that the members of the Advisory Committee represent the diversity of residents in the UC2B service area.

6. The Advisory Committee for Digital Equality will propose a plan, including competitive grant awards from the community benefit fund to non-governmental agencies, to implement the general goals as above. If there is no available money in any given year, no grants will be made. The Advisory Committee will forward to the Policy Board its recommendations for spending the community benefit fund, and the Policy Board will make the final decision.

PASSED:

APPROVED: <signature of Deborah Frank Feinen>, Policy Board Chair