AT&T, A New Leaf team up to bridge digital divide in Mesa

According to Digital Bridge K-12, around 200,000 K-12 students in Arizona don’t have computer or internet access at home. According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, one in five American households don’t have internet access.

To address that problem, local nonprofit A New Leaf and AT&T teamed up to establish a Connected Learning Center in Mesa, which provides free internet access as well as digital educational and occupational resources to Mesa citizens who face barriers to internet access.

AT&T has Connected Learning Centers in 15 other states, according to https://about.att.com.

The first of its kind in Arizona, the center in Mesa features Dell computers features Dell computers, AT&T Fiber internet, a digital learning platform called The Achievery from AT&T and free digital learning courses provided by the Public Library Association.

The center is intended to help bridge what representatives from AT&T and A New Leaf call the digital divide. When families don’t have access to the internet at home, it can result in children falling behind in school.

“The pandemic increased the digital divide. It becomes hard for kids whose families do not have access to digital resources or computers,” Laura Bode, vice president of philanthropy at A New Leaf, said. “It is very easy for kids to fall behind in school if they do not have consistent access to technology. For adults, if they have no internet access, it makes it hard to look for a job.”

The center is part of A New Leaf’s MesaCAN Center at 635 E. Broadway Road in Mesa.

James Christian, AT&T director of external affairs, said Mesa is an ideal location for the center for a myriad of reasons. He also spoke on the importance of the partnership between A New Leaf and AT&T.

“A New Leaf is a truly incredible organization doing amazing things. So when we looked at where in the Valley we wanted to go, we wanted to partner with a strong partner. So that’s reason No. 1,” Christian said. “Reason No. 2, the physical location of this particular connected learning center is right within a community that needs it the most. It’s easy access and a community hub with multiple resources. AT&T is entering the market in Arizona, and we’re going to be bringing AT&T Fiber, so this is all part of bridging the digital divide.”

Another key aspect of the Connected Learning Center is that it’s free to use. Bode said that if the center is meant to help people with financial struggles, making them pay for a service to get them out of poverty would be contradictory.

“We can’t help people overcome challenges if the resources aren’t accessible to them,” Bode said. “Nothing A New Leaf does has fees attached to it. We’re all about making those resources available to people. Everything at Mesa CAN we want to be accessible. We don’t want to attach fees to any of our resources because it would only widen the divide.”

Beyond simple internet access, the digital learning platform known as The Achievery from AT&T provides learning resources in a variety of categories that those without a computer couldn’t access at home.

Christian said that although it can be used by students and adults alike, it’s mainly geared for K-12. However, that shouldn’t stop anyone outside of that age group from using it if they need it, he said. The resources provide a lot of learning that equips residents with the digital literacy necessary to navigate the education system or job market in this day and age, a valuable resource for those who lack reliable internet access at home.

“There are lots of tools. There are tools for digital literacy, for banking, for online safety, which is important. We don’t want the device to become a brick, so we make sure people are trained against phishing scams and other things that expose you to the negative effects of the internet,” Christian said. “We provide a host of tools to get people comfortable with using the internet in their daily lives, whether you’re a kid in K-12 or an adult getting their first computer...Our goal was to make a widely accessible platform that folks can use at the Connected Learning Centers and at home to get the skills they need to advance in life... From a digital learning perspective, we’ve seen many people be able to find jobs. Being able to navigate the online application process and open up your first email is so crucial. We see people finding new and better jobs and be able to navigate new situations.”