By Norma Fernandez, CEO, EveryoneOn
2022 culminates our 10-year anniversary. Naturally, I’ve been reflecting on what we’ve accomplished, the people we’ve helped, the challenges we’ve faced and the lessons we’ve learned along the way.
The path hasn’t been clear or straight. When Zach Leverenz founded EveryoneOn in 2012, 100 million people weren’t connected to the internet. Ten years later, that number is only half when it should be zero. Our goal is that it not take another 10 years to connect the 52M people who still cannot get online. I believe that with what we’ve learned in the time we’ve been doing this work, we will accelerate progress.
In my contemplation, the following learnings are why EveryoneOn has not only weathered the storms, but is now stronger than ever and ready to reach millions more.
Be open to vulnerability. We nearly closed our doors four years ago. What saved us? We weren’t ashamed to ask our partners and funders for help, and to find out what else we could do to get back on our feet. We listened, didn’t give up, and got creative. Along with instituting strong leadership, the generous insights partners shared helped inform the next iteration of EveryoneOn. Had we let pride get in our way, we wouldn’t be here today.
Build a diverse, dedicated team. EveryoneOn’s team includes driven, team-oriented entrepreneurs who connect with the mission, and whose broad experiences and perspectives expand our approach, creativity and innovation. Our staff includes elected officials, former commissioners, for-profit executives, volunteers, international development experts and nonprofit leaders, to name a few.
Advocate. EveryoneOn was created to deliver services that help connect people to the internet. Now at our 10-year mark, we acknowledge the need for a full advocacy and policy effort if we want to drive long-term sustainable change.
Seek necessary funding. Digital equity is intense work that requires resources. We haven’t always given ourselves the latitude to charge what it costs to deliver our services. We’re bolder now in our outreach to supporters about what it takes to provide high quality, high touch programming and outreach. We no longer cut ourselves or our communities short by not asking for the funding it truly takes to close the digital divide.
Lead with heart. We’ve always centered the communities we serve. We know that the only way to make change is to respond to their needs. We are on the ground, hyper local and designing programs tailored to the needs and aspirations of those we serve.
Cross-sector partnerships. Working across sectors has been a tenent of EveryoneOn’s model from the beginning. We work with corporations, community-based organizations, academia, philanthropy and government. We have always known this is the only way to create real and lasting change.
This is a moment for us to pause, take stock in our journey and the knowledge we’ve gained along the way. But we can’t stop here. Along with our tenacious board of directors, inspiring partners and supportive funders, we’ll continue to remove connectivity barriers and help people thrive in our digital society and economy. Will you join us?