In February 2022, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) received a grant from Google.org to create the National Digital Navigator Corps (NDNC), a pilot program intended to build and advance local digital inclusion work in rural and Indigenous communities and strengthen the digital navigator (DN) model in those contexts. To do this, NDIA supported DN programs in 18 community-based organizations serving rural and Tribal communities across the United States while gathering lessons learned, identifying best practices, and developing replicable resources to share with others.
NDIA partnered with AMERIND Critical Infrastructure (AMERIND), a Tribally-owned and operated risk management company, to support the seven sites in Indigenous communities and the additional three serving Tribal communities. Subgrants were made to support each of the 18 DN programs over the course of the 36-month grant period. The subgrants funded one full-time equivalent (FTE) digital navigator position, partial salaries for a program manager and data manager to support the DN program, devices to be distributed to community members, and travel to NDIA’s annual conference with dedicated pre-conference training for the subgrantee DNs. Along with direct funding support, NDIA and AMERIND directly provided initial training, ongoing professional development, and technical assistance for digital navigators, program managers, and data managers. All organizational program staff participated in role-specific cohorts led by NDIA and AMERIND’s Digital Inclusion Manager throughout the grant period. Mentors and advisors provided additional training and technical assistance to the subgrantees.
In the grant proposal to Google.org, NDIA described nine distinct outcomes that it intended to achieve through the NDNC program. This evaluation summarizes key findings from the NDNC program, including the status of these proposed outcomes. It also describes the impacts of the NDNC program on the subgrantee organizations, the individuals and communities they served, NDIA, AMERIND, and the broader digital inclusion field; and provides a set of recommendations intended for funders and organizations interested in growing and sustaining the digital navigator model and digital inclusion work in Tribal and rural communities.
Want the summarized version? Download the Key Findings & Recommendations Brief.