I’d like to use my final blog post for some thank yous and for a couple last reflections.
Thank you to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the PAST Foundation and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance—the people as well as the organizations—for supporting the Digital Inclusion Corps. I’m grateful to Matthew Kopel for his guidance, expertise and encouragement throughout the year. Jeff Garcie, Drew Lauderdale, Sandy Tharp-Thee and Nicole Umayam are such generous colleagues. I’ve learned so much and have been inspired by each of them.
Thank you to the many people who have been involved with my projects. Whether you shared documents with the NDIA repository, attended a webinar or any number of activities, please know I appreciate all you’ve done.
And thanks to everyone who has followed the Digital Inclusion Corps. I hope you’ve found something from our projects and blogs that you can use to benefit your own community.
The experiences from this year have underscored for me the importance of building relationships. Partnerships, collaboration, and all the other ways we work together towards shared goals depend on genuine, good relationships with people. Spending time listening to and learning from other people shouldn’t be an optional activity. It’s a great opportunity and privilege.
I’ve also been reminded again and again that local context is essential to successful digital inclusion initiatives. The most creative and successful solutions come from communities themselves because community members truly understand local needs, histories, politics and other important contexts.
Being a Digital Inclusion Corps member is an experience I’ll take with me in my future work.