The fifth Charles Benton Digital Equity Champion Award is officially open for nominations! Two awards will be given: One will recognize an outstanding individual who has made a difference in the field of digital equity; the other will acknowledge an up-and-coming digital inclusion practitioner. The award will be presented in April at Net Inclusion 2020 in Portland, Oregon, by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA).

Do you know a digital equity champion? Potential nominees are longtime veterans of the digital inclusion field and passionate supporters of digital equity. We are looking for everyone making a difference!

To be successful, nominations should exhibit:

  • Sustained commitment to digital inclusion programs, practices, and/or policy work,
  • Applied innovative approaches to addressing and solving problems,
  • Extensive use of data and evaluation to shape digital inclusion programs and share best practices,
  • Demonstrated leadership in his/her community, and/or
  • Collaboration that can be scaled and replicated.

The deadline for nominations for this year’s award is midnight Eastern Daylight Time on February 15, 2020.
For more information and to see past awardees – Charles Benton Digital Equity Champion Award.

A PDF of the questions is available here for prep. All submission must be made via google form above.

Named for Charles Benton, the founder of the Benton Foundation (now Benton Institute for Broadband & Society), the award was created by NDIA to recognize leadership and dedication in advancing digital equity: from promoting the ideal of accessible and affordable communications technology for all Americans in crafting programs and policies that make it a reality.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy – rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity – has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.