In the last two years, members from our National Digital Navigator Corps have learned a lot from working on the ground in their communities, and we’re excited to share their insights, stories, and lessons with you! This is the first in a series of blogs about their experiences and what we can all learn from them, and in 2025, we’ll publish an updated digital navigator toolkit full of practical guidance. Here’s a sample of the things we’ve learned about digital navigators in rural and Native communities in particular:
Digital navigators should be members of the communities they serve. This is a foundational principle of the digital navigator model, and was front and center in rural and Native communities, which are close-knit and difficult to integrate into. Trust is critical, and it can be difficult to earn. When someone moves to a rural community, it can take years, if not a generation, for their family to be considered as “from here.” Community members best understand the community’s values, traditions, gathering places, language, etc., and can reflect that in how they present digital inclusion. In the NDNC, we have seen successful program outreach at high school basketball games, seasonal festivals, and organic conversations at the hardware store on Saturday mornings. Your digital navigators must know your community and be trusted members of it.
Partnerships are key, digital navigators often rely on a strong referral network, and all of this takes time. The centrality of partnerships and referral networks is not unique to digital navigator programs in rural and Native communities. Still, the NDNC gave us a unique opportunity to observe and measure the length of time it takes to establish partnerships and referral networks for a new program. Referral networks typically took 4-6 months to establish for programs in the NDNC. Partners for NDNC digital navigator programs included libraries, family services, schools, veteran-serving organizations, healthcare centers, elder and senior centers, adult education, workforce development offices, housing organizations, addiction recovery, domestic violence shelters, and many more. Some of these partnerships were expansions of existing partnerships between organizations, but many were newly established partnerships. Partner organizations offer meeting space for digital skills training classes and one-on-one appointments with digital navigators and community members. When building trust with the organizations, NDNC digital navigators sometimes began by providing digital skills support and devices to the organizations themselves. Beyond building trust, the additional digital support and working devices allow the partner organizations to provide enhanced services to the community, amplifying the impact of digital navigators.
Measures of success in rural and Native communities may vary from urban or suburban settings. The number of community members a rural digital navigator can serve in a given week may be lower than their counterparts in more populated areas. This could be due to lower population density and travel times. Many of the digital navigators in the NDNC are the only staff person dedicated to digital inclusion in their organization and in their community, which can reduce their capacity. Larger programs in urban areas may have more efficiencies and support for digital navigators with administrative tasks, program marketing, data management, local digital inclusion partnerships, etc. Look for other measures of success, which may include an increased understanding of digital inclusion in local or Tribal government, more partnerships for digital inclusion across the community, and a stronger digital inclusion ecosystem. For some NDNC digital navigators, one of their responsibilities has been to present about digital inclusion to their county commissioners and Tribal councils and contribute to state and local digital equity planning. They may be the only person in their community prepared for this role.
Digital navigators in rural and Native communities agree that logistics for meeting clients are their top challenge. Providing services at a central location often doesn’t work in rural settings due to transportation challenges caused by a widely dispersed population and lack of public transportation. NDNC digital navigators meet their clients in their homes, at fast food restaurants, and in various community centers and libraries across their service area, often on a rotating schedule or in response to client demand. It’s quite time-consuming. Often, they can only schedule client meetings within close proximity each day or lose significant time preparing for, driving to, and waiting for a client who fails to attend a meeting. The distance between community members and service locations limits the number of clients a digital navigator could help which means they must be flexible about meeting logistics.
There are unique cultural factors in digital inclusion work for Native communities. Cultural knowledge and language are specific and crucial to Native communities. Many digital navigator clients in Native communities are elders. Mikhail Sundust, NDNC program manager at Digital Connect (Gila River), shared, “We don’t have the words in our Native language to explain the internet to our elders.” With this in mind, digital navigators must take time to carefully describe and explain the concepts of technology and connectivity in their Native language and in the context of their community. When ignored, these can be barriers, but when incorporated into digital inclusion work, they allow communities to define their relationship with the internet in their own terms (both literally and figuratively); it is a matter of self-determination through digital equity.
The digital navigators themselves are the greatest strength of the NDNC program and are assets to their community. We asked them to share what they’ve learned:
Abraham R. Camez III, Hoopa Valley Public Utilities District: I learned that while many of us carry the title of Digital Navigator, every one of our programs are uniquely different even though we have built the programs from the same foundation with the goal of sharing and teaching digital literacy and connectivity.
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Emmanuel Borromeo, Alaska Federation of Natives: The seeds of curiosity are planted when a person is made aware of how technology can improve their lives. Our first job as Digital Navigators is getting to know people, and then identifying ways in which technology can benefit them...
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Mark Revolinsk, Pottsboro Area Public Library: Resolving most issues is typically not that difficult. Don’t just jump in with helping a client resolve an issue. Take a little time to get to know your client first and then start working on their digital needs. Also, follow up with them after a few days. I believe good personal interaction and relationship with your client is just as important as helping solve a digital issue they may have.
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Sarah Radcliffe, Computer Reach: All the preparation is worth it. Getting to know the place(s) you’re serving, putting work into the structure of the program, forming great relationships with partners, it’s all worth it to get started with those things because they will build a really strong foundation for your program to thrive off of.
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Joe Burgei, Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission: In my short time being a Digital Navigator I have helped others from many different walks of life. The common thing I see in all of them is the desire and excitement to improve their lives, to gain the freedom they desire from gaining a new device or skill.
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Jordan Chinana, Jemez Pueblo: Our Towa Language has bridged the digital divide.
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Does this match your experience being a digital navigator? Or have you learned something different working as a digital navigator? Tell us about it by sending an email to [email protected]
Connect with NDIA’s community of practice by joining NDIA and the Digital Navigator Working Group.