Foundation for California Community Colleges

California Connects

The Foundation for California Community Colleges, in partnership with community colleges and other learning centers across an 18-county region in the Central Valley, plans to provide outreach, training, and learning support to increase digital literacy skills and broadband adoption, especially among low-income Hispanic residents in the region.

The project plans to distribute laptops to roughly 5,800 socioeconomically disadvantaged students currently enrolled in the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program at local community colleges. The equipment will help encourage and enable broadband adoption among students and their families, many of whom have not previously seen the need or had the resources to acquire computers, learn computer skills, or connect to the Internet. The project intends to track both the increase in library and public computer center use as a result of the program as well as household subscribership figures for MESA students.

Total Award:

$10,944,843

Project Fact Sheet

Recipient Project Website

BTOP In Action

MESA students with their project evaluator Dr. Blanca Gordo at a launch event.

“If you give a student a laptop, you can’t stop him or her from learning,” said Foundation for California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott. California Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla joined Chancellor Scott, Foundation staff, and industry and community partners on March 23, 2011 to celebrate the launch of the California Connects program. California Connects, in partnership with community colleges and community-based organizations across an 18-county region in the Central Valley, is using BTOP funds to increase digital literacy skills and broadband adoption through providing outreach, training, and learning support to underserved communities.

California Connects is utilizing local students in the Central Valley to provide training in area communities, home to many low-income Spanish speaking residents. More than 5,800 socioeconomically disadvantaged students enrolled in the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program at 33 local community colleges will serve as trainers in their communities. Many of these students have already received laptops, Microsoft IT Academy training, and access to on-campus certification exams. As of April 2011, the Foundation has already launched the “Train-the-Trainer” digital literacy program and held two workshops. The Foundation expects to distribute an additional 3,000 laptops to MESA trainers by this summer.

MESA trainers will teach residents to navigate the Internet, search for jobs online, and access important health and finance information. The Foundation hopes the training and improved access will help increase the number of broadband Internet users throughout the Central Valley by more than 61,000 people.

Last Updated: October 17, 2011.

Reports and Documents

Reports to NTIA: