My name is Zachary Ludwig, and I am currently a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, having recently graduated fromthe Horace Mann School in New York City. From the time I was very young, my parents instilled the importance of philanthropy and community service. Beginning at age six, I volunteered at a soup kitchen in lower Manhattan with my family, serving food to homeless seniors who craved a sense of community as they coped with mental illness. Later, for my eighth birthday, I decided to donate sports equipment to a free after-school sports program for underprivileged kids.
These early experiences and the idea that we each have a responsibility to help all young people realize their potential later drove me to join UJA's teen philanthropy council, PACT, and my school's Saturday Morning Tutoring Program as a freshman in high school. In the latter, I enjoyed giving homework help to underprivileged students in the Bronx. However, our students stopped showing up when COVID-19 took the program online. I knew this abrupt lack of attendance wasn't due to a lesser need for academic help. Where was everyone? When my father showed me a Common Sense Media newsletter about the digital divide, I found my answer. No matter how badly students desired support, those without access to technology or wifi simply couldn't get help. That revelation planted the seeds for Philanthropy4Technology, and my experience with youth-centered philanthropy gave me the skills and confidence needed to found it soon after, during the summer of 2020.
While this organization specifically aims to address the digital divide, the underlying issue at the heart of our project is the widespread socio-economic inequality plaguing America. In my opinion, the most significant cause of the socio-economic divide is not an "achievement gap" but an "opportunity gap." Wealthy students benefit from better opportunities in their well-funded school districts, private schools, private tutoring, and often other assistance. Meanwhile, students living in less favorable circumstances cannot access these resources.
Fortunately, in today's world, the internet offers excellent online learning communities, instructional videos and free live tutoring. Unfortunately, internet access is often just as out of reach to underserved students as traditional educational resources are. Twenty-four million Americans still lack access to high-speed internet and many more lack devices for getting online. Closing this digital divide is an essential step in bridging the opportunity gap. By democratizing access to technology and increasing people's technological competency from a young age, we at Philanthropy4Technology hope to improve all students' access to educational and professional opportunities, especially those who might otherwise be denied.
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The digital divide continues to widen daily, and you can help prevent it. By supporting Philanthropy4Technology, you can help provide technology to underprivileged young people, combat a problem that becomes increasingly relevant in an ever-digitizing world, and take a practical step to fight poverty at its root cause: unequal opportunities.
A Video overview of Philantrhopy4Technology
as of May 2021 | Made for Horace Mann School's Service learning day
*Sorry for the muffled sound quality.