Bridging the Digital Divide on Draft Day

The NFL Draft brought some major change to the digital landscape of Cleveland.

Draft Day is an exciting time for football fans, and this year, it was an exciting time for fans of philanthropy as well. The league announced that the "theme" for the Inspire Change Huddle Legacy Grant project ran by the National Football League Foundation will be the digital divide, placing the issue more clearly into the eyes of the football-watching public this fall. To start the year off strong, The NFL Foundation and Cisco, an Official Technology Partner of the NFL, gave a grant totaling $150,000 to The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland (Legal Aid) and the Cleveland Public Library Foundation as the draft approached.

This specific partnership has three goals, each demonstrating the importance of technology in our modern world and why closing the digital divide is so relevant.

First, the money will go towards growing a partnership between Legal Aid and the Cleveland Public Library to create a space for virtual meetings, including court hearings and meetings with attorneys. These are both important to the legal process, and better legal resources helps build a stronger community that is less likely to be torn apart due to a lack of accessibility to the court system. As stated by Colleen Cotter, Esq., Executive Director of Legal Aid, “[b]y removing barriers to digital connectivity, we are promoting equal access to justice for all.”

Second, the grant will support Legal Aid's family laptop lending program. Now more than ever, technology is a necessity for everyday life, and the lack of it in a household has real damaging effects on opportunities, education, and so much more. With this action, the NFL is helping create access to what is becoming a necessary resource for thousands of families while simultaneously giving back to the community that hosted one of its largest events of the year.

Third, the funds will support the Cleveland Public Library's children's services department with new technology. This technology will be key to their development, and will also help the Library support activities and learning opportunities it would not have been able to before. For more about the importance of technology to early childhood education, I suggest that you read our blog article posted back in March. Furthermore, according to Felton Thomas Jr., the funds will also be used to construct “new video conference rooms [that] will provide a safe, private space for families to receive legal help, conduct job interviews, attend telehealth appointments, and participate in Library-rich programming.”

These philanthropic actions will no doubt have lasting impact on the Cleveland community, but we also know that there is more that can be done. The NFL's Inspire Change program, launched in 2018, supports and will continue to support programs that reduce barriers to opportunity for low-income communities with a focus on four areas: education, economic advancement, police and community relations, and criminal justice reform, with the digital divide being the focus for the rest of the season. Former players like Hall of Fame Running Back Barry Sanders are pitching in too, working to bring improved digital literacy to the people of Detroit by helping Rocket Mortgage raise over $2.4 million to give out tablets to local seniorS and build "neighborhood technology hubs" that set up online schooling, telemedicine, and job interviews.

To sum up, athletes and nationally televised sports leagues, like the NFL, clearly have a great platform to effect change in today's world. Millions of people tune in every single week for each NFL game, and the money the league makes cannot be understated. Luckily, both this platform and wallet are being leveraged for good. Sports and philanthropy may not initially come across as directly related, but the national and even global attention brought to the digital divide and problems just like it prove that the connection is there and hopefully strengthening by the day.