Keay Crandall, a dedicated Digital Equity Director for Lake County, IL, has been at the forefront of advancing digital equity within her community. As someone invested in bridging the digital divide, Keay enrolled in the Digital Inclusion Leadership Certificate (DILC) Program. Through her participation in this program, Keay has gained valuable insights and skills that have significantly influenced her approach to digital inclusion. In this interview, Keay shares her motivations for enrolling in the program, the challenges she aimed to address, and how the course has empowered her to make changes in her county.
What motivated you to enroll in the Certificate program? What challenges were you trying to solve?
At the end of 2022, our team was working on setting goals for the new year. We each set aside one goal focused on personal and professional development and I thought to myself – is there a program specifically about digital inclusion work where I can enhance my skills and knowledge? Through a few Google searches I discovered the Marconi Society and a page about the Digital Inclusion Leadership Certificate (DILC) Program. I signed up for the waitlist after reading about the program details, eagerly awaiting more information.
When notice came later in 2023 that the first cohort would start in the summer, I quickly shared the information with my leadership to get approval for the course to count towards my professional development goal for the year. At the time, I was looking forward to meeting and learning about other professionals in the digital inclusion space and what leaders were working on in other parts of the country.
In what ways has the course equipped you with the skills needed to address the challenges of digital inclusion in your community or organization?
Exploring case studies and hearing from other digital inclusion leaders helped me see the true extent of the work in different parts of the country. The information was inspiring and sparked ideas of implementing Wi-Fi as a utility and expanding local partnerships. I appreciated the challenge of reviewing census data related to digital inclusion—I had never explored that context before.
Can you share a specific example or two of how the course content has been directly applicable to your work in digital equity or related areas?
After the course I felt more confident in defining terms related to broadband infrastructure and better able to identify data useful for identifying community needs for broadband and digital devices. There was a convergence in thought for me, connecting policy with the daily work which felt so normal – providing residents in public housing with digital devices, digital skills training, and affordable Internet services. I learned that I could be a policy advocate for digital inclusion and work with my leadership team to make changes internally to our operations with contracted agencies.
The DILC also allowed me to move into a digital inclusion leadership role less than six months after completing the course, moving from Digital Inclusion Program Specialist with the Chicago Housing Authority to Digital Equity Manager at the county level.
What aspects of the course content did you find most valuable, and why?
The case study interviews with digital inclusion leaders were extremely valuable to me. I especially found the Cleveland area case study to be inspiring. The progress made in the Cleveland communities related to millimeter wave and mesh technologies has really stuck with me in the months following the program. I recently attended Net Inclusion 2024 in Philadelphia where I was able to visit Philly Community Wireless which has similar technologies being deployed to those in Cleveland communities. It was amazing to see the infrastructure in person and have a strong understanding of the work being done.
How has the course influenced your approach to creating plans and managing infrastructure for digital equity, especially in light of federal and state initiatives?
The program showed me the importance of taking a human-centric approach. Each community has different needs and requires different buy-in from residents and partners. It also showed me that the work is being done at different scales in so many more places than I could have imagined when I first became involved with digital inclusion work. There are endless opportunities to learn from each other as we explore new ways to connect families to essential digital inclusion services. I am invigorated to continue the work and expand upon what is possible – thinking ahead to future generations and what may be needed as far as infrastructure, instruction, and devices. We are catching people up to current technology and connecting people to the future of technology at the same time. It is important that we stay aware of the work in the digital inclusion field and avoid tunnel vision on our own programs. I strive to be flexible in my understanding of digital inclusion practices and stay open to new opportunities to meet residents where they are related to technology and digital access.
Lake County is currently deploying several Digital Equity strategies in the county. If you are interested, you can review the county’s Broadband and Digital Equity Plan on the Digital Growth Initiative webpage. We are also accepting submissions for a new Digital Equity Coalition on the webpage. Share this link if you know of anyone who might be interested in participating, whether they’re individuals or organizations.
Digital Growth Initiative | Lake County, IL (lakecountyil.gov)
