Suncoast Digital Connect Webinar #3: Estefania Zavala shares How Long Beach Funded Community-Led Digital Inclusion

On November 6, the Digital Access for All (DA4A) team welcomed Estefania Zavala, the Digital Equity and Economic Inclusion Officer for the City of Long Beach, California, where she works with City and community stakeholders to ensure equitable digital access. About 25 people joined us to learn how to leverage cross-sector partnerships to sustain programs and amplify impact.

In Long Beach, California, the Cambodia Town Learn and Earn Program offers a model for sustainable programming without federal funding support. Funded by the California Public Utilities Commission's California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), the program delivers ten hours of hands-on, multilingual digital literacy training. Participants also receive a free laptop and a year of technical support, intended to build ongoing capacity. The City's Office of Digital Equity and Inclusion aligned its proposal with elected officials' priorities around workforce development and community resilience, positioning the program as both a digital equity and an economic opportunity investment. Partnerships with the United Cambodian Community, Human-I-T, and the Long Beach Public Library ensured cultural relevance and strong neighborhood roots.

Estefania emphasizes the importance of partnerships, particularly those that were crucial to the Cambodia Town Learn and Earn Program. It would not have been possible without trust and partnership, and the role they each played as shown below: 

• Administered by the Long Beach Office of Digital Equity and Inclusion, they provided support with grant writing, program coordination, and eligibility verification.
• Funded by California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) Broadband Adoption Account (California PUC)
• Partnership with the United Cambodian Community for outreach and facilitation, which was key to building trust with participants from the Cambodian community
• Physical space provided by the Mark Twain Library is an existing community anchor
• Devices provided by Human-I-T, such as laptop procurement and technical support infrastructure

To continue to evolve the program and build sustainability capacity so the impact can continue, Estefania shared that UCC is applying for the next CASF round directly, so the City will transition from lead to supporter. That builds the community organization's grant management capacity and reduces dependence on City staffing and budget. 

What made this a wonderful conversation was the possibility for other communities to adopt a similar model to provide digital skills support and devices to those in need of them.  Anyone interested in learning more can contact Estefania Zavala, MPP, Digital Equity and Economic Inclusion Officer, at Estefania.Zavala@longbeach.gov. 

In case you missed the third webinar session, you can watch the full recording here! 

We hope you will join us on Thursday, December 4, with Kyla Williams Tate, Cook County's first Director of Digital Equity, as she reshapes how one of the nation's largest counties connects technology, policy, and community needs.