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Knight Foundation Commits Up to $2.5 Million to the Community Foundation of North Florida

The Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced that it will award up to $2.5 million over the next seven years to the Community Foundation of North Florida to help foster a more informed and engaged Tallahassee.

Awarded as part of Knight’s $70 million Community Foundation Initiative, which is designed to ensure that Knight-influenced communities have the information they need to make informed decisions, the grant will be used to help the community foundation enlarge its donor-advised fund to support the work of local nonprofits.

The grant will change the way Knight works in the Tallahassee region and requires that local grantseekers in the area apply for funding through the Community Foundation of North Florida. In addition, a new community foundation director in Knight’s Miami headquarters works with an advisory committee in Tallahassee to guide the community foundation on how to use the funds. The new approach is be introduced in other Knight communities as well.

“Knight’s commitment to additional resources in our community comes at a time when resources for local nonprofit organizations are in such short supply,” said Joy Watkins, president of the Community Foundation of North Florida. “These new funds and a re-directed focus on informed, engaged community truly will be transformational for our community. We will work diligently to support Knight’s efforts in our area.”

“Foundations Deepen Partnership to Advance an “Informed, Engaged” Tallahassee.” John S. and James L Knight Foundation Press Release 3/16/10.

Primary Subject: Community Improvement/Development
Location(s): Florida, Tallahassee

http://ow.ly/1CYma

Google Broadband Plan Stirs Hunger For Speed

The company’s announcement last month that it plans to build a series of experimental high-speed fiber optic networks to deliver broadband connectivity at speeds 100 times faster than average in the U.S. has unleashed an unexpected flood of requests from individuals and communities around the country who want to be part of the project.

The project will provide Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second to somewhere between 50,000 and 500,000 people once it is completed.

http://ow.ly/1CVNr

BET Makes Submission of National Sustainable Broadband Adoption Project

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2010 – BET Networks announced on Monday its submission of a proposal to the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) for a grant under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The BET program, called the National Sustainable Broadband Adoption Project would, if successful, increase broadband adoption among African Americans by providing compelling reasons for new households to adopt broadband, BET said in a release.

The program will address three specific problems: Increase the awareness of “the promise” of broadband technology; Increase the relevance of broadband technology to marginalized African Americans; And increasing the digital literacy of those who have been “left behind” in as many targeted communities as possible.

“BET Networks is proud to have the opportunity to create a public-private partnership with such a strong group of organizations on such an important campaign impacting African Americans,” said Debra Lee, Chairman and CEO of BET Networks. “Our proposal clearly communicates a comprehensive plan to increase the adoption of broadband technology among some of the most vulnerable within our community and specifically addresses meaningful opportunities for them in health, education, and employment.”

http://ow.ly/1CWM2

Bringing Nationwide Interoperable Communications to America’s First Responders

One of the most pressing recommendations of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan is the proposed creation of a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband wireless network (“public safety broadband network”) for first responders and other public safety personnel. One major strategy for developing this ambitious and critically overdue component of our emergency communications infrastructure is establishing the rational basis for public funding to ensure the network is deployed throughout the United States and has necessary performance, capacity, coverage, resiliency and redundancy.

http://ow.ly/1CWM2