Episode 2: Bridging the Digital Divide Reimagined

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Event Images courtesy of Sloan Larsen Event Photography www.sloanelarsen.com all other images courtesy of our panelists and their organizations

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"Technology today is a present day apartheid. Really when you think about apartheid, it means a state apart, and when you look at just the San Francisco Bay Area itself, there are so many people that are very present in the tech boom, and those that aren't."— Kevin Cohen

In this archive highlight episode of Voices of the Community, we revisit the persistent crisis of the digital divide in the San Francisco Bay Area. The episode explores how the gap between those with and without internet access restricts opportunities in education, employment, and vital community resources.

Through interviews with local tech advocates, trainers, and community members, we examine why providing hardware alone is insufficient and how patient, human-centered training serves as the true catalyst for economic mobility

Kami Griffith-Executive director, Community Tech Network

Kami Griffiths is the executive director and co-founder of Community Tech Network, a nonprofit with the mission to transform lives through digital literacy. With over 15 years of experience working in the public sector, Kami has developed a passion for helping people gain access and better utilize technology, after witnessing firsthand how the digital divide and low literacy levels were aiding the cycle of poverty. She has worked for the City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation, managing 27 public access computing centers, teaching computer classes and establishing their volunteer trainer program. As the Training and Outreach Manager for TechSoup Global, Kami greatly expanded her knowledge and understanding of the nonprofit technology field, having conducted over 200 interviews with librarians and producing over 100 webinars. She is a founding member of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and speaks nationally about digital inclusion. 

Kevin Cohen-Technology trainer, Community Tech Network

With a diverse background in technology product management, web development, and marketing, Kevin Cohen now aims to apply his skills to the greatest challenge of our lifetime: decarbonizing our economy by revolutionizing energy systems.

Jose Mutan-Community Tech Networks recipient, Raphael House

Jose Mutan is a single father and resilient community member who embraced a fresh start at Raphael House. After navigating significant personal and family challenges, he collaborated with technology mentors to develop essential digital skills, opening doors to stable housing and a brighter future for his two daughters.

Sophia Selassie, career development manager at Raphael House

In 2015, Sophia Selassie was part of the BABC Raphael House Task Force, which leveraged the resources and network of the British American Business Council to practically support families in gaining housing and employment.

Carla Mays-Advisor & strategist, Mays Civic Innovation.

Carla Mays is a senior leader in civic innovation and technology governance, with 20 years of experience advising governments, public institutions, and civil-society organizations across San Francisco/Silicon Valley, Washington, DC, and East Asia—particularly Singapore’s public-sector innovation ecosystem. Her work centers on AI governance, autonomous systems policy, digital transformation, and smart-city development, fostering international cooperation on emerging technologies and their societal impacts.

She founded Mays Civic Innovation in San Francisco to help states and municipalities adopt new technologies responsibly. Over two decades, her work has expanded across North America and East/Southeast Asia, advancing public administration, public-sector modernization, and cross-border collaboration in AI, automation, and digital infrastructure.

With over 10 years of global policy leadership at #SmartCohort, she works with governments to develop equitable frameworks for autonomous mobility, digital governance, and sustainable urban development. Her approach integrates Indigenous governance principles and Asian smart-city traditions—especially Singapore’s integrated planning and public-sector innovation models—to create culturally grounded, internationally aligned policies.

Carla’s portfolio includes technology diplomacy, economic disruption, geopolitical strategy, civil-society engagement, and climate and disaster governance. She bridges insights from San Francisco/Silicon Valley’s innovation ecosystem with Washington, DC’s regulatory, diplomatic, and multilateral environment, helping institutions navigate a smooth, stable, and equitable transition into the AI and Automation Era while strengthening global cooperation and public-sector resilience.

Community Tech Network

Community Tech Network gained its 501(c)3 nonprofit status and became an independent nonprofit organization in 2008 with grant support from the Full Circle Fund. 

However, our origins can be traced back to 2001, when we started as a program of TechSoup (then called CompuMentor) to address a rapidly growing need for public digital literacy training. In 2007, our role was reviewed in a community survey, the results of which clearly indicated an ongoing need for CTN’s digital literacy work, and the transition to charitable status was made.

Back in 2008, when CTN became a nonprofit, Twitter was just a fledgling social media experiment, Facebook had barely begun its rise to world dominance, and Instagram wasn’t even a twinkle in its creator’s eye. Twelve years later, the internet is central to everyday life and access to it has become a right, not a privilege.

During these 12 years, CTN grew from one volunteer Program Manager and a handful of helpers to an organization of over a dozen staff, 60 active volunteers and 50 partner locations. It also spread its sphere of influence beyond San Francisco to the wider Bay Area. and to Central Texas.  Today, CTN is led by an active and diverse Board of Directors comprising community leaders, business leaders, and technology advocates from local nonprofits in both the San Francisco and Austin areas.

Raphael House

The mission of Raphael House is to help low-income families and families experiencing homelessness strengthen family bonds by achieving stable housing and financial independence.

Since 1971, Raphael House has been at the forefront of providing homeless and low-income families in the San Francisco Bay Area personalized family-centered solutions to build brighter, independent futures. Raphael House is a 100% community-supported organization. Our success rate is unmatched: more than 85% of all Raphael House families go on to achieve long-term stable housing and financial independence.

At Raphael House, we see homelessness as a temporary state that doesn’t define a person. We understand that homelessness can result from unexpected circumstances, whether economic, health-related, or because of a breakdown in family structure. We provide families an opportunity to take ownership of their futures and improve the quality of their lives through a nurturing and supportive process that emphasizes the importance of strong families and personal dignity.

Today, our stable home-like Residential Shelter provides families of all types a warm and safe family-centered community. Each family is provided with their own residential room, daily nutritious meals, and clothing. While at Raphael House, parents participate in a wide range of services that strengthen the whole family as they work toward achieving long-term stable housing and financial independence. 

Children in our program receive services that support—and engage their parents in supporting—healthy emotional and academic development. Once families move on from Residential Shelter they have access to an extensive continuum of support through our Bridge Program.

Through our Bridge Program, we are committed to helping families reach and maintain long-term stability by supporting them with the resources and connections they need to move beyond poverty. Families in our Bridge Program have access to a variety of services that help overcome barriers to maintaining housing and achieving financial stability. On average, more than 90% of families who actively participate in the Bridge Program maintain long-term housing and financial stability.

Raphael House provides thorough K-12 academic support to our children to help ensure they achieve and maintain success in school. We offer extensive academic tutoring, enrichment activities, scholarships for extracurricular pursuits, and mentoring throughout the school year for both the children and teens in our Residential Shelter Program and those we serve through our Bridge Program.

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