The NCTA Foundation has unveiled its inaugural (2016) Partnership Grants.
The new foundation, a nonprofit arm of NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, is giving out $325,000 in grants to three organizations serving the underserved in their community, in this case Washington, D.C., where NCTA is based.
Receiving the initial grants are BUILD Metro DC, Byte Back, and A Wider Circle. BUILD Metro DC provides entrepreneurship training for lower-income kids and, with the NCTA Foundation grant, will help students create technology-based businesses as a way to connect education to future success.
Byte Back provides computer learning and IT training—from using a mouse to finding a living-wage tech job—to underserved D.C. residents. The foundation grant will help the group create an NCTA-backed virtual classroom video production studio to help reach students online through tutorials and remote classes.
A Wider Circle is tackling poverty through education, professional development and support. NCTA's grant will allow it to create a new computer lab and tech-ready classroom at its headquarters.
The foundation is seeking to be a catalyst to extend the reach of all these efforts and more.
NCTA president Michael Powell said people are measured by what they do to make the lives of others better, which he said was also the measure of industry.
He says the goal is to tackle the endemic problems of poverty and education, but not simply to provide treasure, but also time and talent.
