In this Crucible of Practice Salon, members of the Digital Access for All (DA4A) initiative at The Patterson Foundation in the Suncoast region of Florida discussed how “more than money philanthropy” guided The Patterson Foundation’s DA4A initiative from concept to community collaboration within the span of one year. Members of the DA4A team — including Cheri Coryea, John Ferguson, Jake Hartvigsen, Kiarra Louis and Maribel Martinez — addressed critical components of the initiative. They discussed the reason The Patterson Foundation decided to invest in this initiative, the interviews and research they did to inform the initiative’s evolution and solutions they chose to pursue, the three essential elements of digital access, the DA4A Resource Library, the digital access services matrix tool and the Digital Navigator pilot.

They were joined by community partners — Margie Genter from Goodwill Manasota, Lori Aberle Gentile from the Women’s Resource Center and Lisbeth Oscuvilca from UnidosNow — who participated in a panel discussion where they shared the reasons their organizations have chosen to be involved in the Digital Navigator pilot program and what they hope to accomplish.