Digital Literacy and Skilling OKR:
Develop and maintain relationships with partners to support the facilitation of place-based digital skilling services for the most vulnerable (covered populations).
One of the more successful models the CDE has used over the past year is a “train-the-trainer” model, where the CDE’s role is to upskill and empower people at partner organizations. These people become the trainers, able to provide digital skilling classes and sessions. This model helps ensure there is a known and proven methodology and curriculum being used and also that the training itself is “place-based,” where organizations already exist to help with digital skilling. (“We go where the participants already are.”)
To implement this model, the CDE also expanded its use of an LMS (NorthStar) to routinize and standardize the train-the-trainer classes. This way, any organization can participate, no matter what their existing curriculum and talent pool looks like.
By adopting this model, the number of training hours throughout the ecosystem has far exceeded what the CDE had originally hoped for its 5-year plan (2,500). With our partner organizations, we estimate the total number of training hours to be at 21,114 and counting. These training hours are covering at least seven out of the nine covered populations defined in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
Of course, we wouldn’t have reached nearly as many digital skilling hours—or for that matter, reached even a fraction of the people we did—without the help of our partner organizations in the ecosystem. This truly exemplifies the power of a collective approach, where resources and best practices can be shared and used toward a common goal. The following organizations deserve mention for their contribution (through their own programming and/or participating in the train-the-trainer model) this year:
| Organization | Covered population | Number of Hours Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Mecklenburg Library | All | 4,867 |
| Camino | Latino population (especially people with language barriers) | 245+ |
| Latin American Coalition | Latino population (especially people with language barriers) | 480+ |
| Harris YMCA | Aging individuals, Individuals with disabilities, Veterans, Youth | 200+ |
| Charlotte Rescue Mission | Previously incarcerated individuals, Veterans, Individuals who live in covered households, Aging individuals | 820+ |
| Beatties Ford Vocational Trade Center | Individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group, Individuals who live in covered households, Youth | 40+ |
| Renaissance West Community Initiative | Individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group | 10+ |
| Forest Hill Church Eastland | Individuals who are members of a racial or ethic minority group, Individuals who live in covered households, Individuals with a language barrier | 15+ |
