Jack Dorsey’s $10 million gift helped thousands of Oakland students get access to computers and the internet during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Twitter co-founder’s contribution became part of OaklandUndivided, a public-private initiative launched in 2020 to ensure that students could continue learning remotely despite the digital divide.By the end of the 2020-21 school year, the campaign had provided more than 29,000 laptops and 10,000 internet hotspots to Oakland public school students. It also responded to more than 10,000 requests for technology support, helping increase home access to computers and internet connectivity among students from low-income backgrounds from just 12% before the pandemic to 98% by the end of the school year.
A $10 million push to connect students
OaklandUndivided was launched shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic began as a partnership between Oakland Unified School District, the City of Oakland, Tech Exchange, the Oakland Public Education Fund, Oakland Promise and more than 20 community partners.The initiative launched to solve a pressing problem: Thousands of students lacked computers or reliable internet connections needed to learn remotely. Dorsey’s initial $10 million gift was one of the largest single acts of philanthropy to support the effort.By May 2022, OaklandUndivided said transformational gifts from more than 50 funding partners had totalled over $20 million during the previous two years, including Dorsey’s contribution.The campaign initially focused on K-12 students. Its efforts included distributing laptops, providing mobile hotspots and offering technology support to families who needed help getting their devices and connections working.
From students to the wider community
OaklandUndivided later expanded its ambitions beyond K-12 students. In 2022, the coalition announced a $12 million plan to ensure that more than 50,000 Oakland public school students, from Pre-K through college, could access a computer, internet connection, and technology support at home.The expansion brought Oakland Head Start, OUSD Pre-K programmes and several Bay Area colleges into the initiative, including Cal State East Bay, Mills College, Peralta Community College District, San Francisco State University and UC Berkeley.The coalition also began working on longer-term efforts to improve broadband access across Oakland, rather than relying only on temporary pandemic-era solutions.The City of Oakland had already invested $7.7 million in CARES Act funding in initiatives such as OakWiFi and TownLink, aimed at providing public Wi-Fi and digital literacy support to residents.
A broader plan to close the digital divide
OaklandUndivided’s ambitions eventually expanded to include households that remained disconnected from the internet. The coalition estimated that about 36,000 Oakland households were unconnected and set a goal of reaching 90% of those households within five years.The initiative partnered with EducationSuperhighway, which selected Oakland for its “No Home Left Offline” campaign and helped connect low-income residential buildings to free apartment Wi-Fi.It also helped eligible residents sign up for the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, which offered qualifying households a monthly discount on internet service. Another partner, BlocPower, established a community-owned network in West Oakland to provide internet access to surrounding residents.By May 2022, OaklandUndivided described its work as an effort to provide a connection “from cradle to career”, extending the campaign that had started with students during the pandemic to a broader push for digital access across the city.