| Everyone On | |
| Location: | Los Angeles, CA |
| Key People: | Jovan C. Hicks (Executive Chair) Zach Leverenz (Founding Board Member) Bobby Coulter (Board Secretary) Matt Joyce (Board Treasurer) Vic Menon (Board Member) Erica Swanson (Board Member) Norma E. Fernandez (CEO) |
| Services: | affordable internet access and computers digital skills trainings advocacy for fair and inclusive policies |
| Method: | Collective Impact |
| Homepage: | EveryoneOn.org |
Everyone On is an American nonprofit organization that equips under-resourced communities with digital tools to expand social and economic opportunities. It partners with organizations in digitally excluded neighborhoods to connect people to affordable internet and computers, train individuals and organizations on digital skills and resources, and advance policies that support digital equity. Everyone On’s team designs and delivers digital inclusion programs, replicated nationwide through strategic, cross-sector partnerships.
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In a May 2011 speech, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski challenged the technology industry to help close the adoption gap. In response, a group of internet service providers, technology companies and nonprofits collaborated to establish a public-private effort targeting the digital divide. This new initiative, announced as “Connect to Compete” by Genachowski on October 12, would focus on providing families meeting certain eligibility criteria with affordable Internet and computer offers for their homes. In his remarks, Genachowski stated that “having one-third of [21st century] Americans sitting on the [broadband] sidelines is as unthinkable as having one-third of our country without electricity in the 20th century.”
Connect to Compete, or Connect2Compete (C2C) as it soon came to be known, was initially housed at the D.C.-based nonprofit organization One Economy Corporation. Ben Hecht, President and CEO of Living Cities, assumed the role of Board Chairman and helped C2C secure grants from the Carlos Slim Foundation, the Knight Foundation and the Wasserman Foundation to support the initiative in tandem with the commitments made by computer and software companies, training centers and high-speed internet providers.
On March 21, 2013, C2C launched EveryoneOn (now Everyone On), an Ad Council public service campaign intended to motivate internet non-adopters to become connected and direct them to no-cost digital literacy training in their communities. The campaign's primary objective was to help the 60+ million unconnected Americans and encourage individuals age 23+ who were non- or limited internet users to "do something better online."
Just over three weeks later, on April 16, 2013, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his city's intention to serve as a pilot locale in the EveryoneOn campaign. Emanuel called the program "a great example of the public and the private sectors working together to craft innovative solutions to prepare our workforce for the global economy.”
For clarity, in 2024, EveryoneOn became two words, Everyone On.[1] A national nonprofit with local impact, Everyone On partners across sectors, with government, corporations and community-based nonprofits to deliver digital skills trainings across the country, with a focus on the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Milwaukee. Since 2012, Everyone On has connected over 1 million people to affordable high-speed internet, distributed over 10,000 devices, and trained over 4,000 participants in digital skills in the past four years.[2]