We’re proud to share that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has awarded Connect Humanity $150,000 in general operating support to help accelerate our work to tackle digital divides and ensure all communities have access to affordable, reliable internet.

Broadband is essential infrastructure that underpins nearly every dimension of community well-being. High-speed internet helps enable children to participate in early learning programs, families to access health care, and workers to find good jobs or start and scale small businesses. These are pillars of the Kellogg Foundation’s mission, ensuring children thrive, families are economically secure, and communities are healthy. Investing in broadband is investing in the systems that support this future.

Connect Humanity is building a financial ecosystem to deliver on that promise. We’re building a community broadband investment fund that equips local providers with the capital and technical support they need to deliver sustainable connectivity where it’s needed most.

This funding will support our efforts to:

• Expand flexible, mission-aligned capital for community broadband builds
• Provide technical assistance to help projects succeed
• Collect and share data on what works
• Strengthen the field of community finance for digital infrastructure
  

While public funding is helping expand broadband infrastructure, too many communities are still being left behind — particularly rural and low-income areas that are often overlooked by private investors and underserved by traditional lenders. By building the financial tools, data, and stories to demonstrate that community-centered broadband is a smart and equitable investment, we aim to unlock the capital needed to connect all communities — and in doing so, help advance health, education, and economic opportunity for generations to come.

Learn more about the W.K. Kellogg Foundation at www.wkkf.org.