Planning Grants for Digital Equity

Connect Humanity’s Digital Equity Planning Grants support communities to establish a holistic plan of action to achieve their digital equity goals.

As part of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA), the US Government established Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) and the Digital Equity Act (DEA). Together these programs provide $45 billion+ to support unserved and underserved communities to access the broadband, devices, and skills they need to participate fully in our digital world. Many of these communities currently lack the time, resources, and technical know-how to design the broadband plans they need to receive this funding.

That’s why Connect Humanity supports low-income communities and communities of color to create Digital Equity Connectivity Plans. This process will identify the community’s digital needs and create a robust plan to meet them. The broadband networks that result will provide families and businesses with the reliable, affordable connectivity they need, leading to economic development, social mobility, and healthier communities.

Photo by Antony Trivet

A plan for better broadband

Efforts to bring better broadband to a community must start with a clear plan. This program provides grantees with funding and expertise to establish a holistic Digital Equity Connectivity Plan which will help them secure the partnerships and financing they need to advance internet access in their communities — and will be critical whether or not they receive government funding.

We’ll tailor our support to meet you where you are, but typically we’d expect to partner with you to:

Assess your community’s digital needs: to understand the current broadband market, where the gaps are, and the barriers to digital equity that need to be addressed.
Create a network design: to define the technical requirements, operating and ownership model of the network.
Build a business plan: with a sustainable revenue model, clear funding options, and a community engagement strategy.

Get support

We will help you connect with industry expertise and networks that can support your mission.

Create a broadband plan

We will take you through the steps necessary to create a build-ready plan for a sustainable broadband network.

Be investment-ready

Your broadband plan will prepare you to apply for BEAD, DEA, and other government and non-government broadband investments.

Who can apply

We welcome applications from those who have identified a need and have the motivation and capacity to make a project work. In practice this means you’ll have:

A clear idea of the geographic area you aim to connect.
An entity or group to lead the planning process, receive project funds, and take responsibility for the implementation of the build.
Support from the community you aim to connect, with community members represented in the project team.
Local political support for community-led efforts to improve broadband connectivity.

The project is open to applicants covering: Appalachian communities, Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia.

To learn more about who should apply and how the project works, read our FAQs.

How to apply

To apply to take part in the program, please complete a readiness assessment so we can understand where you are on your journey to digital equity (here are the questions we ask in that assessment). If we think we can provide the support you need, we’ll invite you to move forward with the following steps:

Conversation with our team
Full application
Both sides decide whether to continue
Identify technical consultants
Project kicks-off
Project completed

We expect the project will be a 4-6 month process, from application to completion. Once you have your plan, we’ll continue to support you to secure funding to build your broadband network.

Get started