Expert Educator Brings Leadership Experience to Special Projects, Shared Resources Committee

March 28, 20240 Comments

Educator brings leadership experience
to special projects committee

In 2020, the National Organization of Black County Officials asked Dr. Paula Whittaker Watkins to speak at a conference. There, the seasoned leader and education expert met Connect 313 Founder Joshua Edmonds and immediately got on board with his vision of every Detroiter having full access to the digital ecosystem and its world of opportunities. 

“Through my work with younger and older adult students, I understood the significance of Connect 313’s mission and the importance of a fully digitally connected city. I saw the need and wanted to help,” Whittaker Watkins said.

For two years, she successfully chaired Connect 313’s digital literacy and skilling committee and then stepped back for personal reasons. Today, she’s re-engaged as the 2024 chair of the organization’s special projects and shared resources team. 

“Connect 313 should be a household name in Detroit. Part of our work will be to advance our name so there is immediate recognition of who we are and what we do. That’s my personal goal,” Whittaker Watkins shared.

“I also want to advance our community suggestion function, which is at the core of Connect 313’s grass roots appeal and effectiveness. Also, we’ll look at deploying strategies across Connect 313 and its tech hubs and other organizational systems so that our work has a lasting, positive impact on the community.”

Whittaker Watkins is the cofounder and CEO of the American International Cyber Institute and understands the role community plays in building word-of-mouth credibility for an organization. With that in mind, she’ll work to enhance Connect 313’s visibility among local community centers, neighborhood and faith-based organizations, and other key places people congregate.

“Through our committee chairs and members, we are spreading the word in schools and academies by talking to students, parents and teachers,” Whittaker Watkins said. 

Whittaker Watkins’ passion for digital equity comes from her inside knowledge and grasp of technology’s role in the 21st century. She believes, along with Connect 313, that access to technology is a right and necessity and that equity, in all environments, forever transforms lives. 

“I’m committed to the work of Connect 313 and the vision Joshua Edmonds had four years ago. By serving on a committee, we’re developing a camaraderie that advances our mission and deepens our investment in bridging the digital divide,” Whittaker Watkins explained. “I’m ready to build on the momentum of the organization and energize our team.” 

To become a Connect 313 member, find a Neighborhood Tech Hub, meet with a Community Ambassador, submit a suggestion for a community initiative, receive free digital skills training and more, visit connect313.org.

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Angela Meyers on Being Part of the Solution

March 7, 20230 Comments

Angela Meyers on Being Part of the Solution

Angela Meyers experienced the digital divide in Detroit firsthand when she saw children and seniors in her own community struggling to access and use technology. That inspired her to join Connect 313. 

“The Wi-Fi connection in our area had the lowest speeds and the highest prices,” she says. “I wanted to be part of the solution.”

Today, Angela is helping to drive solutions as Connect 313’s Vice Chair of the Special Projects & Shared Resources Committee. In this role, she looks for creative ways to get involved with the community and finance digital inclusion initiatives.

“What interests me most about Connect 313 is the community involvement. It is a collective effort by the City of Detroit, local and national businesses, and the community,” she says. “The idea that we are all working together to reach one goal really grabbed my attention.”

By offering digital literacy programs, supplying devices, and increasing internet speeds for people across the city, Angela hopes to make the digital world accessible for everyone. 

“Our priority is the opening of our neighborhood tech hubs across the city and supplying the essential services Detroiters require for employment, healthcare, and education. Connect 313 is on the right track,” Angela says.

In addition to working at Connect 313, Angela is a Member Advocate with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. She graduated from Henry Ford Community College in 2014 with an associate degree in general studies and is currently a senior at Wayne State University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a marketing emphasis. 

Angela is also a deejay and owns Musical Dynasty Disc Jockey Services. Since 2016, her company has hosted Feeding Detroit’s Homeless, an event that provides Detroit shelters with hot meals and other necessities.

“By transforming Detroit into a digitally inclusive city, Connect 313 is closing the divide,” Angela says. “I want the people of Detroit to know that we are making a significant amount of effort on their behalf, we value their opinions, and we want them to be a part of the process and have their voices heard.”

Have a suggestion for closing the digital divide in Detroit? Submit it here: https://connect313.org/suggestions/

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Naimah Wade Helps Cultivate ‘The Genius Within’

July 18, 20220 Comments

Naimah Wade Helps Cultivate ‘The Genius Within’

Naimah Wade enjoys helping people cultivate the genius within themselves, which is why she joined the Connect 313 team.

“What the most impactful people in my world did for me was reduce barriers or eliminate them all together,” Naimah says. “I am a part of this work to try to eliminate that vast hole between those that are engaging digitally and those who are not.”

Naimah is Connect 313’s Director of Research and Learning as well as the management lead for the Special Projects and Shared Resources Committee, which plans projects and initiatives such as neighborhood tech hubs, community ambassadors, and Connect 313 storytelling.

“Connect 313 is yet another example of innovative problem solving in the form of an organizational coalition that is making an incredible impact to move Detroiters from a position of being digitally divided to one of being digitally empowered,” she says.

Supporting digital empowerment is also Naimah’s focus at Wayne State University where she’s the Manager of Digital Inclusion. Naimah says many people don’t use technology because they fear the unknown – and that’s a barrier she’s working to break.

“It’s not that they don’t want to be involved, it’s that they’re afraid of not knowing,” she says. “Give yourself permission to make mistakes… jump in even though you’re nervous about not knowing. You may be wonderfully surprised.”

Wade is currently working on Connect 313’s inaugural research symposium, which will bring academic professionals in the digital research and teaching space to Detroit for the city’s annual Digital Inclusion Week in October.

Naimah is excited for the future of Detroit and its residents and, when asked what she loves most about the city, Naimah quotes Jeanette Pierce from the Detroit Experience Factory: “Detroit is big enough to matter in the world, but small enough that you matter in it.”

“This is what I love about Detroit,” she says. “You can reach out to practically anyone and begin to impart change in the way that you want to see your city evolve and I think that’s really powerful and magical, and I think it’s rare.”

To reach Naimah email naimah.wade@wayne.edu.

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