The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The CIVIL RIGHTS MONITOR is a quarterly publication that reports on civil rights issues pending before the three branches of government. The Monitor also provides a historical context within which to assess current civil rights issues. Back issues of the Monitor are available through this site. Browse or search the archives

Summer 2003

Digital Empowerment Campaign Victorious

Congress funded two critical federal community technology programs-the Technology Opportunity Program (TOP) and the Community Technology Centers (CTC) program-for FY2003 at levels comparable to last year (approximately $15.5 million and $32.5 million respectively).

Given that both programs were slated for elimination by the Bush administration and FY03 represented one of the tightest budgetary years in recent history, this was an important victory for the Leadership Conference-sponsored Digital Empowerment Campaign.

Background on Campaign

With the prospects for continued funding for TOP and CTC looking bleak in the face of a stumbling economy, the Leadership Conference and its allies began to mobilize, and in May 2002, launched the Digital Empowerment Campaign to educate the public about the importance of federal leadership in bridging the digital divide, particularly in low-income urban areas, rural areas, and Indian reservations.

Many organizations, including CTCNet, PolicyLink, Leslie Harris and Associates, Benton Foundation, and Children's Partnership, joined the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund in organizing the campaign and providing leadership to the nascent community technology grassroots movement.

The campaign rallied support from more than 110 national organizations across the political spectrum and also was instrumental in mobilizing business support for campaign objectives.

The campaign developed education kits highlighting the importance of TOP/CTC programs for various communities and also helped to publish a report, Bringing A Nation Online, which made the case for continued funding of the TOP and CTC programs.

Extensive outreach to the media led to dozens of stories both in top national papers like The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as specialized press such as the Chronicle of Higher Education and MTV News. The campaign was also covered by nationally syndicated journalist Tavis Smiley, who aired regular stories about what was at stake. In addition, the campaign developed 5- and 30-second public service announcements that reached a combined total of 2.3 million listeners.

Rallying the Grassroots Community and Support on the Hill  

The campaign reached out to grassroots community activists, which proved to pay enormous dividends. Among other activities, testimonials were collected from TOP and CTC grant recipients to help make the case about the importance of the programs.

This work was reinforced by campaign representatives who spent significant time building support for TOP and CTC in Congress, scheduling more than three dozen visits with Hill staff to educate them about the issue. Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and members of the New Democrat Coalition sent a letter expressing their support to the congressional committees responsible for TOP and CTC.

Using Technology to Save Technology

The campaign made wide use of technology to increase public awareness and build support, creating a website, www.digitalempowerment.org, which helped to coordinate all the communications, grassroots and public outreach activities. In addition to posting more than 1000 related news articles on the site, www.digitalempowerment.org also served as a mechanism for grassroots beneficiaries of TOP/CTC to share their success stories with the press.

The Leadership Conference is working with a coalition of partners led by CTCNet to transfer stewardship of the Digital Empowerment Campaign, including the Digital Empowerment website.  Vigilance is required since the administration continues to call for eliminating funds for both programs in the FY04 budget.