Eloise-Rose Lee

Eloise is the project director for broadband access at Media Alliance in Oakland, Calif. -- one of the longest running media activism organizations in the United States. As project director, Eloise coordinated the Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit (ODIS) in February, the first summit of its kind in the area. After two years of consistent advocacy via the Internet4Everyone campaign, ODIS successfully engaged new audiences to think about solutions to help close the digital divide in their communities. By intersecting the issues of broadband access with the social, economic and political concerns of poverty, racism and discrimination, and cultural expressions such as hip-hop and digital storytelling, Media Alliance gained strong community support for broadband projects on the local level. Eloise is also a steering committee member of the Bay Area Community Technology Network (CTN), a volunteer-run organization of community technology practitioners and related client-centered nonprofits specializing in technology access that serves as a convener, trainer and advocate for fiscally challenged agencies.