Larissa “Lars” May is a digital wellbeing activist. She started working in the space seven years ago. 

She’s the founder of #HalfTheStory, a global youth nonprofit at the intersection of mental health and technology. Her vision is to make digital wellbeing accessible to everyone, and her mission is to empower the next generation's relationship with tech by giving them the resources, advocacy, and opportunities to be at the center of conversations rather than just be the victims of the decisions that others make.

On her experience with mental illness

[2:44]  The story that I told the world was that everything was going well. And what people didn't see was that I was in my dorm room. I didn't go to class for two weeks. My roommate moved out because I was depressed. My room was a mess, and everything was really crumbling, to the point where I wound up experiencing suicidal ideation.

On growing her nonprofit

[6:37] I started with a $250 grant in my dorm room. And now, we have worked all around the world. We do both state and national policymaking and have really been the first movers in this space.

On engaging young people

[15:09] This is a new program that we're building with a partner youth organization. It’s a digital civil rights academy, and we want to revolutionize the movement by actually educating youth and getting them to take clear action steps on a local and global level.

• #HalfTheStory

Chelsea, Massachusetts is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is home to a large Latino population and has long provided shelter work and support to refugees.

Carl Allen works hard to help Chelsea’s residents seek solutions to the problems they face. Carl had a successful career in the software industry, then returned to school to study resource economics and urban planning.

He has used that degree as a springboard, devoting the latter part of his career to public service. Carl now serves as an economic development planner for the city of Chelsea. Carl has been working tirelessly to bring more equitable opportunities to his community. Recently, he has crafted an innovative plan to provide public broadband access to the residents of Chelsea. He hopes the initiative will help people to engage more effectively in the digital world. 

On gentrification

[13:43]  My one worry in all of this is that, when we implement [Chelsea’s digital equity plan], it will mean that the people of Chelsea will have access to much better broadband than anyone else in Greater Boston at a much lower price point. We don't need additional gentrification pressures, but this'll suddenly become an ideal place to work from home.

On community buy-in

[18:25] You want to see your local leaders focusing on issues that are really important to you. And so, I think it's very important to get the public's buy-in on those issues and make sure that not only are you finding solutions, but you're finding solutions that they're excited about, that they're willing to operate in. Because if they're not invested in the solution, it's not gonna solve anything.

On the long term

[19:30] The most exciting part is that we will be able to deliver symmetrical gigabit connections to every household in Chelsea. And the preliminary estimates are, assuming we can get capital funding for most of the buildout, which I think we can, the monthly costs will be somewhere in the mid-thirties. That is insane.

• Chelsea, MA

Autumn Evans is the Deputy Director of Digital Equity and Inclusion for the City of Detroit. She’s also the Operations Director for Connect 313.

At the height of the pandemic, she was working for a Detroit nonprofit that delivered food to home-bound and low-income seniors. The city approached her and asked her to help facilitate the distribution of 4,000 internet-connected devices to seniors in less than six weeks.

That was her introduction to the digital divide.

On scaling

[10:45] We're gonna scale on more of the resource side for any resident, where they can call a 313 Detroit number and it's a call center: press one to get internet access, press two to get a device, press three for technical support, and really just standardize the way that we support everyone on their journey to being more digitally connected and more confident in their ability to navigate the digital world.

On Connect 313’s Community Ambassador program

[16:31] We have partnered with anchor organizations in order to hire local residents to be ‘digital divide ambassadors.’ What that means is that that person in that specific district is responsible for making sure that everyone in that district is aware of the digital divide– the ways that it manifests. They bring resources into that area, whether it be digital literacy classes or even device distribution and giveaways.

On sharing ideas

[18:04] I have no problem doing one-on-ones, or speaking at different conferences and sharing the stage with other great professionals. I'll be at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance in February. I'm really looking forward to that, because it's like the family reunion of all digital inclusion people.

• Connect 313
• Autumn’s email: autumn.evans@detroitmi.gov