Global Development Initiative

Laptops Delivered to Hospicio de San Jose Orphanage

Last month, we launched our Global Development Initiative in the Philippines, which aims to provide laptops to students at the Hospicio de San Jose orphanage in Manila during the pandemic.

We owe a debt of gratitude to all our initial donors whose support enabled us to launch our laptop donation program.

Each laptop costs around $300 to send to the Philippines, including shipping costs. By providing a tax-deductible donation of this amount, you can sponsor a school laptop and enable us to send another shipment to the Philippines immediately. But a gift of any size will make a significant impact. The success of this program depends on the continuing support of our community; we hope you will consider supporting us however you can!

Research Project

Our Research Paper Earns Mentions on Prominent Law Blogs

This summer, we released a 20-page policy analysis exploring the digital divide in prisons. In it, we describe how returning citizens reenter society lacking basic digital literacy skills. This often causes them to recidivate and return to prison at the expense of taxpayers.

The paper also describes successful programs that provide inmates with digital skills, the overbearing influence of big tech companies on many correctional institutions, and recommendations for policymakers.

While this project is still a work-in-progress, we have distributed a paper preprint to scholars and academics and made it freely available to the general public. Our paper has since earned mentions on prominent legal blogs such as LexBlog and the Center of Media Crime at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

We're excited to continue to work on this and other research efforts dedicated to telling stories of how digital inequality touches so many aspects of our lives as citizens.