To read the whitepaper directly – please click on this link: http://pbdd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/PBDD-WhitePaperLessonsfromStartingaBridgingAgency.pdf
White Paper: Lessons from Starting a Bridging Agency
Barry Glicklich (President PBDD)
Katherine Lato (VPCommunications PBDD)
Maryanna Milton (VP PBDD)
http://pbdd.org/
March 21, 2016
As we learn more about the partners of PBDD, we’ve been inspired by the variety of programs
these agencies offer, and the unique stories of how each came to be. Given that one of our goals
is to help initiate digital inclusion programs in communities that don’t currently have them, this
paper will focus on getting started. In this context, we asked the partners of PBDD a set of
questions that can be summed up as:
1. How did your organization get started improving digital literacy and access?
2. What contributed to your initial success?
3. What advice would you give to those starting a new organization or new digital inclusion
program?
From the answers we received and the stories we heard, we discovered common themes to what
makes a successful bridging agency, both in the initial phase and as a guide for ongoing
improvement.
A common catalyst for many of the organizations was that after seeing a problem for an
individual and solving it, they realized the problem was shared by many others. Addressing
the bigger question required organization and resources.
While the primary goal of this paper is to derive the lessons of experience from our partner
agencies, we found the stories of how each was started to be compelling and have included a
summary for each participating agency in Appendix A. Reading them will help to fully
understand the background for the answers to the other questions.
The body of this paper provides information gleaned from our partners, grouped into categories
of Volunteers, Partnering, Culture/Values, Media, Fundraising and Miscellaneous.
