Pictured: Maricopa County Supervisor Jack Sellers, Mengjie Kang-Huawei US, Carmen Ronan-MA Manager, Steve Gemmiti-Thunderbird School of Global Management, Claude Mattox-MA VP & Rick Stilgenbauer-Bianchi & Brandt

With more than 200,000 students in Arizona not having access to the internet, lack of digital connectivity is a pressing issue that is made all the more acute with massive transitions to remote work and education during the pandemic. To address this issue, Molera Alvarez and other community leaders came together at the Digital Equity Institute’s State of Digital Equity in Arizona Charity Dinner April 26 in Phoenix. This first-time event brought together government officials and industry and university leaders to support improving quality of life through digital equity and inclusion. The event featured opening remarks by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and a panel discussion with Maricopa County Chairman Bill Gates, Digital Equity Director for the National Telecommunications & Information Administration Angela Thi Bennett, Arizona State University’s (ASU) Chief Information Officer Lev Gonick, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) U.S. Leader for Government and Education Kimberly Williams. Speakers offered valuable insights on improving access to technology in rural and low-income communities to improve education, workforce, economic competitiveness, innovation, inclusion, and more. Special guests included Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke, Maricopa County Supervisor Jack Sellers, Surprise Vice Mayor Aly Cline, and Legislative Liaison for U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema Austin Kennedy. The event was sponsored by Slalom, ASU, AWS, World Wide Technology, Intel, Huawei US, Verizon, and other community champions.