CTCNet Chicago

CTCNet Chicago is a coalition of local community technology centers, technology-focused community-based organizations and advocates who share the vision of CTCNet (http://www.ctcnet.org/), our founding organization, of a society in which all people are equitably empowered by technology skills and services.

Our Mission
CTCNet Chicago brings together agencies and communities that provide opportunities whereby people of all ages, who typically lack access and understanding of the relevance of computers and related technologies, can learn to use these technologies in an environment that encourages exploration and discovery. Through this experience, disadvantaged individuals will be able to develop self-confidence, personal and work skills, and to become creators as well as consumers of technology.

Our Vision
CTCNet Chicago will be a leading advocate of equitable access to computers, related technologies, and resource distribution. It will invite, initiate and actively encourage partnerships and collaborations with individuals and organizations that offer resources in support of its mission. And, it will strive, in every arena, to bring about universal technological enfranchisement.

Our Collective Impact
CTCNet Chicago member organizations provide disadvantaged individuals access to technology and technology training through programs and services that aim to:

• Build community residents’ computer literacy
• Create Internet content and technology-based art
• Help at-risk youth disadvantaged and adults build critical thinking skills by enhancing public education programs
• Facilitate job-readiness and technology job skills
• Afford information access via the Internet
• Improve quality of life for residents of low-income communities through active participation in the digital revolution

CTCNet Chicago Board of Directors
Chair: Zenobia Johnson-Black, Charles Hayes Family Investment Center
Vice-Chair: Bernice Taylor, DePaul University, Egan Urban Center
Treasurer: Gideon Jesionowski, Coalition of Asian, African, European, and Latino Immigrants of Illinois
Secretary: Mercedes Soto, IT Resource Center
Board Members:
Alycia Alexander, Computer Learning Center at Sheridan Devon Apartments, DSSA Management, Inc.
Carl Davidson, Chicago Coalition for International Access
Ricardo Estrada, Erie Neighborhood House
Ellen Garza, Southwest Youth Collaborative
Martin Mercado, Policy Research Action Group
John Owrey, Internet Computing Society
Virginia Peoples, Metropolitan Technology Foundation