Haverhill Promise is Awarded the Second Place Prize at the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub Digital Equity Challenge
04/28/2023
By Stephanie Guyotte
The UMass Lowell Innovation Hub Haverhill held its 2nd Digital Equity Challenge pitch contest this week, awarding $10,000 in cash prizes to startups and non-profits for projects that create digital access and improve digital literacy in Essex County.
The top prize went to Computers 4 People, a startup nonprofit organization founded by Dylan Zajac, a Babson College sophomore. Computers 4 People take outdated or discarded computers, refurbishes them, and donates them back to individuals who do not have a computer. They will use the $5,000 first place prize to expand into Essex County.
Haverhill Promise, an early literacy program to help students achieve grade-level reading proficiency, won the second-place prize. Executive Director Jessica Kallin said Haverhill Promise was seeking funding to launch an evidence-based digital literacy program for preschool aged youth in Haverhill.
Third place prize went to Lawrence Public Library to support a laptop and wifi hotspot loaner program. Janelle Abreu, library director, said that while the library has been offering loaner laptops, without include a hot spot for wifi, the residents of the community are not getting the fully digital access they need.
