QUILT Corporation Provides Digital Literacy And Affordable Internet To Communities

Dwayne Douglas, founder of QUILT Corporation and NODE Networks. PHOTO PROVIDED BY AVOQ.
Dwayne Douglas, founder of QUILT Corporation and NODE Networks. PHOTO PROVIDED BY AVOQ.

QUILT Corporation Provides Digital Literacy And Affordable Internet To Communities

By Tia Carol Jones

Dwayne Douglas founded QUILT Corporation and NODE Networks in 2020 after realizing that there were people that are disconnected from the internet and didn’t understand the value of engaging in the digital economy. Prior to founding QUILT and NODE, Douglas was working in IT and Telecommunications, but wasn’t aware there were communities that were experiencing digital equity issues. He knew what was needed was a nonprofit that would provide digital literacy skills and an ISP that would provide affordable access to the internet.

Douglas’ QUILT Corporation and NODE Networks recently announced a partnership with ComEd to provide affordable high-speed internet access to residents on the South and West sides of the city, with the hopes the initiative would close the digital divide.

QUILT is a nonprofit that works on social and economic impact initiatives in collaboration with primarily marginalized communities. The work starts with QUILT finding a community organization to partner with, only working in communities where it has community partners. Douglas said this is done because community organizations are doing the work on the ground and have trusted relationships. They also really understand what’s going on in the community and QUILT’s goal is to bring in the necessary resources that will help the community. Those resources include broadband access, digital literacy and workforce development. NODE Networks is the ISP that works in alignment with the mission of QUILT to provide affordable broadband and empower the community and the residents there.

Douglas said he wanted to partner with ComEd because it had the infrastructure necessary to provide the affordable fiber connection, which is vital for NODE to provide affordable internet services to the residents of the communities that needed it the most. Also, because ComEd doesn’t do anything telecommunications related, there wasn’t any competition between ComEd and Douglas’ companies. ComEd liked the idea and Douglas and ComEd started to work with what it would look like to scale the idea throughout the city

“In finding that infrastructure that currently exists, really helps to elevate the work that we’re doing, but also expedite the work that we’re doing,” Douglas said.

Douglas hopes that through the partnership with NODE and QUILT and ComEd, it would vastly benefit the entire communities, from the property owners to the business owners. People in the community will be able to engage with internet speeds that will be comparable to speeds in other communities, using a state-of-the-art infrastructure. Community members will be able to do things they might not have been able to do before, including workforce development training and telehealth services. He said with people being able to engage with telehealth services provides access for more people to receive care. With workforce development training, people can be trained online for in-demand jobs and emerging technologies.

“It’s very important and a calling upon all of us to ensure that no one is left behind and this gap [digital divide] is completely closed and that we all progress forward together,” Douglas said.

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