Behind the Screens: Bridging the Digital Divide

Lea is the Director of Technology and Innovation and CIO of the City of Long Beach. With more than 20 years of experience working in local government, Lea’s background includes positions related to economic development, budget and finance, and technology. Prior to her current role, Lea served as the City of Long Beach’s budget manager and assistant finance director. Today, Lea is in charge of implementing the City’s technology vision, developing a staff of 173 FTE and managing a $57.2 million operating budget. Before joining the City of Long Beach, Lea spent 16 years with the City of Cincinnati. She has an MBA from Xavier University and graduated cum laude from Miami University, where she dual majored in public administration and sociology.

Fiona Foster is a Program Coordinator at human-I-T partnering with non-profit organizations nationwide to bridge the digital divide for their clients. Before joining human-I-T, Fiona worked for several education-focused nonprofits including the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Kids Read Now and Teach for America Appalachia. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor of science in Mathematics and a minor in Computer Science. She has a true passion for education whether it’s her own personal development, supporting public education or helping adult learners succeed in an increasingly digital landscape, and loves the opportunity to utilize digital inclusion to build bridges for people to learn and thrive.

Rachel Hastings is a Professor of Communication at MiraCosta College and the Director of the North County Higher Education Alliance (NCHEA). Her work is published in the ASCCC Rostrum, Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, Liminalities, Women & Language, Radical Philosophy Review and the Nigerian Guardian. Dr. Hastings’ teaching expertise focuses on the use of digital communication in Public Speaking, Mass Communication, and Narrative Performance for personal growth, social advocacy, and communal change. In 2019, Dr. Hastings founded DocED, where she is currently offering critical, creative courses, coaching and curriculums.

Jeffrey Omari is an Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law (NIU). He joins NIU with a rich interdisciplinary background; his research sits at the intersection of law, technology, and social science. His current work examines internet governance through the lens of Brazil’s cyber law, the Marco Civil da Internet (MCI). Through its promotion of internet access as a civil right, protection of net neutrality, and its call for openness in the online realm, the MCI seeks to foster democratic internet governance in Brazil. Omari spent 18 months in that country conducting ethnographic fieldwork in two contrasting locations: the favelas (informal, low-income communities) of Rio de Janeiro and in Brazil’s top law school, Fundação Getúlio Vargas Direito. Before pursuing his PhD, he practiced entertainment law in Atlanta and Los Angeles, respectively.

Holly has 40 years of project management and consulting experience. She was the first woman IT consulting partner with a Big 6 accounting firm and was a senior executive with software companies, consulting companies, and an international logistics company. After a jarring divorce that left her searching for her own purpose, she founded Gals Starting Over. Gals Starting Over is a non-profit whose mission is to improve women’s self-sufficiency and self-esteem through collaborative educational programs. She has successfully transitioned from technology focused project manager to compassionate nonprofit leader and is leveraging her years of project management clarity to extend a helpful hand to women. Most recently, she published her first book OPA! A top exec finds joy in God, Family and Nonprofit. She wrote this self-help book in collaboration with her marriage and family therapist, Rodney Robinson, for other men and women who are making a difficult transition.

Jessica Santana is one of the co-founders and CEO of America On Tech (AOT), an organization on a mission to prepare the next generation of technology leaders. AOT provides students with access to the development, mentoring, networking and professional experiences that prepare them for degrees and careers in technology. Prior to AOT, Santana worked as a technology consultant for global brands such as JPMorgan Chase, Accenture and Deloitte. She has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and NYN 40 Under 40 Rising Stars list. In 2020, Causeartist named her 1 of 37 Social Entrepreneurs to watch and EdLoC named her a Compass Leader in Ending Generational Poverty.

Dr. Gwen Shaffer is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Public Relations at CSULB, where she teaches courses on internet regulation and communication law. Her research on topics such as broadband connectivity and data privacy explore ways in which digital exclusion and algorithmic bias compound existing challenges. Gwen chairs the City of Long Beach’s Technology and Innovation Commission, which is currently conducting research meant to gain insights into residents’ understanding of what it means to live in a “smart” city. Ultimately, commission members will help develop data privacy-protection tools the city of Long Beach can implement. Gwen’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation; the Media, Inequality & Change Center housed at the University of Pennsylvania; the Haynes Foundation; and METRANS. Prior to academia, Gwen worked as a reporter for more than a dozen years.

Cesar Zaldivar-Motts is the Director of Operations of the Southeast Community Development Corporation (SCDC). Previously, he was the Executive Director of SCDC since February 2008. The Southeast Community Development Corporation is a nonprofit community and economic development organization focused on serving the residents of Southeast Los Angeles County. Cesar was raised in the Southeast area and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors at Human Service Association and Huntington Park Police Activity League.  He also serves on the Boards of the Southeast Rio Vista YMCA, and the Southeast Collaborative. He graduated from the University of Missouri, Kansas City with a Masters of Public Administration/Nonprofit Management and has 20 years of management experience.