Closing the Digital Divides: UMass Amherst-Health Equity Network Webinar Series Continues

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***

DATE:           Wednesday, Oct. 21

TIME:            12 noon – 1 p.m.

WHAT:           A virtual conversation about “Closing the Digital Divides and Achieving Digital Equity,” part of a webinar series on racism as a public health crisis

WHERE:       Register here for the free virtual conference

The University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences and its partners in the Western Massachusetts Health Equity Network continue their series of free virtual conversations with a webinar tackling the topic, “Closing the Digital Divides and Achieving Digital Equity.”

A panel of Western Massachusetts experts will discuss what is being done to address the digital divide and mobilize the entire community to close the gap, which has widened throughout the region due to the impact of COVID-19. Digital divides result from digital literacy, internet access and related policy. The conversation will focus on both urban and rural areas and address low-income and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities.

The featured speakers are Frank Robinson, vice president of public health and community relations at Baystate Health Systems; Paul Foster, chief information and accountability officer for Springfield Public Schools; and Paul Murphy, incoming board chair of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

The Western Massachusetts Health Equity Network is a broad, cross-sectional coalition of Western Massachusetts community members and entities housed at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at UMass Amherst. Together, they work to advance health equity and address the social determinants of health and root causes of institutional and structural barriers to health.