Bridge Builders Award
Rey Ramsey, Co-Founder and CEO, One Economy Corporation, Ben Hecht, Co-Founder, President and COO, One Economy Corporation and Lewis P. Jones, President, The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation for innovative programs to get computer technology into inner-city homes of those cut off from the economic mainstream.
Only four years after Rey Ramsey and Ben Hecht formed One Economy, their vision of linking technology with housing to fight poverty has spread over twenty-one states, helping thousands of people find their way into the digital economy.
In order to ensure access to services and life-skills that low-income families need, One Economy has developed Beehive.org. Beehive helps this underserved group learn basic skills such as how to read their credit report, write a resume, or open a checking account. There is catered information for eighteen specific localities, some of which is available in languages other than English depending on the native background of the resident population. One Economy also aims to develop natural “Digital Connectors” in the community.
Through this program youth, ages 15-19 who have already mastered digital technology, help community members integrate computers into their lifestyle by providing training and support. One Economy and The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation, led by Lewis P. Jones, have been working together to bring computers and Beehive to low-income neighborhoods nationwide. The Foundation was also the driving force and sponsor behind the translation of community-specific Beehive.org websites. Since December 31, 2002 the two organizations have focused their efforts in Brooklyn, New York, building a school-based digital community. Combining JPMorgan Chase’s ON_DEC (Our Neighborhood_Digital Education Community) program with One Economy's Beehive.org, they have put more than 2,500 computers into the homes of young people who attend a local middle school. One Economy has been customizing Beehive.org’s content specifically for ON_DEC participants, as well as building an integrated technology strategy to enhance parent/student and school communication. In the spirit of bringing community voices together they have also partnered to create VolumeNYC.org, a place where the residents of lower Manhattan can find resources and work together to re-build their neighborhoods.
The collaboration between the founders of One Economy and the leadership of Lewis Jones at The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation on a technology strategy for community development has built bridges between the computer industry, housing agencies, and social service providers. By ensuring that low-income families receive training and use computers as a daily part of their lives, these two leaders are helping to narrow the gap separating digital “have’s” and “have-not’s” and ensure that economic success in the digital age is available to all of America's communities.