Voqal

May 22, 2015 The final day of the 2015 SHLB Coalition Annual Conference opened with a presentation by FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Attendees of the SHLB Coalition, a non-profit, advocacy organization that supports open, affordable, high-capacity broadband connections for anchor institutions and their surrounding communities, greeted Clyburn with enthusiasm. Clyburn started her talk by saying

March 14, 2015 Board members Garlin Gilchrist II, deputy technology director for civic community engagement, City of Detroit, and Dan O’Neil, executive director, Smart Chicago Collaborative, are presenting today at SXSW. The panel titled “Real Talk about Civic Tech” focuses on the phenomenon of using technology to spur civil engagement and make government more effective.

By Kristen Perry, via the 2015 NTC Conference in Austin, Texas March 5, 2015 The nonprofit sector, like the technology sector, often faces criticism for the lack of diversity in both technology and leadership roles. This year’s participatory plenary at the 2015 Nonprofit Technology Conference tackled this important issue. Moderated by the CEO of the

Feb. 28, 2015 The Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation is focusing its March briefing on examining the net neutrality campaign and discussing the lessons learned. Voqal President John Schwartz will moderate the briefing, which is cosponsored by Open Society Foundations, Wallace Global Fund, Voqal Fund and Ford Foundation. The featured speakers are Amalia Deloney, Media

Feb. 17, 2015 The fourth Crash Course Government and Politics Episode has been released. In this episode, host Craig Benzine discussed federalism, or the idea that in the United States, power is divided between the national government and the 50 state governments. Craig reviews how federalism has evolved over the history of the U.S., what

Jan. 26, 2014 The clock is ticking on net neutrality. The FCC is voting on net neutrality rules on February 26th, 2015. At Voqal we support keeping the web free and open! Voqal is proud to join the battle for net neutrality with the Internet countdown widget. For more information and to join the battle

By: Kristen Meador Sept. 11, 2014 Cassie Bair recently joined Voqal as the managing director of Voqal’s Mobile Citizen initiative. Cassie has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit and start-up organizations. Most recently, Cassie served as the VP of Marketing & Strategic Partnerships at Mobile Accord, a private sector company, where she implemented national

By: Kristen Meador August 25, 2014 Voqal Fund recently added two new staff members: Kathy Partridge as senior program officer and Leah Pryor-Lease as program officer. Serving for nearly a decade as executive director of Interfaith Funders, a network of faith-based and secular grant-makers working to strengthen democracy and justice, Kathy Partridge led an active

By: Kristen Meador August 20, 2014 Following up on his recent commentary in Current, Voqal President John Schwartz participated in a media briefing call hosted by The Media Consortium on the upcoming spectrum auction. The Media Consortium is an international network of over 70 leading independent progressive journalism organizations. In the call, John discusses the

By Kristen Meador July 31, 2014 The latest lineup of Voqal Fund grantees are now available on the Voqal website! Voqal Fund grants that were primarily focused locally were added to an interactive map that provides information about each grant, as well as a link to the grantee’s website when available. Grants with a broader