The NNN Program has been put on pause as our grant ended in July and we are taking time to regroup.
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Please email if you have any questions!
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nerds@whitenergroup.biz
MENDING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
The Native Nerd Network’s goal is to ensure that our communities receive the technical support they need and are able to connect to internet services.
Sometimes this is just standing next to someone while the IT ghosts fix the problem magically. Other times we can get things patched up, or at least get somebody connected with the person who can.
About Us
The Native Nerd Network is a newly founded, grant funded group of technology focused experts. This initiative of The Whitener Group is designed to provide technical support, training, and in some cases equipment to help mend the “digital divide” in our Native communities.
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While our primary goal of course is to get people connected, we are also looking at capacity building. The world today has A LOT of technology with a lot of moving parts and it can become very disorienting. We do digital literacy training to help people in their day to day. This can be things as simple as how to Zoom with their family or doctors, or more complicated things like using Gmail or Microsoft products used in the workforce.
The Digital Navigator Grant
The Native Nerd Network received a 9 month grant from the State of Washington’s Department of Commerce to provide Digital Navigation services to tribal communities in the South Salish Sea.
Our Digital Navigators (or “Native Nerds”) will assist people in our tribal communities with internet access, getting computer devices, and training in digital literacy. Specifically, our target communities under the grant are the tribal communities of Quileute, Shoalwater Bay, Skokomish, Squaxin Island, and Chehalis.
NNN Services​
​Digital Navigation Services
Showing you the ins and outs of a little thing we call the internet
Digital Literacy Training
You know, reading computers
Digital Equity
Getting you connected to the internet, both with technical expertise and program knowledge to potentially get you cheaper/free internet
Workforce Development Training
Stuff like how to create documents in Microsoft Office and share/collaborate with other people
Acquiring Devices
We don’t have devices to give out, BUT we may be able to connect you with people that do or at least give you an idea of what to get
Maintaining Devices or Software
We can help you with your current stuff, either fix it ourselves with you or point you in the right direction
Program Partners and Collaborators
The Whitener Group (TWG)
The Native Nerd Network is an initiative of The Whitener Group. We borrow from TWG’s wealth of skills and experience providing training to tribes all over the U.S. and weave it with our Native Nerd’s technical expertise.
South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (SPIPA)
Before we began our Digital Equity program, the Native Nerd Network began working with South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency in order to use their resources and outreach systems to better reach tribal members and their communities. We look forward to expanding on this partnership, providing digital literacy training to more and more people in the SPIPA network.
Tribal Technology and Training (T3)
The Native Nerd Network and T3 both offer Digital Navigation Services to tribal communities so a collaborative relationship was only fitting. We share technical expertise (and even trainers to some extent) in our mission to bring our tribal communities to the forefront of technology.