Baltimore’s Digital Equity Strategy: Build Community Trust

The city of Baltimore (MD) is building trust and connectivity for its residents through community-centered efforts. Baltimore has made steady progress in recent years toward addressing access, including investing in digital skills training and staffing up to address the gaps. According to Kenya Asli, the city director of broadband and digital equity, this work has advanced further in the past year. It includes building out the city’s middle-mile network, which, Asli explained, lays the foundation for the city’s next project: Officials plan to release a request for proposals to invite a new internet service provider into the city market. “Folks want more options, and so we are bringing in more options,” Asli said, noting the city is lowering the barrier to entry for ISPs through this middle-mile network. Baltimore has also used $5 million to establish a grant program—the second round of funding for which invested $1.8 million in October 2024—to forge partnerships with local nonprofits and leverage existing expertise to better support the community.