1st Chicago Neighborhood

DexCon 2010
Digital Excellence Conference
& Technology Fair
Chicago Digital Access Alliance Inc. * c/o 322 South Green Avenue * Suite 300 * Chicago, Illinois 60610 * 312-473-
0373'312-970-0249 Cell * pierre@digitalexcellence.net * http://www.digitalexcellence.net

NEWS RELEASE
October 15, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT PIERRE A. CLARK,

CHICAGO DIGITAL ACCESS ALLIANCE, 312-970-02459/312-473-0373

News Release – Stasch, Howard, Davidson honored with Digital Excellence Advocate Awards at 1st
Chicago Neighborhood Digital Excellence Conference And Technology Fair, Friday, October 29, 2010,
8 a.m. To 6:00 p.m., DePaul University Egan Urban Center, 1 East Jackson Boulevard, Lower Level,
Chicago, Illinois 60602.

Three neighborhood technology advocates whose work in supporting the expansion of technology
resources in low-income underserved communities has empowered thousands of Chicago residents will
be honored at the keynote Digital Excellence Luncheon at the 1st Chicago Digital Excellence
Conference And Technology Fair, Friday, October 29, 2010, from 8:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m., at DePaul
University Egan Urban Center, 1 East Jackson Boulevard, Lower Level. The CDAA will present
Pioneer CTC creator Carl Davidson, Julia Stasch, Vice President for Community Development of the
MacArthur Foundation, and State Representative Constance "Connie Howard" with Digital Excellence
Advocate awards.

NEIGHBORHOOD TECHNOLOGY PIONEERS

"Carl Davidson, Julia Stasch and Connie Howard were popular choices for our 2010 Digital Excellence
Advocate Awards," said Pierre Clark, co-founder of the Chicago Digital Access Alliance. "Each has
worked powerfully and effectively in their respective positions over two decades to promote equitable
access to technology resources for all communities, and especially underserved communities. From
Carl's pioneering efforts in helping non-profits establish community technology centers to Julia's
leadership in bringing the community-driven digital excellence mantra to Chicago's digital inclusion
efforts and Connie's tireless advocacy for state resources for technology centers and programs, they
represent Chicago's leadership innovation in the neighborhood technology field."
Page Two

CARL DAVIDSON

In the 1990's when the idea of a community technology center made people go "huh?", Carl Davidson,
a transplanted Pennsylvanian (from Aliquippa, the same town as Chicago's most famous coach, the
Bears' Mike Ditka) persuaded local corporations and individuals in Chicago to donate thousands of
outdated desktop computers, which he and a small band of socially-minded technicians would repair
and redistribute to organizations and individuals who needed computers but couldn't afford them and
wanted these centers in their own communities. Davidson had been one of the leaders of the Students
For A Democratic Society (SDS), the most famous student-led anti-war group of the 1960's, but to the
low-income residents and struggling community residents to whom Carl brought these technology
resources, he was a "Johnny Appleseed" spreading the technology wealth in the name of "human
capital development" to those who couldn't afford it.

JULIA STASCH

Julia Stasch has been a pioneer all her life...from summa cum laude Loyola graduate to CEO at Stein
and Company, Commissioner of Chicago's Housing Department, Chief of Staff for Mayor Daley,
President of Shorebank, Deputy Administrator in the General Services Adminbistration during Bill
Clinton's administration, and Vice President for Human and Community Development at MacArthur
Foundation, Stasch has been a powerful and persuasive force for neighborhood development. Her
chairmanship of the Mayor's Committee To Eliminate The Digital Divide, which produced the ground-
breaking 2007 report, "The City That Networks: Transforming Community And Society Through
Digital Excellence" and her speech introducing the report at the 2007 Community Media Workshop, in
which she called for a commitment to digital excellence, solidified her role as a seminal figure in the
neighborhood technology movement.

CONSTANCE "CONNIE" HOWARD

State Representative Constance "Connie" Howard, through her co-chairmanship of the Computer
Technology Committee, advocated for millions of dollars in technology funding through the state's
Eliminate The Digital Divide program. As a board member of Time Dollar Tutoring, one of the city's
first school-based computer donation programs, she worked with volunteers who delivered thousands
of recycled computers to school-age children. She is known to many in the neighborhood technology
movement as "our advocate in Springfield".

The awards to Davidson, Stasch and Howard will be a luncheon highlight, along with the keynote
address by Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee, Vice President and Director, Media and Technology Center, Joint
Center For Political And Economic Studies, Washington, D.C.

For more information, contact Pierre A. Clark, Chicago Digital Access Alliance, Inc, 312-970-0249,
312-473-0373.