For years, the Initiative for Literacy in a Digital Age focused on a clear set of questions: what does it mean to teach, learn, and become literate in a connected world?

Through programs like the Divergent Awards, that work built a real network of educators, scholars, and collaborators. It helped name digital literacy as something bigger than a technical skill. It was about power, participation, and the conditions of everyday life.

Over time, though, something became harder to ignore.

The questions we were asking in schools were the same questions people were asking everywhere else too.

  • How do we make sense of the technologies shaping our lives?
  • How do we protect trust, privacy, and dignity online?
  • How do we build stronger communities instead of just adapting to broken systems?

Those are not classroom-only questions. They belong to families, neighbors, organizers, nonprofits, researchers, and anyone trying to live well in digital life.

Why We Expanded

That is why the work began to grow beyond its original frame.

InitiatED is not a rejection of the earlier Initiative. It is what happened when the original questions kept widening.

This shift is not about abandoning education. It is about recognizing that education is inseparable from the communities people live in, the tools they depend on, and the conditions under which they are asked to participate.

What InitiatED Means Now

InitiatED is the broader community that has grown around this work.

It brings together educators, organizers, parents, researchers, advocates, and other curious people who want a more human way to think about technology and the lives shaped by it.

That includes:

  • small learning cohorts through Signpost Sessions
  • public recognition through the Divergent Awards
  • practical writing and shared resources
  • a wider invitation into the conversation

What This Means for Educators

If you came to this work through education, you are still at the heart of it.

The classroom questions still matter. The Divergent Awards still matter. The educator network still matters. What changes is that educators are no longer being asked to carry these questions alone.

What This Means for New People

If you are new here, you do not need to be a teacher, a scholar, or a tech expert to belong.

If you are trying to understand how technology shapes your work, your family, your organizing, or your community, this project is for you too.

The Direction From Here

We are still building. The nonprofit structure is still taking shape. The governance vision is still evolving. But the direction is now clearer:

  • start with people, not platforms
  • build relationships before scale
  • make room for participation
  • create safer, saner, more human ways to learn and organize together

That is the move from classroom to community.