Nakia, a 7th grade student, grew up in Benton, Tennessee, where nearly 18% of the population lives in poverty. The county’s lack of resources was felt by many in the community, including students at Nakia’s school, which was not equipped with all the technological tools it needed to enhance students’ learning and help them be competitive with their peers.

At times, the teenager struggled to keep up with both her school work and extracurricular activities, and sometimes found it difficult to apply the knowledge she learned in the classroom. That began to change when the Verizon Innovative Learning program, which is supported by the Verizon Foundation, came to Nakia’s school.

Using digital devices provided to her school through the transformative program, Nakia gained free internet access and benefited from free technology and hands-on learning experiences and curricula that transformed her education in and out of the classroom.

Verizon has been working hard to help solve the problem of education inequality and support students like Nakia through this program since 2012.

“Verizon has shown me a whole world of opportunities. With the technology [and access] in our school, I was able to understand how the smaller pieces can build on to the bigger pieces. Learning how I would use these skills later on has changed my perspective of how the world works,” Nakia, who aspires to be the CEO of her own company someday, said. She and her teachers know that in today’s increasingly digital world, technology will be crucial to achieving that dream.

Read the full article about bridging the digital divide by Daniele Selby at Global Citizen.