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ABOUT US

OUR STORY

E2D was founded out of two simple questions that an enlightened 12-year-old girl asked her parents back in October 2012:

  • How can all kids in our school do their homework and projects successfully if some of their families are too poor to own digital technology?

  • What are we going to do about it?

This young girl, Franny Millen, decided that the digital divide between those who have computers at home and those who do not was an unacceptable social inequity…and one that must be resolved. 

Franny is still committed to digital equity work. She graduated from Kenyon College in 2022 and returned to work as our Impact Fellow. We are so proud of her!

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History

Her two questions have led to hundreds of discussions led by thousands of community activists – municipal leaders, college students, corporate and foundation supporters and civic volunteers – that has resulted in a digital revolution that will not be declared victorious until every family has access to computers and the internet in their homes.


Since 2013, E2D has worked with 170 schools in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School (CMS) system.  As of Summer 2023, more than 36,000 families have bridged the digital divide using laptops provided by E2D.

Students who were spiraling downward as just “the next generation of multi-generational poverty” have begun to use their new computers to vault quickly upward where the larger student body is thriving. 

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ACCOLADES

The National League of Cities, Next Century Cities, and Google Fiber recognized E2D as the first recipient of its “The Most Innovative Digital Inclusion” program in the US.
 
E2D has received several other awards and recognition for its work including receiving two Blue Diamond Awards for Non-Profit Technology innovation from IT-ology and Charlotte Area Technology Collaborative. Most recently, E2D was named one of the “Top 30 Technologists, Transformers and Trailblazers in the US” by The Center for Digital Education.

Accolades
Impact

OUR IMPACT

45,000

Number of computers distributed by E2D since 2013.

144,000

Estimated number of people using E2D computers.

Take three quick minutes to watch how E2D is transforming student lives.

Impact
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Finances

MEET THE TEAM

Team

Pat Millen, Co-Founder

Eileen Keeley, Co-Founder

Paddy Millen, Co-Founder

Franny Millen, Co-Founder

Sam Millen, Co-Founder