We are able to make this project a reality through a collaborative and cross-sectional effort between higher education institutions, digital inclusion organizations, and grassroots community groups. With gratitude, we thank the following groups for their tremendous support:

Carnegie Mellon University: A team of collaborators from CMU’s School of Computer Science and the Simon Initiative coordinated project connections between CMU and Pitt, provided critical start-up funding for the project and liaised with key stakeholders and community groups. They offer ongoing project design, implementation, and fundraising support.

University of Pittsburgh: Pitt IT, the CIO Office, and Community & Governmental Relations are key stakeholders and collaborators, contributing facility access and funding to enable our use of the Cathedral of Learning as our “Super Node” hub. They will support stakeholder and community involvement in additional neighborhoods following the pilot.

The Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research (KINBER): KINBER is a vendor partner to both CMU and Pitt, and provides our gateway to the Internet through PennREN Fiber, which is broadcast from atop the Cathedral of Learning.

Participating School Districts and Community Groups: The New Kensington-Arnold School District and Cornell (Coraopolis-Neville Island) School District, as well as the Homewood Children’s Village are collaborators in this project. They bring vital expertise, leading the effort to build community buy-in, leveraging social capital to facilitate the creation of WISP infrastructure, and identifying households in need of Internet connectivity. They also advise CMU, Pitt, and Meta Mesh on community need and intentional partnership practices.