ABOUT US
The Vision Lab was established to address the digital challenges that were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many businesses were compelled to rely exclusively on digital tools, transition to remote work, and shift to online sales, while numerous establishments ultimately closed their operations.
According to the Institute for Policy Research at Stanford University, the number of active business owners in the United States declined by 3.3 million, or 22%, from February to April 2020—representing the largest decrease on record and impacting nearly all industries.
STRATEGIC PILLARS
The Vision Lab is a community oriented program whose pillars of service focus on Youth Workforce Development, Digital Transformation Support for Local Businesses, and a Business Idea Accelerator.
Youth Workforce Development: trains students and young workers with skills in emerging technologies to open doors to employment opportunities in the tech sector. Focus on supporting foster, justice-impacted, and opportunity youth.
Digital Transformation Support for Local Businesses: The Vision Lab program empowers local businesses – particularly those impacted by the digital divide – to improve their digital aptitude and ability to compete in the marketplace. The goal is to empower local businesses to enhance consumer engagement, increase economic stability and foster digital resilience in response to business challenges.
Business Idea Accelerator: cultivates innovation by supporting entrepreneurs in developing creative business ideas aimed at bridging the digital divide. The Business Idea Accelerator is a 10-week program that helps entrepreneurs move their business ideas from concept to execution.
DIGITAL DIVIDE
The digital divide – the gap between those who have opportunities to access and benefit from the internet and those that do not – has been a growing issue in the Los Angeles region with deep disparities between communities foregrounded by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Connectivity has become a necessity, rather than a luxury, in daily life and has become foundational for access to economic, workforce, and educational opportunities, as well as health, social and civic engagement outcomes.
The digital divide has exacerbated the disparities in impacted communities’ access to opportunities in the tech workforce, as well as to the resources for new businesses to thrive in a digital ecosystem.
Both the public and private sectors have prioritized digitizing and putting online their respective services or operations (for example, educational, healthcare and retail operations now rely considerably on digital services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic), which in turn requires residents and business owners to access services online or in a touchless capacity, and have an understanding of how to productively interact in a digital ecosystem.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
This project received $1,000,000 from a grant awarded under the Community Project grant, as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.