As technology funders, we learned early on that in the rapidly changing arena of technology, simply providing cash is not enough. It is critical to provide access to skills and expertise to sustain technology enabled initiatives. Joining forces with the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) to create the Digital Storytelling Insitute (DSI) allowed us to provide direct training, technical support, technology and media tools to community-based organizations and community technology centers.

Together, we were able to: 

• Build on ZeroDivide’s programmatic focus of media, outreach, and communications;
• Help community-based organizations and community technology centers work with communities to generate rich content; and
• Promote social justice oriented storytelling through community multimedia.

A result of the collaboration between BAVC and ZeroDivide was funding for La Clinica. La Clinica’s mission is to improve the quality of life of the diverse communities they serve by providing culturally appropriate, high quality, and accessible health care. "Grupo de Hombres" is a documentary that was created as part of the program.  Members of a community-based men’s group share how the group has transformed their lives and improved their relationships with their families. La Clinica completed the documentary, had it captioned in English and screened it at a local community event and at an international conference in Mexico—both times to overwhelmingly positive responses. Through the program, La Clinica had the ability to have people actively participate in and take responsibility for their own education, while promoting the idea that the community is capable of creating positive social change. The effort is similar in form and focus to that of the group's New Routes project, "Abriendo las Cajas."

Abriendo las Cajas (Opening Boxes) seeks to reduce incidences of domestic (familial) violence amongst the Latin American immigrant population in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, and to provide a safe and empowering space for youth, men, and women of this community to share their experiences with their families, community, and general public.

For more information, please visit New Routes