The AOL Foundation, the philanthropic arm of America Online, today announced that 12 programs in eight cities across the country have been selected to receive the first ever AOL Foundation Digital Divide Bridge Grants, totaling over one million dollars.

The AOL Foundation's Digital Divide Bridge Grant program is an ambitious plan to cultivate innovative programs across the country which are on the cutting-edge of efforts to bridge the gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not. Despite the unprecedented recent growth in Internet access and computer ownership, there are wide differences in adoption rates across geographic, income, and education lines.

The Digital Divide Bridge Grant program supports projects that help bridge the divide in resourceful ways. It was developed to help give underserved communities a fuller appreciation of digital opportunities as well as to lend AOL support to the most promising and visionary of those activities and help them grow. The 12 winning programs, set forth on the attached sheet, will share in the total grant amount of $1,120,222, divided in accordance with the amounts requested by the individual programs.

These trailblazing proposals include, among others: a healthcare project that uses the Internet to serve poor, mentally disabled, rural adults; a technology training program that puts welfare recipients into high paying tech jobs; a proposal to develop a series of regional conferences to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities address ways to build digital opportunity on campuses; a website that makes immigration-related information and news available in multiple languages for inner-city immigrants; a task force that provides national leadership for efforts to bridge the digital divide among Tribal Nations; and, a multi-media news service that voices the views of underserved youth.

The programs, which were selected from over 900 applications submitted to the AOL Foundation, will use the online medium in creative ways to help bring the Internet Revolution to underserved communities. They represent a diverse and dynamic group of activities and ideas. Each is aligned with the AOL Foundation's mission and focus -- to use the Internet to benefit society, to create diverse, public interest content for underserved populations and to bridge the digital divide.

Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of America Online and a member of the Board of Directors of the AOL Foundation, said: "In the Internet Century, access to technology and the training to make the most of it is not only empowering, it's a necessity. We must all work together to make sure that no one is left behind, and ensure that all communities receive the full benefits of this new medium quickly. The AOL Foundation's efforts, including the Digital Divide Bridge Grant program, call attention to the importance of creating digital opportunity and the special challenges many remote and technologically underserved communities face."

Jim Kimsey, Chairman of the AOL Foundation and AOL Co-Founder, said: "The quantity and quality of the compelling applications we received for these grants exceeded our wildest expectations. Moreover, each of the programs has strong evaluation components and therefore we hope to learn a good deal from them. We are very excited to support these innovative trailblazers."

About the AOL Foundation

The AOL Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that all people realize the benefits promised by the Internet Revolution as fully and quickly as possible. Foundation programs currently focus on using the Internet to enhance civic discourse, improve the delivery of health care services and information, strengthen philanthropy, improve education and youth services, and provide digital opportunity to underserved communities. The Foundation recently launched Helping.org, a nonprofit, one-stop philanthropy portal where people can sign up to volunteer or make donations to any of 650,000 charities, whether or not those organizations have an online presence. For more information on the AOL Foundation, visit www.aolfoundation.org. AOL keyword: AOL FOUNDATION.

About America Online Inc.

Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates two worldwide Internet services: America Online, with more than 22 million members, and CompuServe, with more than 2.7 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; Netscape 6 and the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers; AOL MovieFone, the nation's #1 movie listing guide and ticketing service; and Spinner.com and NullSoft's Winamp, leaders in Internet music. The company recently launched AOL@SCHOOL, a revolutionary new teaching tool designed to harness the Internet's power in the classroom by offering a variety of age-appropriate educational content and special safety tools at no charge. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.

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AOL FOUNDATION DIGITAL DIVIDE BRIDGE GRANT RECIPIENTS

Bay Area Video Coalition, San Francisco, CA, for the National Center For New Workforce Development (http://www.bavc.org/) (Contact: Mindy Aronoff, 415-558-2131) The Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) was founded in 1976 to serve the nonprofit sector with low-cost technical assistance, equipment access and training on the newest communication technologies. The winning proposal is to create a scalable, replicable work training program aimed at former welfare recipients. Grant Amount: $100,000.

Coalition of African, Asian and Latino Immigrants of Illinois, Chicago, IL (Contact: Grace Hou, 773-784-2900) The Coalition of African, Asian, and Latino Immigrants of Illinois (CAALII) is a seventeen agency collaboration whose mission is to improve the quality of life for immigrants and refugees and to ensure their dignity and respect by uniting communities through education, leadership development and direct services. The winning proposal will utilize the Internet to improve the dissemination of information to immigrants by making expertise, hardware and software available to all seventeen partner agencies and by developing a website that will provide vital immigration related news, forms, curricula and other information in as many as twelve languages. Grant Amount: $97,720.

Coleman Professional Services, Kent, OH (http://www.colemanprof.com/) (Contact: Shaun McWilliams, 330-676-6842) Coleman Professional Services' mission is to provide behavioral health services that are clinically effective, cost efficient, responsive to the customer and continually improving. The winning proposal is to provide enhanced health services through the Internet to rural, low-income people with mental illness. Grant Amount: $90,050. Erie Neighborhood House, Chicago, IL, For Daycare Homes Online (Contact: Kent Unruh, 312-666-3430) For 130 years, Erie Neighborhood House has empowered individuals to meet their fullest potential through a broad spectrum of services tailored to meet the challenges and aspirations of Chicago's low-income, primarily Latino families and immigrant residents. The winning proposal is to give inner-city daycare providers and the families they serve an Internet network that provides childcare information and entrepreneurial support. Grant Amount: $100,000.

Metropolitan Planning Council/IT Resource Center, Chicago, IL, for Connecting Chicago's Neighborhoods (http://www.metroplanning.org/) (Contact: Scott Goldstein, 312-922-5616 or Deborah Strauss, 312-372-4872) The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of business and civic leaders committed to serving the public interest through the promotion and implementation of sensible planning and development policies in the Chicago region. The IT Resource Center (ITRC) assists other nonprofits with technology. The winning proposal is to develop model web centers in disadvantaged communities and, working with the city of Chicago, to assist in the bringing advanced Internet infrastructure to communities throughout the area. Grant Amount: $100,000.

National Association of The Deaf, Silver Spring, MD, for National Association of the Deaf Digital Sign Language Videos (http://www.nad.org/) (Contact: Anita Farb, 301-587-1788) The National Association of the Deaf's mission is to promote, protect and preserve the rights and quality of life of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States. The winning proposal is to provide instructional on-line streaming video in American Sign Language, along with captions and/or accompanying text, for deaf and hard of hearing individuals who do not understand sign language. Grant Amount: $34,500.

National Congress of American Indians, Washington, D.C., for the National Congress of American Indians Digital Divide Task Force (http://www.ncai.org/) (Contact: JoAnn K. Chase, 202-466-7767) The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), founded in 1944, is the oldest, largest and most representative national Indian organization. NCAI serves the needs of a broad membership of Indian and Native governments and organizations. The winning proposal is to establish, fund, staff and support the National Congress of American Indians Digital Divide Task Force. The Task force will provide instruction and leadership to tribal nations on efforts to bridge the Digital Divide. Grant Amount: $100,000. (Note: Previously announced April 17, 2000).

Pacific News Service/Bay Area Institute, San Francisco, CA, for A Weekly Beat On The "I" Generation And The Digital Divide (http://www.pacificnews.org/) (Contact: Sandy Close, 415-438-4755) The Pacific News Service/Bay Area Institute, founded in 1970, is a multi-media, multi-racial, multi-generational network of writers, artists and filmmakers working to bring seldom heard, often misunderstood voices into the public forum. The winning proposal is to create a multi-media news beat of youth voices and art documenting how the Internet Generation is coming to terms with the digital divide. Grant Amount: $ 100,000.

Playing2Win, New York, NY for E-Commerce Education Program (http://www.playing2win.org/) (Contact: Mara Rose, 212-369-4077) Playing2Win was founded in 1982 and serves over 500 members in Harlem and its neighboring communities. Playing2Win's mission is to create new economic, social and educational opportunities for its clients by combining access to technology with effective educational programs. The winning proposal is to create an "e-commerce" economic development program for inner-city entrepreneurs. Grant Amount: $98,900.

Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN, for A Conferencing Alliance To Bridge the Digital Divide Between Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Higher Education Institutions (http://www.tnstate.edu/) (Contact: Dr. Michael Busby, 615-963-7013) Tennessee State University's (TSU) mission is education, research and public service. As one of the nation's 104 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, TSU operates under the Tennessee Board of Regents. The winning proposal is to develop regional conferences for the leadership of Historically Black Colleges and Universities to address ways to bridge the digital divide on these campuses. Grant Amount: $100,000.

University of Minnesota, Learn and Serve America, National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, St. Paul, MN, (http://umn.edu/~serve ) (Contact: Ann Treacy, 612-625-6276) The University of Minnesota, Learn and Serve America, National Service-Learning Clearinghouse was awarded a grant to develop and expand computer and Internet access to schools in underserved communities by integrating academic learning with community service. Using the power of service-learning, the Clearinghouse will mobilize college and high school students in five communities across the country to implement programs that tackle the digital divide as an educational and civic problem. The University of Minnesota is the operational center of a consortium of 14 organizations (major universities/research labs/community-based organizations) whose mission is to promote and support service-learning. The Clearinghouse is funded by the Corporation for National Service. Grant Amount: $99,052.

Watts Labor Community Action Committee, Los Angeles, CA, for the Community Resource For Technology and Computer Learning Program (http://www.wlcac.org/) (Contact: John Wolfkill, 323-563-4701) The Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) is a non-profit community-based organization established in 1965. WLCAC's primary goals are to provide an array of community services, economic development and amenities for the residents of South Central Los Angeles. The winning proposal is to provide inner-city youth with workplace skills in computer refurbishing. Grant Amount: $100,000.

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