Building On Our Foundation Towards Broadband For All Benton Institute

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 6, 2025, 9:19 AM

building on our foundation towards broadband for all benton institute

I wanted to take a moment to reach out and introduce or reintroduce myself as I officially step into the role of Executive Director of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. I started with Benton in May 2022 as the Director for Research, and, for the past year, I’ve served as the Vice President of Programs. So I’m new to this role, but not to Benton or our field. I am excited by this new challenge to lead an organization with Benton’s legacy and impact, and even more grateful to work alongside all of you. We work to ensure all people have the means of communication, of connection. This past week, I had the opportunity to speak with some incredibly smart and dedicated broadband advocates.

My head is still spinning with new ideas about how to connect communities and individuals to all the information and services that the internet delivers so they can thrive in the modern world. What came across clearly to me was that our work—to be a reliable source of information, analysis, and research for you all—is seen and appreciated. Our work also remains urgent and necessary. Against the backdrop of political upheaval, it might be easy to lose sight of why or even if our work matters. We work to ensure all people have the means of communication, of connection. It is often forgotten, but that does not make it any less foundational.

That is the story of infrastructure. Whether it’s bridges or broadband, where, when, and how you build it has implications. We work to make sure those implications serve the public interest. Working with and learning from my colleagues at Benton these past few years has been an incredible gift. I have a special level of appreciation for Adrianne B. Furniss, our indefatigable leader for the past decade, who poured time and trust in our staff and in me.

She built our team and laid a strong foundation. Now we work to build further and make her proud. The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society talks about the impact of policy and broadband adoption… To improve broadband adoption, future growth will have to come from the same population segments that experienced adoption growth upon the pandemic’s onset. They are the segments where significant connectivity gaps remain—and thus are the most promising for attracting new subscriptions. The takeaways for policymakers and other stakeholders are:

In an effort to facilitate the deployment of innovative broadband solutions in underserved areas - both urban and rural - the nonprofit organization US Ignite recently partnered with National Science Foundation (NSF) and Schmidt... The Benton Institute released a report in November naming the seven communities that the project will focus on: Blue River, OR; Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, OH; Clinton City, MO; Detroit, MI;Loiza, Puerto Rico; and Yonkers,... In the report that was released, Benton spotlights each community and the technologies they will use. The technologies include Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), fiber, fixed wireless and hotspots. According to the initiative's guidelines, these communities were chosen because of how they vary in population, demographics, regions of the country, housing, and industry. The program will work with these communities to experiment in deploying innovative Internet connectivity solutions on a 12-month timeline.

The projects will collectively result in not only education, outreach, and local broadband organizing development efforts, but provide direct connectivity to more than 700 households. Benton Institute for Broadband & Society On Tuesday, the non-profit Benton Foundation officially renamed itself the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, elevating the institution’s focus of ensuring that the benefits of advanced broadband networks are felt in every corner... “All Americans should have access to competitiv On Tuesday, the non-profit Benton Foundation officially renamed itself the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, elevating the institution’s focus of ensuring that the benefits of advanced broadband networks are felt in every corner... “All Americans should have access to competitive, high-performance broadband regardless of where they live or who they are,” said Executive Director Adrianne Furniss.

”Open, affordable, robust broadband is essential for enabling all of us to reach for—and achieve—the American Dream. Our new name squarely reflects our accelerating efforts to advance policies that help ensure broadband opportunities for everyone.” The top priorities of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society are: In a blog post, Furniss wrote on a personal note about her grandfather, the late Sen. William Benton, who in October 1944 articulated a progressive agenda on behalf of a coalition of business leaders that he called “the capitalists who cared enough about the system to save it.” Furniss’ father,... Practical Intelligence to Today's Structured Cabling Professionals

With the historic opportunity of billions of dollars flowing through states to achieve universal broadband and digital equity, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society recently released Accelerate: A Community Broadband Planning Program, a... The guidebook seeks to help community broadband planning teams: By empowering local leaders with knowledge, information, and a plan, communities will be well positioned to make progress on this significant challenge, contends Benton Institute. The Accelerate guidebook is a collaboration of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and Blandin Foundation. Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, high-performance broadband.

Blandin Foundation is a private foundation based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Profile Last Updated: 08/12/2025 Grant Information Last Updated: 12/04/2024 Access lists of funders based on detailed search criteria and other features such as: The foundation's mission is to realize the social benefits made possible by the public interest use of communications, because the foundation believes that communications in the public interest is essential to a strong democracy. The foundation bridges the worlds of philanthropy, community practice, and public policy. It develops and provides effective information and communication tools and strategies to equip and engage individuals and organizations in the emerging digital and communications environment

Incorporated in 1948 in NY - The foundation was originally incorporated in 1948 under the name William Benton Fdn. In 1981, it was restructured and renamed as the Benton Fdn. Copyright © 2025 Candid. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy Copyright Learn About the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

In the absence of federal leadership, state governments are working to ensure that every household can afford to get and stay connected. We engage in long-term planning and provide practical, day-to-day resources to strengthen the public benefits of broadband, protect democratic values, and communicate why it matters. Our articles are curated by Executive Editor Kevin Taglang who has 30 years of experience in this field. Benton provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, connecting communications, democracy, and the public interest. The daily digest is delivered via email Monday-Friday mornings. Today, The American Prospect published some of our original reporting on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was signed into law on Independence Day.

In it, our Associate Director for Communications Sean Gonsalves writes: "Sold to voters as a way to cut 'waste, fraud, and abuse,' a more honest assessment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is that it’s just a Big Brazen Bid to shred... Naturally, the looming cuts to Medicaid and what they will mean for rural hospitals in particular has received the most press. But there are numerous other ways those in need of government assistance will be further pressed into poverty, including through a particularly narrow-minded Sophie’s Choice: internet access or food? Last year, GOP leaders blocked bipartisan efforts to fund an extension of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which offered 23 million eligible households a $30-per-month voucher to help pay for internet service. As if letting the ACP die wasn’t a big enough blow, OBBBA not only increases the paperwork burden required to qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, it completely removes internet service costs...

William devoted large portions of his income and the income from Encyclopaedia Britannica stock to the support of philanthropic activities, especially those concerned with communications and education. His experience at the University of Chicago had convinced him of the importance of organized research as the essential ingredient in the promotion of a stable future world. His experience in advertising and politics had given him the confidence to commit himself to an educated and enlightened public as the base for modern democracy. Marjorie and Charles’ 62-year partnership was dedicated to public service, civic engagement, and impact philanthropy. Their lifelong commitments and contributions to improving the lives of underserved people and communities—rooted in the Benton Institute’s values of access, equity and diversity—have supported a stronger, more equitable, and more just America. Read More about Marjorie & Charles Benton

For 40 years, the Benton Institute has helped strengthen communities by advancing communications policy in the public interest while providing day-to-day support and resources to the community of people who care about “broadband for... Our work takes the long view to help envision a public interest-focused broadband policy agenda. At the core of our mission is protecting democratic values. That means championing fast, fair, open broadband for all as the infrastructure of opportunity. It means educating people about broadband’s promise to deliver education, healthcare, economic equality, civic engagement and more.

Building On Our Foundation Towards Broadband For All Benton Institute

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