Secretary Jewell Announces Partnership With Verizon and Microsoft to Provide Wireless Broadband and Tablets to Native American Students

Press Release

As part of President Obama's Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative to remove barriers to Native youth's success and the ConnectED program to provide more students access to the Internet, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced a new partnership with Verizon and Microsoft to provide wireless tablets and high-speed wireless services to more than 1,000 Native American students.

Secretary Jewell and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Dr. Charles "Monty" Roessel today celebrated the partnership with representatives from Verizon and Microsoft at the Winslow Residential Hall near the Navajo Nation reservation in Winslow, Arizona. Winslow Hall is one of 10 dormitories to receive broadband access under the public-private partnership between the Interior Department and the two companies.

"This exciting partnership helps ensure students continue learning after they leave the classroom," said Secretary Jewell, who outlined the partnership during the President's seventh White House Tribal Nations Conference earlier this month. "Access to today's technology and wireless Internet are important parts of the equation as we work to assist tribal communities in providing students with a high-quality and culturally-relevant education. I applaud Microsoft and Verizon for their commitment to remove education barriers for Native American students."

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