What Is Digital Empowerment by Design™?
Digital Empowerment by Design™ is Building Minds Building Communities' flagship cross-generational digital literacy and AI readiness program serving Bedford-Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Heights, Brooklyn. As part of B2MC's program portfolio and The BUILD Initiative™, Digital Empowerment by Design™ is built on a single conviction: in a world increasingly shaped by technology, digital literacy is not a luxury — it is a foundation for opportunity, participation, and self-determination.
Digital Empowerment by Design™ is free. All ages are welcome.
Why Digital Empowerment by Design™ Exists
The digital divide is real. Across communities like Bedford-Stuyvesant, residents of all ages — children learning in technology-dependent classrooms, teenagers navigating college and career pathways online, adults managing finances and healthcare digitally, and seniors seeking connection and services — face barriers rooted not in ability but in access, exposure, and equitable opportunity to learn.
At the same time, artificial intelligence is reshaping every aspect of daily life — from how people search for information, to how employers hire, to how government services are delivered. Communities that are not prepared for this shift risk being left further behind.
B2MC created Digital Empowerment by Design™ to meet this moment — equipping every generation in our community with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to participate fully in a technology-driven world.
What Participants Learn and Experience
Digital Empowerment by Design™ is designed to be practical, accessible, and immediately applicable to real life. Programming is tailored by age group while sharing a unified framework of digital empowerment across generations.
AI Readiness — Preparing the Community for What Is Already Here
Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concern. It is present in the tools people use every day — in search engines, healthcare systems, financial services, hiring platforms, and consumer technology. Yet many communities, particularly those that have historically faced barriers to technology access, have had limited opportunity to understand, engage with, or shape how AI affects their lives.
Digital Empowerment by Design™ addresses this directly. B2MC is committed to ensuring that residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant are not passive recipients of AI-driven change — but informed, capable participants who understand what AI is, how it works, and how to use it in ways that serve their own goals and interests.
This is not about training technologists. It is about ensuring that every person in our community has the foundational knowledge to navigate an AI-shaped world with confidence and agency.
Part of Something Larger
Digital Empowerment by Design™ is part of The BUILD Initiative™ — B2MC's community development framework for Building Up Individuals and Local Development — and advances the BUILD Digital impact domain, which seeks to close the digital divide and build AI readiness across Bedford-Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Heights.
The program connects naturally to B2MC's Access & Advancement Pathways — ASEP Jr., ASEP Youth, and ASET — as well as MindBuilders™ and the B2MC Knowledge Hub™, which provides ongoing digital literacy resources, articles, and guides available to all community members.
Digital Empowerment by Design™ is free and open to all ages. Participants under 18 require parental or guardian consent to enroll. Adults 18 and older enroll directly.
Opportunities in Digital Empowerment by Design™
Computer Basics
Foundational computer skills — navigating a device, using the internet, and building everyday digital confidence.
Learn More →AI Readiness
An introduction to artificial intelligence — what it is, how it shows up in daily life, and how to use it responsibly and confidently.
Learn More →Not Sure Where to Start?
Tell us a bit about your interest, and a member of the B2MC team will help connect you to the right Opportunity within Digital Empowerment by Design™.