At a time when digital equity funding is shrinking nationwide, Metta Fund has remained steadfast in its commitment to older adults and the organizations that serve them. As President & CEO Janet Y. Spears explains, digital inclusion is “a matter of equity. As more services, resources, and opportunities move online, older adults cannot be left behind.”
For nearly a decade, Metta Fund has supported digitalLIFT’s work to ensure that older adults in San Francisco are not left behind in an increasingly digital world.
We are deeply grateful for their leadership, partnership, and long-term investment in digital inclusion as a critical component of healthy aging.
Metta Fund has long recognized something many funders overlook: digital access is not just about technology. It is also about connection, independence, health, dignity, and belonging. The Fund’s support helped digitalLIFT build programs that reduced isolation, increased confidence, and empowered older adults to engage more fully with their communities.
Investing in Connection Before the Rest of the Field Caught Up
In 2016, Metta Fund helped make possible one of digitalLIFT’s earliest capacity building initiatives: Tech Allies, a partnership with Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly. While the funding went directly to LBFE, Metta Fund’s investment enabled the launch of a program that paired older adults with personalized technology support, a tablet, and internet access to reduce loneliness and increase connection.
That early support laid the groundwork for years of collaboration focused on older adults who were most at risk of isolation, particularly low-income older adults, monolingual learners, and communities of color.
Building Sunset Tech Connect
In 2019, Metta Fund funded the launch of Sunset Tech Connect, a digital literacy initiative designed to provide tablets, internet access, and culturally responsive digital skills training for older adults in San Francisco’s Sunset District.
The program partnered with organizations including Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center and the San Francisco Public Library to serve monolingual English-, Cantonese-, and Mandarin-speaking older adults. Participants learned how to use tablets safely, connect with family and friends, access information online, and navigate essential services independently.
Over time, dozens of older adults completed the 12-week training program and received tablets to continue learning and connecting from home. Learners shared that they felt more confident using technology, less isolated, and more connected to their communities.
Responding During the Pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person services in 2020, Metta Fund quickly adapted alongside digitalLIFT. Rather than pausing support, the foundation helped make it possible to shift programming online through the Home Connect initiative.
This flexibility allowed older adults to continue receiving digital skills training and support during one of the most isolating periods many had ever experienced. What began as an emergency response became an essential lifeline, helping older adults access telehealth, communicate with loved ones, and stay informed.
Metta Fund understood that digital inclusion had become a public health necessity.
Centering Equity and Language Access
One of the most impactful aspects of Metta Fund’s partnership has been its commitment to equity in aging. Together, our work focused on older adults who are too often excluded from technology initiatives, including low-income older adults and monolingual communities.
Programs funded through Metta Fund emphasized culturally responsive and language-accessible instruction, ensuring learners could build skills in the language they felt most comfortable using. This approach helped create welcoming environments where older adults felt respected, supported, and empowered to learn at their own pace.
A Partnership That Continues to Shape the Field
Today, Metta Fund continues to champion social connectedness and healthy aging across San Francisco. Their grantmaking recognizes that older adults deserve opportunities to remain active, connected, and engaged in their communities.
Their partnership has helped digitalLIFT evolve from a local training provider into a national organization supporting nonprofits and community agencies across the country with digital inclusion programs and training.
For nearly ten years, Metta Fund has not only invested in programs. They have invested in people, relationships, and the belief that older adults deserve to thrive in a digital world.
We are incredibly thankful for their leadership and proud to continue this work together.
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