Everyone truly belongs in a Connected Nation

By Jessica Denson
Communications Director, Connected Nation

Bowling Green, Ky. (April 15, 2026) – Nine years ago, I arrived at Connected Nation (CN) following my latest stint in broadcast television. As an Executive Producer, I had plenty of experience in understanding marketing, audience, and communications, but I knew very little about the broadband world.

Most journalists know a little about a lot of things because of the nature of news. You tell hundreds of stories and have to become an expert quickly on a topic. But with the daily news grind, you’re onto the next topic just as quickly.

That is far from the case at CN.

The national nonprofit has broadband and technology experts who have been in the business for years, some for decades. They’ve seen or even been directly involved in how connectivity has evolved in our country. They’ve been in the trenches and worked to help more people get the access they needed.

They’ve also witnessed the negative impact of the Digital Divide — both for individuals and entire communities.

So, when I joined CN in March 2017, I was greeted by a group of people who were both experts in their field and guided by a mission to close the Digital Divide because they truly understood what was on the line.

They’d met, talked with, and had even gotten to know the kids, mothers and fathers, veterans, senior citizens, farmers and ranchers, teachers, and so many others who were being left out of an increasingly digital world.

I spent my first several months getting an education in broadband from those experts. They freely shared their knowledge with me, just as they do with the communities and clients we work with daily. They told me what they hoped to do, why the mission mattered so much, and what they wanted the world to know.

I took those conversations to heart and worked on rebranding ideas. The big challenge was helping the world understand that although broadband is about technology, this work was really about people.

So, I focused on what CN’s experts were telling me and went back to the nonprofit’s mission: to expand the access, adoption, and use of broadband and its related technologies to ALL people.

Ultimately, all of that brought us to the “why” and our tagline: Everyone belongs in a Connected Nation.

What is important for you, our readers, to understand is that when we say or write those words, they are not just lip service.

I spent months talking with our teams and broadband experts. To a person, the message was clear — each one of them wants to help a child get the education resources they need for school, give a veteran a better way to work, provide a grandmother a way to connect with her family, and a farmer a way to track pricing and thrive.

I can go on and on with the examples. The point is that, at CN, our experts believe in our mission and truly know that “everyone belongs” when we are a more connected country and world.

In 2026, CN is celebrating 25 years of service. It’s been a quarter century of hard, consistent work within the broadband space. If you want to join us in our mission or need guidance in field validation, broadband policy, Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program planning, digital empowerment programs, and more, message us at info@connectednation.org.

Everyone belongs in a Connected Nation.