Kramden Institute

Kramden Institute: Providing Technology Tools and Training to Bridge the Digital Divide. Kramden was founded in 2003 with the goal of getting personal, home computers to deserving students in grades 3-12 in need of one. Since then, thousands of volunteers have helped refurbish and give over 30,000 donated computers to students across 84 of the state’s 100 counties. We cultivate both private and public organizations to donate their used computer equipment to Kramden which we then refurbish and award through our various hardware programs. Currently, we provide approximately 4,000 computers annually to students, adults and other nonprofits in need. In 2013, Kramden revamped its strategy to begin offering digital literacy and tech education programs to members of our communities in order to complement our computer hardware programs. We came to the realization that owning a computer without being able to effectively use one was not actually closing the digital divide. In the time since, thousands of adults and students have gone through our various STEAM programs, learning everything from the basics of operating a computer to programming and designing their own video games. We currently offer digital literacy training across numerous public housing sites in North Carolina ranging from Charlotte, the Triangle, Fayetteville, Wilson and more.