Celebrating Team USA at The Olympic Games & Championing Digital Equity

Every two years, we have the honor of proudly coming together across the company to bring the thrill and excitement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games home to millions of Americans and support Team USA.

Together, we unite to watch the world’s best athletes compete to achieve the extraordinary. But beyond each event, broken record, and the many unexpected moments lies an incredible story of each competitor’s dedication and determination on their path to greatness. We highlighted this in our recent ad titled “Lines,” which features remarkable U.S. Olympic gold medalist swimmer and Team Comcast athlete Simone Manuel sharing a powerful message about breaking barriers and “working towards a day where the only lines we will need to cross are finish lines.”

In preparing this ad, it was especially important that we leverage the historic moment presented by The Olympics and use our platform to drive an important conversation around diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is a commitment we will never shy away from and one we are proud to highlight during this global event.

Simone recently captured the importance of continuing to advance this work – and reminded us just how proud we are to have her partnership:

“I hope to inspire all people to pursue their passion regardless of what society tells them that they should or should not do. As a minority in swimming, it was really hard for me because sometimes I questioned if swimming was the sport for me because I didn't see many people that looked like me. So my hope is that I inspire people to pursue their passion regardless of what stereotypes or biases may be stacked against them.”

Without a doubt, Team USA and The Olympics inspire the dreams of future generations to come – and we recognize we must do our part to help support the Team of Tomorrow. That’s why we’re on a mission to address digital inequity – because in order to have an equal shot at success, everyone must have equal access to essential tools and resources to succeed in a digital world.

Ten years ago, we launched Internet Essentials to bring affordable, high-speed Internet to low-income families. Today, Internet Essentials is the largest and most comprehensive Internet adoption program in the United States. We’ve connected more than 10 million individuals to the Internet, providing them with the resources necessary for succeeding in our increasingly digital workforce and economy.

Last fall we launched Lift Zones across the country, neighborhood-based centers helping underserved communities connect to the Internet at no cost and access the tools they need to complete homework, grow their digital skills, and apply for employment opportunities. We are well on track to exceed our goal of 1,000 Zones by the end of 2021 and will enable millions of hours of homework and remote learning this year.

And through intentional design, we are prioritizing providing grants to digital equity-focused partners that are both led by and serving communities of color with a goal of advancing strategies that help create pathways to economic mobility.

As proud as we are of our decade of work in this space, we know there is still much to do. To accelerate our efforts, we have committed to investing $1 billion over the next 10 years to impact 50 million people and help bridge the digital divide.

I hope you take time to celebrate the extraordinary, to cheer our champions, and to reflect on the many unique paths taken to get to this moment. I look forward to our continued work ahead as we chart even more milestones in advancing change, helping pave the way for future success and building a stronger, better tomorrow.

Learn more about Comcast’s comprehensive efforts to advance digital equity in the communities it serves around the country.