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It’s a pretty standard trope, the elderly relative who can’t log onto the internet, the geriatric parent who thinks you’re a wizard when you reset their router, or the out-of-touch neighbor who simply refuses to switch from a landline to a mobile device. As each generation gives birth to new worlds of tech opportunities, history has us scoff at those being left behind.
While it has never been especially helpful or kind to mock those at a disadvantage, in the newest age of technology, it’s become more than an inconvenience. With nearly 32 million adults in the Unites States considered digitally disadvantaged, and the tech gap widening, a significant portion of our community is at risk of losing work and education opportunities, communication, connection, and a voice that is heard and counted.
The team at AIM Institute is dedicated not only to providing access to tech learning to those who seek it, but in identifying and engaging with their underrepresented neighbors.
Program Manager of Technical Training and Events at AIM Brett Berkebile is by nobody’s measure digitally illiterate. With a degree in marketing and marketing management from UNO, he was a well-educated man on the rise. When he found himself on the fast track to becoming the director of marketing at his former job, he realized how many gaps his education had left.
“As I approached the next level at my job, I realized that I no longer had the skill set my field now required,” Berkebile said. “I could be the hardest worker in the room and still not have the tools to be unique or competitive. I didn’t have the knowledge of web design; I couldn’t build and manage a site for my client. My education had left me without the adaptability to thrive in the field I had a degree in.”
In a climate that is currently distrustful of many tech trends, namely the increased use of AI, Berkebile has a somber and sobering message: “AI isn’t going to replace your job. Humans that adopt and adapt to AI will.”
In 2022, Berkebile’s career in marketing had come to an end, the result of COVID-19 layoffs and his former job outsourcing many of the remaining positions. A position was available at AIM for an outreach coordinator, someone to engage with underserved communities and offer AIM’s programs as a means to connect, literally and digitally, with those who need it most.
“I started in that position in April of 2022, and was assigned to North Omaha, tasked with making partner relationships in that region.”
But it wasn’t long before AIM’s mission had taken hold and made Berkebile a passionate advocate.
“Yeah, it’s a job. I get paid for showing up. But stories that I get to hear, and the role we get to play in those stories are the reason I look forward to doing it,” he said.
“We have high school graduates who don’t know where to go next, we have senior citizens showing up so they can stay on top of communication, we have first generation immigrants and refugees who are looking for a way to contribute and build a better future for themselves. AIM Code School is accredited through the State of Nebraska's Department of Education, so this is a true, tangible education that they can turn into a career. Whether this is their first brush with technology or if they’re supplementing a degree program, everyone is leaving here with a deeper, actionable understanding of current technology.”
Andrew Ochsner, director of operations at AIM, remembers Berkebile’s time as Outreach Coordinator well. “He has professionally moved beyond that position, but personally, he remains very passionate about it. Specifically when discussing marginalized populations, people who have the desire, but not the access or the means to utilize technology,” Ochsner said. “We have community members who don’t have access to the most basic communication technology, and then you have UNO offering a degree in AI prompt writing.
“We have to look at how historically, tech advances leave people behind if they lose access,” Ochsner continued. “We see that divide widening between people who have always had the privilege of freely exploring digital learning, and those without access to stable wifi. But the landscape is changing quickly, and what Brett and his cohorts are doing with the different services AIM offers is so important. They aren’t satisfied with keeping the community current, they are teaching individuals how to advance and thrive.”
“At the end of the day, we want our funders, members, community organizations, students—we want the community to understand that everyone has and deserves a seat at the tech table,” Berkebile concluded. “We want to grow a community diverse in thought, and to encourage every voice to be heard.”
To learn more about the programs offered by AIM, how to connect, and how to enroll, visit aiminstitute.org.
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
