History of Povnet

PovNet began in 1997 with a meeting attended by community representatives from all over British Columbia. Not a computer in sight. Advocates talked about what they wanted this "new" technology to do and whether or not we could use it to communicate with each other cheaply. Turns out, technology works really well for communicating across the province!

The image below outlines some of the history of technology and anti-poverty organizing in British Columbia, up to 2013.

This image illustrates a selective history of poverty, anti-poverty organizing, and technology in British Columbia. The timeline runs from 1971 to 2013.

After 2013, PovNet and people throughout the province continued anti-poverty organizing:

2015
- Release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
2016
- Launch of Storming the Digital Divide: The PovNet Story, a graphic novel by Penny Goldsmith and Kara Sievewright.
2017
- PovNet’s 20 year anniversary!
2019
- TogetherBC, British Columbia’s first poverty reduction strategy is released
- PovNet signs on to Access to Justice Triple Aim, a framework that measures access to justice
- PovNet partners with HappyPorch to develop new email list and community platform with Discourse software
2020
- PovNet continues to partner with HappyPorch to develop a wiki tool