“I was able to give her the confidence”: Reciprocal Capacity Building in a Community-based Program for Digital Engagement

Abstract

Assets-based approaches emphasize the importance of leveraging and building upon community strengths. We describe how a community-based digital capacity building program, Community Tech Workers (CTW), addresses the goals of assets-based development by hiring local residents and students to serve as tech support personnel for underserved minority small business owners in Detroit. Through interviews and observations, we examine how reciprocal relationships between tech workers and small business owners are critical to the success and sustainability of the program. We find that tech workers and business owners mutually benefit by 1) building confidence in technology together, 2) having business owners provide reciprocal guidance in professional development, and 3) fostering mutual appreciation and commitment to community development. We conclude by introducing the concept of reciprocal capacity building to HCI and discussing how it provides a potentially more equitable approach to community-based interventions.