Can Code Communities is proud to attend and speak at Net Inclusion 2026, the nation’s premier digital inclusion conference, where community leaders, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners come together to ensure that access to technology translates into real opportunity.
This year, Can Code will be represented across multiple sessions—reflecting our belief that digital inclusion must address not only connectivity, but skills, trust, language access, workforce pathways, and community voice.
Annmarie Lanesey on Building AI-Ready Workforce Hubs
Can Code Founder & CEO Annmarie Lanesey will serve as a panelist in the breakout session:
AI-Ready Workforce Hubs: A Blueprint for Rural Communities
Date/Time: February 4, 2026 | 10:30 AM
Room: TBD
Moderator
- An-Me Chung, New America
Panelists
- Mark Muro, Brookings Institution
- Jordana Barton-García, Connect Humanity
- Annmarie Lanesey, Can Code Communities
- Will Perez, KINBER
As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the labor market, many rural and under-resourced communities lack the capacity to convert connectivity into skills, credentials, and wages. This session will spotlight KINBER’s AI-Ready Workforce Hubs, a practical and replicable model delivered through trusted community anchors.
The panel will explore how communities can link:
- Plain-language AI fluency
- Applied practice aligned to regional job demand
- Responsible-use safeguards that protect privacy and reduce bias
Participants will learn how learners earn short, employer-recognized credentials, develop portfolio artifacts that demonstrate readiness, and how organizations can scale impact through train-the-trainer approaches and lightweight outcomes tracking that supports equity reporting without adding administrative burden.
Annmarie will share Can Code’s experience delivering fully online, instructor-led digital and AI literacy programs across New York State and beyond—demonstrating how AI education must be brought out of elite institutions and into communities if it is to drive inclusive economic mobility.
Delma Wood on Supporting Immigrants, Refugees, and Latino Communities
Can Code is also proud to have Delma Wood, Bilingual Instructor with Can Code Communities, speaking on two powerful sessions focused on immigrant and refugee inclusion, trust-building, and community storytelling.
Latinos in Digital Equity: Building Trust, Breaking Barriers
This panel-style conversation will reflect on shared experiences and highlight effective strategies for engaging Hispanic/Latino communities in digital inclusion efforts.
Panelists will discuss:
- Building culturally competent programs
- Partnering with trusted messengers
- Language accessibility
- Navigating systemic barriers
The session will include a rapid “Dos and Don’ts” segment offering clear, practical guidance, followed by audience Q&A and open dialogue. The goal is to leave attendees empowered with actionable strategies they can apply in their own communities.
Delma will bring Can Code’s on-the-ground experience supporting immigrants and refugees through bilingual, culturally responsive, and home-based digital literacy and workforce programs—models that are especially critical in today’s climate.
Creative Panel: Digital Inclusion Through Story and Art
Delma will also participate in a creative, open-mic-style session that invites participants to share digital inclusion stories through artistic expression, spanning visual, literary, performing, media, and participatory arts.
This session centers the idea that creative expression is a powerful tool for:
- Engaging diverse audiences
- Building empathy and understanding
- Breaking down barriers to participation
- Inspiring community-driven solutions
By lifting up lived experience and storytelling, the panel reinforces that digital inclusion is not only a technical challenge—but a human one.
Why This Matters
At a time when public investment in broadband is accelerating nationwide, Net Inclusion remains essential in reminding the field that infrastructure alone is not enough. Devices, skills, language access, workforce alignment, and trust are what turn access into opportunity.
We are honored to contribute to these conversations and to continue working alongside national partners to ensure that AI and emerging technologies expand opportunity rather than deepen inequities.
If you’ll be attending Net Inclusion 2026, we hope you’ll join us in these sessions and connect with the Can Code team.