Antonia Stone

Antonia Stone, founder of Playing to Win and CTCNet, has been fighting for years to achieve the equality of access necessary to empower young people of diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Her work emphasizes the importance of a grass-roots effort towards real equity of technology access, and the need to offer opportunities for learning about and hands-on use of technology to those who otherwise would lack such an opportunity.

Stone has worked in the area of computer learning since the 1970s. After an intense period of fundraising and outreach, she opened a computer center in a basement room of a Harlem housing project. Starting from that base, with Stone serving as Executive Director from 1980 through 1992, the Playing to Win network grew to over 45 affiliates located across the US as well as in Poland and Northern Ireland.

More recently the Playing to Win Network has evolved into CTCNet, Community Technology Centers' Network. This new organization, now 350+ members strong, is based in both the US and abroad, and is on track expand its membership to thousands within a few years. CTCNet works to guide and support groups who start their own CTCs. More information about this organization is available on www.ctcnet.org.