McKenna Connect Puts UNB Mentors Beside 250 Rural Neighbours

At the Sussex Regional Library, a woman arrived with a three-month problem: a new laptop, a forgotten Google password, and a paid tech-support call that had already failed. An hour later, sitting beside University of New Brunswick student Matthias Muscroft, she was back into her account — and had practiced the steps until she could do them herself.

That scene is the point of McKenna Connect, the McKenna Institute program coordinator Sophie Dallon described in an August 10 institute post. Eleven UNB Student Digital Mentors are working in rural communities this summer. They have helped more than 250 residents through free workshops, drop-in sessions, and direct support for seniors and small businesses — with demand still climbing.

Access is not the same as confidence

New Brunswick's digital divide is usually framed as broadband and devices. Dallon's field notes push a harder claim: a service is not truly accessible just because it lives on a website. Someone locked out of MyHealthNB cannot see test results. A job seeker who has never uploaded a résumé cannot finish an application. A person who cannot spot a scam may stay offline because the risk feels larger than the benefit.

The mentors' questions rarely stay technical. They are about health portals, job applications, banking, and staying in touch with family — the ordinary infrastructure of daily life that now assumes a login.

Workshops, festivals, and return bookings

In Three Rivers, mentor Sarah Hale ran a digital-skills workshop on email, apps, and scam recognition. One attendee put the hesitation plainly: "Everything can be done online now, but I'm always hesitant to try." By the end of the session she was already planning to come back.

In Grand Lake, mentor Ryan Miller helped the organizer of a new music festival strengthen its website and social media — the kind of small-organization lift that is hard to buy when the event is new and the budget is thin.

Partners matter as much as the curriculum. Libraries, regional service commissions, municipalities, and chambers of commerce supply trusted rooms and introductions. The Crabtree Foundation funds placements across 11 regions. Workshops fill up; participants book return appointments before they leave; neighbouring communities ask when their turn arrives.

Same institute, different audience

McKenna Connect sits beside the institute's school-facing work — including the TeXplore non-instructional-day pilot — on the longer digital-skills bet started with Frank McKenna's 2021 gift. TeXplore fills empty school days for kids. Connect puts students next to adults and small businesses who already own devices but still cannot use the services those devices unlock.

The exchange runs both ways. Residents leave with practical skills. Mentors learn that their coursework maps onto neighbours, libraries, and local festivals — not only hypothetical classroom problems.

Dallon's closing image is deliberately small: a reset password in Sussex, and a little more independence with it. Communities interested in summer offerings can reach the program at mckennaconnect@unb.ca.

Sources

• McKenna Institute: Human support matters in a digital landscape — Sophie Dallon, McKenna Institute blog, August 10, 2026: McKenna Connect impact (11 mentors, 250+ residents, 11 regions), Sussex / Three Rivers / Grand Lake examples, Crabtree Foundation support, partner list, contact
• The McKenna Institute — institute mandate and programming