Mariel Triggs is the Chief Operating Officer at Mural Net, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting Native student's homes to high speed Internet in rural areas. As a former teacher and educational researcher, she has documented how a lack of adequate access to internet resources outside of school can impede student learning. Homework and collaboration tools are increasingly online, forcing students with insufficient home Internet connections to sit in school parking lots or drive long distances in search of Wi-Fi. Mural believes in local enablement and capacity building and works in partnership with Native nations to close this "homework gap." By providing equipment, legal aid and training, Mural helps the local community own and control their own high-speed LTE networks and provide Internet for themselves.
Mariel holds two engineering degrees from UC Berkeley and earned her master’s at Stanford University. She is dedicated to developing informal learning environments and increasing student agency. Through workshops, panels, curriculum development and evaluation, she has supported Aim High, Raikes Foundation, 7 Tepees, and the California Environmental Protection Agency in their efforts to promote growth mindsets and engage children in math, engineering and science through student-centered, culturally-relevant learning experiences. She sees bridging the digital divide as the next step to empowering all children to be changemakers on a massive scale.