Richard Hicks

Richard Hicks is the president and chief executive officer of Inspiredu, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that works to close the digital divide by providing equitable access to technology, broadband, and digital-skills training in underserved communities. Under his leadership, the organization has supported tens of thousands of learners and distributed thousands of refurbished devices to families across Georgia.

Hicks came to nonprofit work from a technology career, drawn by a family ethic of community and service, and holds a degree in computer-based information systems from Georgia College & State University. He frames digital inclusion not as a “nice-to-have” but as essential infrastructure, the modern equivalent of a utility.

Hicks appeared on Open Door Salon alongside Steven McWilliams, vice president and CIO of the Georgia Hospital Association, for a conversation on technology, patient access, and health equity. His central argument was that broadband access is now a necessity on the order of breathing: without connectivity, patients in “technology deserts” simply cannot reach the resources, telehealth, and prescriptions that increasingly live online.

His organization’s response is education and consistency, what he calls attacking “kitchen-table items”: teaching people, especially older adults on Medicare, how to navigate patient portals, use telehealth, and validate what AI tells them, the way one checks a drive-thru order before driving off. The goal, he argued, is to build the trust and digital literacy that let underserved communities participate fully in a healthier future.