Bridging the digital divide through conversation on Access Utah

By Tom Williams

Published February 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM MST

Two women sit across each other at a table, talking politely.

Today we talk with Riaz Patel, founder of ConnectEffect, which is an engagement program designed to bring individuals together to increase connection, decrease loneliness, and start conversations that can help bridge the digital divide.

Riaz Patel is an executive producer and director of TV series & media projects and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and an NAACP Image Award. He sits on the Board of Trustees of Odyssey Impact in New York City and The Jenesse Center in Los Angeles. He lives in Sherman Oaks, California with his husband Myles and their two children, Zara and Tenzing.

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Tom Williams

Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.

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