After a lot of planning, sociocractic decision making and a very helpful steering group session, we arrived to a final decision of who to fund for now, and informed the fellows. They met for the first time on Monday and presented their projects to each other and an engaged audience made up of people interested in co-operatives, social change and technology.
I’m so excited about announcing this that I’ve written what might be our first beta blog post- it will be much fancier next week but for now, have a read about the projects that people will be working on over the summer.
Manuela – HelpText /// We dream of a world where vulnerable people can easily connect with grassroots groups and helplines that are there for them. And we are building a messaging platform to make it happen.
Suraj – Beehive /// With Beehive I’m building technology that uses open data and data science to intelligently connect the right non-profits to the right funders, helping them make the most of their fundraising and funding resources. Specifically, this reduces the time spent finding appropriate funders and applicants, as well as preventing non-profits approaching funders they are ineligible for and ultimately improving their chances of securing funding.
Matthew – Copitch /// A unique tool bringing freelancers together, based on skills and experience, to work collaboratively on pitches or to fill a skills gap on existing projects. By pooling their talents and resources, Co-Pitch will facilitate a more collaborative and supportive model of freelancing, with more distributed responsibility, healthier working relationships, and more effective use of billable hours.
Brian – Balu /// Balu brings the very best in revolutionary, ethical brands straight to your fingertips while you shop. As you browse on major retail sites like Amazon and ASOS, Balu scans the web page, runs the results through its matching algorithm, and displays the best ethical brands back to you. The idea was conceived in Walmart, of all places. Brian, Balu’s founder, wanted an app to tell him to head to the local store down the street. It didn’t exist, so he’s building it himself.
Eduardo – HelpText /// We dream of a world where vulnerable people can easily connect with grassroots groups and helplines that are there for them. And we are building a messaging platform to make it happen.
Mariano – HelpText /// We dream of a world where vulnerable people can easily connect with grassroots groups and helplines that are there for them. And we are building a messaging platform to make it happen.
Gregory – Official Inquiries Project /// The Official Inquiries Project will collect the reports and key documents of official inquiries, preserve them and present them in a useful and usable form.The reports of official inquiries are often a gold-mine of high-quality information on matters of public importance. However, these reports are often inaccessible or hard to find and, even when they are found, can be difficult to use. Our project will collect, archive and structure official reports from around the world making them permanently and reliably available and presenting their contents in a way that allows users to search, browse and analyse them quickly and easily.
Rufus – Official Inquiries Project /// The Official Inquiries Project will collect the reports and key documents of official inquiries, preserve them and present them in a useful and usable form.The reports of official inquiries are often a gold-mine of high-quality information on matters of public importance. However, these reports are often inaccessible or hard to find and, even when they are found, can be difficult to use. Our project will collect, archive and structure official reports from around the world making them permanently and reliably available and presenting their contents in a way that allows users to search, browse and analyse them quickly and easily.
Project Tide /// An app allowing fast and accurate diagnosis of TB patients in resource poor settings, enabling early intervention to prevent the spread of the disease thus saving lives. Working with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Project Tide enhances the diagnostic accuracy of the inexpensive strip-based tests commonly used for diagnosing TB and allows straight-forward organisation of data in an open source database to map and track the disease. The WHO reports that between 2000-2013 approx. 37 million lives were saved through accurate TB diagnosis and timely treatment. In addition, the open source data platform allows governments to be made aware of disease incidence so resources can be targeted quickly and effectively.
