Grants:Project/Connecting Tech Talents with Impact Makers
Project idea
[edit]What is the problem you're trying to solve?
[edit]What problem are you trying to solve by doing this project? This problem should be small enough that you expect it to be completely or mostly resolved by the end of this project. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
Open-source is immensely successful in the developer world but has not yet picked up in the social sector despite its high impact value. Ovio aims to change that by providing the right incentives (skills) and an ecosystem to catalyze efforts.
We want to bring Tech to the nonprofit world, by involving talented tech engineers to specific social impact missions.
What is your solution?
[edit]For the problem you identified in the previous section, briefly describe your how you would like to address this problem. We recognize that there are many ways to solve a problem. We’d like to understand why you chose this particular solution, and why you think it is worth pursuing. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
Technology has an important role to play in solving our world’s most pressing challenges.
We want to ensure that social impact organizations develop their projects open-source to make them accessible and scalable, and benefit from free, top quality tech expertise to maximize their impact. We match tech talents with impact makers.
Project goals
[edit]What are your goals for this project? Your goals should describe the top two or three benefits that will come out of your project. These should be benefits to the Wikimedia projects or Wikimedia communities. They should not be benefits to you individually. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
Connect top tier tech engineers with social impact micro-tasks, thus helping social impact organizations reach their goals of positively transforming the lives of their beneficiaries.
Project impact
[edit]How will you know if you have met your goals?
[edit]For each of your goals, we’d like you to answer the following questions:
- During your project, what will you do to achieve this goal? (These are your outputs.)
- Once your project is over, how will it continue to positively impact the Wikimedia community or projects? (These are your outcomes.)
For each of your answers, think about how you will capture this information. Will you capture it with a survey? With a story? Will you measure it with a number? Remember, if you plan to measure a number, you will need to set a numeric target in your proposal (e.g. 45 people, 10 articles, 100 scanned documents). Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
1. OUTPUTS
As of today, here are the results of our efforts:
> 180 organizations listed on Explore
> +300 projects listed on Explore
> 7,100 contributors
Short Term (by end of 2020):
> 500 organizations listed on Explore
> +800 projects listed on Explore
> 15,000 contributors (incl. 250 students/ young professionals from low income backgrounds)
Long term (by 2024):
> 3,000 organizations
> 5,000 projects
> 50,000 contributors
2. OUTCOMES
> A community of talents and nonprofits that collaborate and produce tangible and trackable results ; contributors (users) who feel useful and impactful by using their own skills for good ; beneficiaries who benefit from better programs thanks to technology-supported interventions ; organizations who reach their objectives in a more efficient way (resource-wise) ; a concrete evidence that shows that whatever one’s background, talent is useful and one can add value to impactful projects. On a national level, we’ll see a more efficient use of talents and funds in the social space, and a better implementation of programs in the field. With the use of open source technology, we’ll see a promotion of a more transparent ecosystem, helping Wikipedia's mission to advance at the same time.
We have set indicators for ourselves that we are tracking and assessing as we advance. We collect data from our platform (based on data analytics and UX surveys), as well as constant communication with our clients and the nonprofits on the platform.
Do you have any goals around participation or content?
[edit]Are any of your goals related to increasing participation within the Wikimedia movement, or increasing/improving the content on Wikimedia projects? If so, we ask that you look through these three metrics, and include any that are relevant to your project. Please set a numeric target against the metrics, if applicable. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
We strongly believe in the power of Open Source and will track the number of total Wikipedia participants in our users (we are aiming for 50 participants in 2020)
Project plan
[edit]Activities
[edit]Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing? What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?
> Improve the platform, ensure our code is open source as well.
> Improve UX in order to maximize our impact
> Reach out to clients and get more users (tech talents) involved
> Reach out to Nonprofits and get more micro-tasks on the platform
> Animate the platform and the community, ensure retention of users
> Report our outputs and outcomes to motivate our contributors
Budget
[edit]How you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. (You can create a table later if needed.) Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!
TOTAL Budget $100000
> $75000: improve platform, pay required staff over needed period
> $15000: partnerships, communication, marketing
> $10000: reserve
Community engagement
[edit]Community input and participation helps make projects successful. How will you let others in your community know about your project? Why are you targeting a specific audience? How will you engage the community you’re aiming to serve during your project?
We have set in place a feedback corner on our platform, in order to allow users to share ideas, contribute to improving the platform, and let us know about their concerns and struggles. We will make sure to advertise this feedback corner as best as we can. We will also check satisfaction with our users via micro-surveys that will you up on the platform when they use it, thus gathering data as they use the platform and perform the tasks. We will also make sure the tasks are achieved in a timely manner and with quality, as to ensure the objectives are reached. We'll have all stakeholders share their comments after tasks are achieved to collect feedback.
Get involved
[edit]Participants
[edit]Please use this section to tell us more about who is working on this project. For each member of the team, please describe any project-related skills, experience, or other background you have that might help contribute to making this idea a success.
Tiphaine -- After studying Social entrepreneurship in France and receiving a Master of Art in International Development from Sussex University, Tiphaine started her career as a project manager for multiple social impact organizations around the world such as UNHCR. When she moved to San Francisco, she was shocked by local nonprofits struggling to leverage technology solutions. She then decided to co-create Ovio, a tech volunteering platform.
Eric -- After a double degree in Engineering form Ponts ParisTech (France) and Stanford University, Eric developed the space-to-earth data engineering and data science infrastructure for a nanosatellite startup, Spire. He then became the CTO of the tech nonprofit Bayes Impact in San Francisco and developed software and data solutions for Governments and NGOs.
Ben -- is a data scientist and software engineer with experience working on web engineering and design, embedded systems platform architecture and machine learning. After studying Physics, Mechanical Engineering (with a focus on adaptive control theory) and Computer Science at Dartmouth College, he spent the next 9 years in a variety of software and analyst positions, ranging from programming smart HVAC systems for high performance homes to developing data pipelines, storage and tools for an education startup working with satellites.
Community notification
[edit]Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions. You are responsible for notifying relevant communities of your proposal, so that they can help you! Depending on your project, notification may be most appropriate on a Village Pump, talk page, mailing list, etc. Need notification tips?
Mailing list
Endorsements
[edit]Do you think this project should be selected for a Project Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project below! (Other constructive feedback is welcome on the discussion page).