Active Projects (/Fall 2011)

DC Team - Horn Relief

Why this client? Horn Relief is the oldest non-profit operating in Somalia, with 20 continuous years of experience. Currently, East Africa is suffering a profound hunger crisis, including a UN-declared famine in Somalia, that requires an immediate humanitarian response. Horn Relief is one of the only organizations able to contribute to this response. This year, they aim to help a record 500,000 people in Kenya and Somalia get the food, water and other basic items they need to stay alive.

How DSO helps: Although many know and care about the famine in Somalia, few know about Horn Relief. We are creating clear stories of their impact and a plan to convey these stories through multiple fundraising channels. Ultimately, we are in charge of making their fundraising as effective as possible to help as many people as possible. Additionally, we will perform a technical infrastructure analysis to help them become more efficient.

Pittsburgh Team - Samasource

Why this client? Samasource invented microwork. They take large data projects from their clients and break them into small discrete tasks that can be accomplished over the internet by thousands of workers in developing countries. This not only provides direct income to some of the world’s poorest people, but also equips them with valuable skills in our global economy.

What DSO is doing: We have designed and are building a browser-based environment for Samasource workers to transcribe videos, including review and QA. This is challenging because we assume the worker is not a native speaker and their work environment consists of a shared machine with bandwidth constraints. We are also starting a new project to design a browser-based environment for training Samasource workers to the point where they are able to work on paid engagements.

SF Team - Made by Survivors

Why this client? Made by Survivors (MbS) is an organization that re-empowers women and children who have been captured and forced into sexual slavery, or born into brothel communities by helping them to attend school and teaching skills they can use to become independent individuals (primarily jewelry crafting). They have been in existence for 6 years with 250k in sales and 250k in grants empowering 10 shelters.

What DSO is doing: Currently, 90% of MbS sales come through their home grown e-commerce website. We are helping them increase revenue and sales of their jewelry by examining distribution/wholesale opportunities and then handling the technical/operations supply-chain implementation. This will help them have the money to construct additional shelters and rescue additional survivors.

Seattle Team - Habla Centro

Why this client? Habla Centro is on the cutting edge of technology enabling freedom of speech and grassroots journalism. Their signature product allows anyone with a cellphone to create their own SMS gateway and aggregate text messages from neighbors to broadcast curated news back. In effect, anyone with a phone can become a mini-newsroom.

What DSO is doing: Currently, Hablo Centro consists of many regional networks. We are helping them create a business model that will aggregate, curate, and broadcast news from each mini-newsroom in a financially sustainable way. Additionally, we are examining technology options to create an out-of-the box solution for content management, blogging, and mobile citizen information sharing.