Community-oriented startups seeking positive change

A group of community-oriented startups recently pitched their ideas for how to enact positive change as part of the Social Good Summit.

Yesterday’s gathering was just one of over 50 Forward Fest entrepreneurial events taking place in Madison between Aug. 17 and Aug. 24.

Building upon previous summits, it took the form of a “social good accelerator,” in which participants broke into small groups to share advice and brainstorm strategies.

The presenting startups were:

*Colorcoded, an initiative to provide opportunities in information technology fields for women and people of color.

Christina Outlay, associate professor of information technology at UW-Whitewater and founder of Colorcoded, says that by 2020, there will be over 1 million tech-related jobs for which there aren’t enough potential candidates.

“Women are underrepresented in computing careers, women of color even more so,” Outlay said. “Men of color are underrepresented as well. This lack of minority talent in particular translates to almost 600,000 potential computer workers who could fill some of those jobs.”

The program will target middle and high school students, specifically girls, minorities and low-income youth. Outlay says she has plans to partner with schools, businesses and provide peer mentors so as to get the best possible opportunities for these kids.

*Just Bakery, an employment training program for people with barriers to employment such as prior incarceration, lack of education or homelessness.

Carmella Glen, Just Bakery founder, says this program could reduce recidivism by getting participants on the right track for employment.

“How many people realize that 97 percent of people that go to prison are coming home? And how many people are aware that nationally, seven out of 10 of those people return to prison in the first two years?” Glen said. “And what if I told you I have a program here that with our program, eight out of 10 stay out?”

Just Bakery teaches skills for restaurants and bakeries, as well as for general employment and life. Participants get to try their hand at large-scale commercial baking, production, packaging, receiving, accounts, storage and more.

“We want to grow it — expand sales, we want to open a restaurant, get into some savory work… we want to franchise our bakery model,” she said.

*Healthconnect.link, an online platform which would connect people in need with crucial services for health and other needs.

It could be used by individuals seeking services at a health center or homeless shelter, or by care providers, to see where and when certain options are available.

“Right now, we’re preparing to pilot in Dane County, but we’re also talking to partners well beyond Dane County,” said Kevin Dwyer, CEO for Healthconnect.link.

In four or five years, he says he hopes to have “a unified national resource, broad spectrum health and social services, that anyone at anytime can find the services they need.”

A functional product is currently undergoing user testing, he added.

*Everyone On Madison, a program from nonprofit DANEnet, which is bringing web connectivity and technology education to people in Dane County.

“Our mission is to put technology within reach,” said Alyssa Kenney, executive director for DANEnet.

DANEnet holds coder dojos and maker clubs, and also acts as the IT department for a number of other Madison nonprofits. The Everyone on Madison program is working to get low-income households affordable internet access and computers.

Kenney says an unconnected household spends, on average, $1,000 more a year than a connected one.

“If I can enroll my kid in school online from my couch versus take three hours off of work and take the bus to bring a piece of paper to the school, that saves me time…” she said. “Connected households save money.”

*Race To Destiny, a training program for improving cultural understanding between diverse members of society.

Ken Snoddy, creator of Race to Destiny, describes it “an innovative, interactive training course that creates an experience for participants to have a more meaningful conversation around race — specifically young black men here in Dane County.”

The training involves presentations, videos and an interactive game which is led by “gamemasters” — young men from these lower-income neighborhoods who are “trained and vetted facilitators” of the experience.

It will also include specially selected articles from community and city leaders, police officers, faith-based groups’ leaders and others.

“The interactive game allows a paradigm shift, or a view from a different lens, that allows groups and encourages groups to have a different conversation,” Snoddy said.

*Hope & A Future, an intergenerational community project which began five years ago in Madison.

“This lovely 10-bedroom home is shared by 10 to 12 people at any given time,” said Karin Krause, founder and executive director of Hope & A Future. “Four frail seniors live in our new accessible addition, and live-in staff and their families create a family of friends.”

The age of residents has ranged from 3 months to 102 years, Krause says, and the mix has included women escaping abusive situations, college students and others. Krause is the home’s live-in registered nurse, and the project also has a full-time art and activity director.

Krause says she was motivated to pursue this type of project when she observed how “dehumanizing” institutional life could be.

“Watching people call out for help and no one responding quickly resulted in me thinking I wanted to see something change,” she said. “And that’s pretty much what I’ve spent my life doing.”

*Council of Communities, a platform for bridging the gap between constituents and service providers.

“This barrier… is felt across all levels of our society,” said Eric Upchurch, interim chair for the Council of Communities. “Even though we hope to impact all those levels eventually, we are focused on small to midsize member-based organizations that rely on their constituent buy-in.”

To improve communication between these groups, the Council of Communities is trying to change the decision-making process so constituents’ voices carry more weight.

“Our vision is inclusive decision-making all over Madison, led by those that are most impacted,” he said.

–By Alex Moe
WisBusiness.com