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May 17

A Community of RHoKstars: Q&A with Heather Leson

Published by esabet

Random Hacks of Kindness is built on a global community of dedicated people working to make a difference all around the world.  We want the rest of the world to know a bit more about the individual members who make up this incredible community, so will be working to bring you interviews on a regular basis with some of the RHoKstars who are putting their time toward RHoK--organizing, promoting, inspiring and hacking for humanity.  

Our first interview is with Heather Leson, 3-time RHoK organizer, mentor for numerous first-time RHoK leads, and one of RHoK's most dedicated evangelists!

Tell us about yourself (Where do you call home? What keeps you busy during the day? What do your enjoy?)

I'm an idea hacker, community builder and serial volunteer.

After years in Internet provisioning, event planning, project management and incident management, I answered to call of tech for social good following the earthquake in Haiti. 

This incredible journey connects me with global makers and doers. By day, I'm Ushahidi's Director of Community Engagement. Here I get to combine my love of information mapping/sense making with hacking. Every day is an adventure to meet people mapping change in their communities and world.

Toronto is home - this is where my bike and garden reside.

How have you been involved in RHoK?
 
CrisisCamps for the technical community response to Haiti included some of the original RHoK November 2009 problem definitions. I started and led Canada's first CrisisCamp in January 2010 using some of those hacks.

The RHoK global team sponsored me to go to Sydney, Australia to lead their first RHoK in June 2010. What an honour it was to collaborate with their community. At the time, RHoK was using Ovoo as a video collaboration suite. I actually had my first virtual meeting with Erik Hersman, co-founder of Ushahidi who was attending RHoK in Nairobi. We discussed the Bushfire Connect project. 

While in Sydney, I dreamed of bringing RHoK magic home to Canada. So, in December 2010 with a dedicated team, we made it possible. I led two RHoK Toronto events - December 2010 and June 2011. In December 2011, I joined Angelique to mentor and collaborate on the first RHoK Montreal. This June I will be assisting the RHoK Toronto team and connecting via the global team.

Why does RHoK matter to the world?

RHoK is taste test of tech for social good. If RHoK inspires one person's view of why their knowledge could affect change in their world and community, then it is successful. It matters because we need to figure out how to connect the right participant action to the real world issues. This is not something that can be perfect overnight. We are inventing the potential as we go. It is worth every single attempt, no matter hard it is. 

I like to think of it as the OSI hackathon or RHoK OSI model: 

  1. Discover: "I can do this" 
  2. Encounter: Connect with people from a wide array of disciplines from technical to design to subject matter experts
  3. Build a common language 
  4. Create and collaborate sprint-like to prototype
  5. Join the movement of possibilities to remix and hack this model for local, national and global issues.
  6. Mentor and train others to RHoK the planet


Why does RHoK matter to you?

What if the time we spent creates a prototype that leads to a solution someday, or leads to new ideas plus action?  What if it changes one life?   Inspires one future?   And what if changes us? Sometimes I think RHoK hacked my life…in a good way. As I watch the community grow, I think that the best hack is watching the magic of an accountant or bacteria scientist join the fray alongside the developers. We need to use all our best knowledge globally together to help solve wicked problems. RHoK is an injection of new ideas and people into these issues. It is a beautiful thing for people to be engaged in their world and communities. Plus, this means I can sleep on more hackers floors if I visit a RHoK city. : )

Based on your experiences with RHoK, do you have any words of wisdom to share with the larger RHoK community?

RHoK is a prototype. The concept is relatively new, we are also hacking how to make this possible. It will take time, talent, and tenacity to make it grow. Have fun, connect with others around the world who are like minds and know that RHoK brain is not just twice a year. It can change how you work, create and live.

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May 16

The RHoK Featured Problem Set for June 2012

Published by mbrennan

One of the key elements of our Sustainability Project announced earlier this year was to create a featured problem set for each RHoK event going forward that provides a series of highly curated, well-defined problems that have clear sponsors and clear paths to sustained impact. We are excited to begin introducing the featured problem set for RHoK June 2012. We will be announcing many of the featured problems through a series of blog posts here on RHoK.org, but you can always keep on top of the latest additions at our Featured Problem Set Page.

Each of the featured problems will have subject matter experts present at one or more RHoK events in June, but participation is not limited to those events. Coordination of work across different events will take place on the respective Pirate Pad and IRC channel for each problem. Those links will be present on the featured problem set page as well as the individual problem definitions.

Today we are introducing a series of human rights related problems surrounding immigration issues across the US-Mexico border and the Mediterranean Sea. These problem are sponsored by Amnesty International, the National Council of La Raza, the filmmakers of Who is Dayani Cristal?, and more.

 

Invisible Victims: Migrants Crossing Mexico into The United States

 
The Owner: Amnesty International representatives will be participating, as well as civil society organizations who work with shelters and migrants who have made the journey across Mexico. Subject matter experts will be present in San Francisco and Berlin.
 
The Problems: Every year, tens of thousands of women, men and children are ill-treated, abducted or raped as they travel through Mexico without legal permission as irregular migrants. The vast majority are headed for the US border in the hope of new life far from the crippling poverty they are fleeing. Their journey is one of the most dangerous in the world. Arbitrary detention and extortion by public officials are common. Many simply disappear without trace, kidnapped and killed, or robbed, assaulted and thrown off speeding trains. For those who survive the extreme insecurity and dangers of the journey through Mexico, reaching the US border brings its own hazards. Increased US immigration enforcement in certain border areas has pushed undocumented immigrants to use particularly dangerous routes through the US desert; hundreds of people die each year as a result.
 
The devastating abuses that take place against migrants is a cross border issue, involving both the United States and Mexican societies. But currently, their deaths, like their lives, remain largely hidden from view. For the families back home, there is little hope of ever finding out what happened. 
 
How could technology, applications and digital services make the invisible visible with regard to abuses committed against migrants, and be used to support both migrants and their networks in a safe way, helping mitigate the risks and reduce the number of people who die each year?
 
  1. Aggregate and visualize data for advocacy: How can we make invisible crimes visible without putting migrants at risk? Data collection is vital in order to have a full and comprehensive analysis of the factors that contribute to deaths and abuses across Mexico and along the US border. The lack of such data is a serious barrier to determining the steps that need to be taken to mitigate the prevalence of migrant deaths along the border. Examples of this data include: abuses by smugglers, sexual violence, police and state abuse, and more.

    Some example projects include (see the problem definition for more):
    1. ​Create a simple, accessible digital system to provide a means for the networks of civil society organizations and shelters on the ground who could/can/are collecting and capturing data to aggregate and share this information?
    2. Could we facilitate a form of ‘check in’, which migrants can do from specific safe points on their journey? (it is important to remember that most migrants will not be carrying any form of technology on their person)
       
  2. ​Relative/family support and missing persons: Families experience what psychologists term ‘Ambiguous Loss’, which means that the status of a loved one is in question – unresolved. The grief process cannot start because the person is neither dead nor alive. Families often report debilitating fear and an inability to focus on daily tasks. At any point in their ‘normal’ day, their loved one could be suffering somewhere without help. The search often becomes all-consuming. And without an organized system for searching, families are left to do it alone.

    Relatives and families are a key audience and are also more likely to have access to the web. How can we use existing social networks to connect up families with lost members on migrant crossings?  How could we create a high security database that loved ones of migrants could access in order to be sure their family member is safe, or to track back to where they were last seen? Could we develop a lo-fi, social web based missing and unidentified person system to provide more reliable information to families whose loved ones disappear? Could we create a platform that supports knowledge transfer, allowing for posting missing members, sightings, news and locations?
     
  3. Information provision and distribution for migrants: Many people know they are risking their lives; they cross because of desperation and more information on risks would be unlikely to make a difference. On the other hand, there may be some people crossing for the first time and for whom it may be hard to conceive of the reality of the journey. Many others are deliberately misled by smugglers/traffickers who give false information about the risks i.e. that it is just a day’s walk, etc.

    Could we create a platform that communicates risks to migrants through information and visibility, better planning information - where are the shelters, telephone numbers, water and food points? Could we make it accessible for them to find out information on their rights in specific states and regions e.g access to justice, support networks etc.
     
  4. Collaboration with Border Technologies: A lot of advanced technology hardware is available at the borders (‘smart’ border technologies, satellites, databases of digital fingerprints etc. Could this be used to the benefit of migrants, and not only to keep people out?
 
The Impact: Thousands of people would be directly supported by tools that facilitate information sharing and data and documentation collection on human rights abuses against migrants along this journey. We are strongly committed to tools that can be taken as foundation concepts to networks of on-the-ground organizations, as well as rights holders themselves, to invite their participation and expertise in a robust collaborative process of scrutiny, refinement and development. When and if a product is ready for market it will be because we have tested, trained and piloted widely with these networks and will likely continue in beta before scaling up to support other regions and contexts where this tool could play a role globally.
 
After RHoK: Amnesty have contacts with migrants’ rights networks in Mexico and the US. We will demo our project to them once we have a working prototype. We will take their feedback and iterate both externally and with internal stakeholders at Amnesty International until we have a project that is ready to be rolled out to the field. Amnesty will also be inviting collaborators to attend (either in person or virtually) at the global AI Digital Skills Share in London on the 5th July 2012.
 
 
 

Data Visualization on Hispanic Migration:
Shifting Perceptions on Labor Demand and Migrants' Rights

 
 
The Owner: This data visualization is owned by the leadership team producing the docudrama Who Is Dayani Cristal? Subject matter experts from WIDC and the project’s partner National Council of La Raza will be present in Washington, DC.
 
The Problem: What does the United States know about the role Hispanic migrants play in the US economy? What stories do we perpetuate about the labor demands that draw them to the US? And do we understand the injustices and challenges they face under our current system? We aspire to challenge and clarify the notion that migration is a threat to the US workforce and hope to provide a fresh perspective on the migrant experience and the realities of labor demands in the US -- a perspective more in line with today’s economic and social truths.
 
To do this, we wish to create a data visualization around labor demand and migrant rights. This will be an essential element of the social action campaign around the hybrid documentary drama “Who Is Dayani Cristal?, starring Mexican actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal. We aim to create deeper engagement with the question of Hispanic migration and its role in our economy, shifting perceptions toward fairness and justice. Using the data sets provided, the goal is to create a data visualization, which provides a better understanding of the role of immigration in the US and creatively narrates:
 
  • A portrayal of labor demands in the US over time
  • The reasons behind people crossing the border
  • The contribution of migrant workers on the labor landscape and their function in the economy.
 
The Impact: Every year tens of thousands of people leave their homes in Latin America in the hope of reaching the United States of America. The data visualization will help establish a greater understanding of their journey and contribution, to further legitimize and give protection to both documented and undocumented migrant workers, as well as highlight the correlation between immigration and a healthy economy and the dysfunction which exists within immigration & labor policies as they stand. The data visualization will be used by general audiences of the film, which we believe will number in the millions, as well as our non-profit partners and activists and organizations working toward migrant rights. 
 
After RHoK: We intend this data visualization to be a strong element of the social impact campaign around the film, and will be a part of the film’s website, mobile app, and iBook. It will also be be used by our nonprofit partners and their extended network of rights and advocacy groups to use in their social action campaigns, helping them deliver data in a visually arresting style to legislators, policy makers and stakeholders including the public.  

 

 

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May 14

Attention University Students: Want to Join the RHoK Team?

Published by Thea Aldrich

 

Want to be part of a fast paced company and work on a project that has the power to change the world? SecondMuse is looking to mentor 3-4 highly motivated interns to work on Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK). Interns will work between 10 and 25 hours per week. This internship is unpaid. However, interns will be working under the close mentorship of the RHoK Core Team and will gain real world experience in the areas of project sustainability, social media marketing and collaborative innovation in the NGO and technology industries. This internship program is a fantastic opportunity to break into an emerging industry and build valuable experience and professional connections. 
 
Duties
  • Work under the supervision of the Community Support Manager and Core Team to track and catalog ‘hacks’ emerging from the June 2012 RHoK Global Event.
  • Maintain contact with ‘hack’ point of contact at scheduled intervals.
  • Report weekly on ‘hack’ progress to the Community Support Manager.
  • Deliver monthly report to the Core Team via phone. 
  • Identify ‘hacks’ that have a high probability of success.
  • Assist Core Team in the planning and marketing of RHoK Community Events.
  • Attend conference calls with the Core Team to learn about large corporation partnership building, social media marketing and project sustainability. 
 
Requirements
  • Undergraduate 3.0 GPA or higher.
  • Junior or Senior level students only.
  • 10-25 hours per week depending on availability.
  • Ability to work remotely.
  • Ability to work in a team environment.
  • Motivated and reliable self-starter who can work on a team separated by distance.
  • Excellent written communication skills.
  • Knowledge of open source, collaborative processes and social media.
  • Desire to help change the world through technology.
  • Additional language skills preferred but not required. 
  • Familiarity with Gmail, Google Docs, Skype, Twitter and blog writing. 
 
Application Dates and Process
Please submit your resume AND a minimum 500 word essay describing your interest in joining the SecondMuse and RHoK team to thea.aldrich@rhok.org AND elizabeth.sabet@rhok.org by no later than Monday, June 4, 2012 at 6:00 PM CDT. Phone interviews with finalists will be held June 6th through June 14th. The interns will be announced June 15, 2012. Interns will begin work June 20, 2012.
 
About RHoK
Our mission is to make the world a better place through a global community of innovation developing practical open technology. RHoK’s model is to start from identifying, defining and refining problem definitions provided by subject matter experts and local stakeholders. 
 
We work to build the capacity of other people and organizations. We are committed to building the capacity of subject matter experts and local stakeholders to identify problems where technology can help, volunteer technologists to understand these problems and create solutions, and event organizers to run events that bring these groups together for close collaboration.
 
Partnerships are at the core of everything we do. Between the RHoK global partners (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, NASA, HP and the World Bank), between subject matter experts with problems and volunteers that work to address them, and between local event organizers and over 150 local organizations that support them. RHoK is a platform for partnerships, and our results depend on the quality of those partnerships.
 
About SecondMuse
SecondMuse inspires innovation. Our process is a unique approach that focuses on the development of innovation through collaborative methods rather than the simple brainstorms of one or two brilliant creatives.
 
True collaboration, where individuals can access inspiration through one another, can dramatically accelerate the rate and quality of innovation and give rise to breakthrough solutions with broad-based support. Innovation is not merely the development of a new idea, but rather the creation of an environment that can give birth to an idea and foster its continued development. Using breakthrough collaboration practices, supported by technology and social media to advance understanding and communication, SecondMuse facilitates the process of collaborative innovation and guides the incubation of emergent ideas and products.
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May 11

Benetech: The Next RHoK Sustainability Partner

Published by mbrennan

Earlier this year we announced the RHoK Sustainability Project and soon thereafter announced out first sustainability partner, Geeks Without Bounds. RHoK sustainability partners will provide mentorship and support to help RHoK solutions realize their full potential. Today we are announcing our next sustainability partner, Bentetech and their SocialCoding4Good initiative.

 
 
SocialCoding4Good is the newest initiative from Benetech, a Silicon Valley nonprofit with a mission to create new technology solutions that serve humanity and empower people to improve their lives. Founded in 1989, Benetech combines business and tech innovation expertise to address large-scale unmet social needs, measuring its return on investment not in dollars, but in the number of lives it affects.
 
The SocialCoding4Good platform supports the growing global momentum around technology for good, channeling the creativity and good intent of the software development community, while enabling meaningful apps generated at events and hackathons to develop into lasting solutions with real, positive results.
 
SocialCoding4Good partners with humanitarian free and open source software (HFOSS) organizations such as Amara, Code for America, FrontlineSMS, The Guardian Project, and Wikimedia Foundation to connect qualified software industry professionals with opportunities to volunteer their time and talent to projects matching their passions, skills, and experience.
 
This exciting partnership with SocialCoding4Good offers RHoK participants the chance to contribute to HFOSS beyond the hackathon, and RHoK projects, ignited from a single aspiration or hackathon idea, the very real opportunity to achieve sustainability; a critical factor for true, transformative impact.
 
SocialCoding4Good will work with its HFOSS partners to steward key RHoK focus areas addressing issues ranging from civic engagement and the environment to healthcare and poverty alleviation. For each focus area, you’ll find a featured problem statement or challenge sponsored by an HFOSS organization, and have the opportunity to either participate in those challenges or submit new ones of your own. SocialCoding4Good will offer subject matter experts (SMEs) to assist in reviewing, informing, and refining definitions, providing important context both before and during a RHoK event.
 
For the upcoming RHoK Global in June 2012, these key focus areas will be:
  • Accessibility in Education: Supporting Students with Disabilities, facilitated by Bookshare, which hosts the largest online collection of accessible books, textbooks and periodicals; and
  • Data Applications for Human Rights, facilitated by Benetech’s Human Rights Program, whose open source data management software, Martus, provides groups around world with a secure way to document and disseminate reports of human rights abuses.
 
Over the course of the hackathon, SocialCoding4Good will work with its HFOSS partners and the RHoK team to identify the project with the most relevance to the focus issue and potential for longer-term development. Once selected, this project will receive technical guidance and project maintenance, mentoring on business and organizational sustainability, and visibility within the larger HFOSS and technology communities for up to six months after the event.
 
We here at RHoK are looking forward to working with Benetech at RHoK events in both June and December. Stay tuned to this blog for information detailing the requirements for submitting your project to be considered by the sustainability programs from Geeks Without Bounds or Benetech, along with a complete list of the benefits that come with being selected by one of these partners.
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