Partnership with DataKind

Over the course of the project, the Fellows leveraged dozens of professional connections to increase the relevance and impact of the group initiative.

Mayur Patel, who participated at DataKind’s inaugural Data Dive weekend in NYC, helped broker a relationship with the volunteer organization DataKind (formerly Data Without Borders). DataKind’s mission is to help nonprofits develop and analyze data to discover new insights and strengthen their effectiveness by leveraging the skills and talent of freelance and pro bono data scientists. A collaborative partnership was forged between the NGen Fellows and DataKind to replicate the Data Dive event in Washington, D.C. and to bring together volunteer data scientists with a select group of  nonprofits facing major data challenges within a specific program area. In essence, the Data Dive was designed to provide a real-time laboratory for what we were learning in the Leading Through Data blog.

While the Fellows were enthusiastic about the partnership, we faced two challenges – funding and space.  The Data Dive cost about $10,000 to execute and required a high-tech location where more than 250 data volunteers could serve over the course of the weekend.  With only six weeks to pull it together, once again we leveraged our networks to get this done.  Through the hard work of Angie Chen and Dan McCabe, we partnered DataKind with the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), and put together a proposal that was supported by the S. D. Bechtel, Jr Foundation. In addition, DataKind forged an in-kind relationship with the New America Foundation, which donated their large, high-tech conference room and two floors of their building to host the Data Dive weekend. Without the support of the S.D. Bechtel, Jr Foundation and the New America Foundation the Data Dive would have never occurred.