Client Update: Glean Oct. 2023

Glean Asia continues to go from strength to strength after receiving their 12 month impact loan from LendForGood in November 2022.

Recently, Red Hat Impact director Ian Jones caught up with Jesse Orndorff and the Glean Asia team in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and we are thrilled to share with you their second impact report and latest updates.

Their impact loan has allowed them to hire two additional developer staff to support their growth and they have now completed the launch of two products this year with a third on the way. The core products now include:

Data For Good - Their flagship core product, a data platform for organizations to pull in all of their information from diverse sources to make shareable reports and graphs to share publicly and internally. As a digital data collection and dashboard system it also enables organizations to easily collect, analyze, and share data with stakeholders, enabling them to make better data-driven decisions and increase their impact.

EdTech for Good - their Jomneh platform is focussed on mobile only as a digital learning concept. Most? users in Cambodia will only ever have access to a smartphone, and with many systems originating from the US and Europe where programs are designed for desktop environments, it restricts the learning opportunity in Cambodia.

Design For Good - is a new subscription service for NFPs, NGOs and impact organizations to have access to on demand design services for annual and quarterly reports, and email appeals without having to carry the overheads of ongoing design staff.?

Some of the key challenges that are covered in the interview include;

• Maintaining Focus - building a product that is usable for customers and how to decide what, and what not to work on
• Testing in the Marketplace - many organizations understand the need to access data, but when Glean started to engage they really began to understand how bad their current data management systems are, which required additional time and pivots in the process

A good example of the impact of good data management is the gender based violence (GBV) reporting tool that Glean developed for a Ministry within the Royal Government of Cambodia. By synthesizing information from all stakeholders, and systemizing the process reduces the opportunities for user error and increases information quality for better advocacy towards future program designs.

This new data based approach to information management has improved internal efficiency and impact through the collation and analysis of well collected and managed data, with the clarity and accuracy helping shape policy and deepen the impact of the engagement of both impact organizations and government.

The future is exciting for Glean Asia as they build out their suite of tech for good products. Ultimately, these products are able to interlink and complement each other. An example of this in action - the learning products are able to create educational impact in the communities they are working in, and together with the data collection and analysis from DataForGood, organisations are able to more accurately measure their work, and? build stronger partnerships across Cambodia and beyond.

For more information on the original impact loan completed via LendforGood, see the details here.

All words and images courtesy of Red Hat Impact and Glean Asia, October 2023