We Can Do Better: A Rant
Andrew Means, M.P.P.
Serial Founder | Small Business Investor | Impact Data Nerd | Convener & Connector
The Private Sector Creates New Products.
I saw this presented at the top of a slide from the President of one of the world's largest technology companies. Presented to 1,700 nonprofit leaders and technologists as Truth.
I am tired of this message.
I am tired of the idea that the social sector must get all of its technology from company's who have a different motivation, set of values, and norms.
I am tired of nonprofit leaders assuming we don't have what it takes to be innovative with technology.
I am tired of not having innovation and infrastructure for the sector driven by the sector.
I will admit though, that it makes complete sense why this message is atop a slide. The social sector has struggled to fund, execute, and scale technology innovation for ourselves.
The work that companies have done to make their technology available to social sector organizations is extremely valuable. I am grateful to companies like Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, Amazon, Meta, Oracle, Tableau, Splunk, Okta, Box, and so many more for truly seeking to develop partnerships with the social sector. They have offered billions of dollars in discounts to make their solutions and products accessible to nonprofits and often do seek to truly partner in mutually beneficial ways.
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These partnerships might be necessary but they are not sufficient.
While I was at Microsoft's Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit this week I was talking with Vilas Dhar and he shared that when we think about nonprofits we think about their proximity to problems and that we need to move technological innovation closer to the problem, closer to nonprofits.
This idea that the private sector innovates and builds products while the nonprofit sector deploys them on societal problems cannot be accepted as the only modality for social change. Technology is a necessary component of effective social change in today's world. We cannot have technological innovation siloed away in a private sector distant from the problems of nonprofits.
I want to see more funding going to support the development of AI products and solutions in the nonprofit sector, not just for ethics and responsible use.
I want to see us invest in infrastructure that is dedicated to the needs and values of civil society.
I want us to get so good at innovation that as emerging technologies come online we have a seat the table for how they might be adopted by the private sector. That we aren't simply recipients of innovation but drivers of it.
We simply do not need to accept the idea that private sector companies innovate and build new products that the social sector can then use. We can create a different world.
Thanks for ranting Andrew, not sure there are easy answers, but you’re asking the right questions.
Co-founder, CEO @ Vera Solutions | Dad | Runner | Tech for Good
1 年Good thoughts - often the best solutions come from those close to the problem, and big tech (while undoubtedly enabling impact in the sector) doesn't always have altruistic motivations. I'll challenge the piece on two fronts: (1) it perpetuates a common "us and them" narrative divided by legal status; (2) many private tech companies are impact-first at their core and merely find a benefit corp, LLC, or simple corp structure as a more efficient means to that end. Dimagi, Esusu, Open Function , Goodwall, & Voiceitt to name a few I look up to. Legal status doesn't dictate mission and motivation. But I fully agree that, whether fueled by more risk-tolerant funding into nonprofits to support innovation & capacity building or more PRI-type funding that helps mission-driven companies remain mission-driven first and foremost, #techforgood innovation needs to be driven by and with those closely connected to the problems being solved.
Nonprofit Executive and Technology Futurist
1 年We need tech upskilling for the sector and psych safety instead of burnout culture. Then things get innovative … until then, thanks for pointing to a new way. I hope the hurdles become surmountable. I’ve had wins and losses. Currently licking my wounds ;)
CEO & Co-Founder
1 年Agreed! Solutions that are not developed by those close to the problems they seek to address often fail. We need funders to increase their tolerance for risk so that nonprofits have the freedom to innovate.
Founder & CEO @Sowen.co || Data & tech advisor @Bloomberg Philanthropies. Obsessed with the intersection of social impact and business results.
1 年+1000 The notion that all the talent and capabilities lie on one side, and that the main activity nonprofits should spend time on is begging for funding and innovation is deeply flawed. But, the three ecosystems speak different languages, and value different currencies. Any partnership must start with an alignment of those, and requires a mechanism to bridge between them. I would pose that data is the key, or at the very least a very significant component of a better path forward.