Aspiration Fall 2017 Newsletter

Hey friends,

This quarter, we are bringing you updates from our small but mighty team to give you a better idea of the range of programs we are working on across California, in the U.S., and around the world. We hope you enjoy these slices of the Aspiration life! But first, a quick word about our annual Nonprofit Software Development Summit happening in two weeks.

• Dev Summit
• Touring California
• Being the host with the most at the SF Nonprofit Tech Center
• Exploring the viability of an R&D Lab for Human Rights
• Reporting from the New York NP Tech Skillshare

Dev Summit

Touring California

Our newest team member, Technology Capacity Builder Evelyn Arellano, has leapt headfirst into our California Capacity Building Program. She recently completed a tour around the state spanning Oakland, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Fresno, and Los Angeles to meet with grassroots nonprofit staff and learn more about their technology and security needs. Evelyn says, "We loved hearing about the many organizational and technological projects that people are developing to advance their mission-oriented work. We learned that numerous organizations are focusing on strengthening online communications strategies, better utilizing data management systems, moving toward better information security practices, and overall implementing more effective and sustainable processes." You can read more about her experience on the road trip and the organizations she visited on her blog post. Last month, she took part in the Central California Environmental Justice Network's Roots of Resistance Conference in Merced, CA, where she offered sessions on developing strategy around social media and other digital communications. On November 8 at 11am PST, she will be offering a no-cost webinar on planning your online communications. If you would like insights into developing a messaging calendar and building a narrative for your organization or for a specific campaign, you can sign up for the training here!

Being the host with the most at the SF Nonprofit Tech Center

Aspiration's Operations Administrator, Anthony Green, has been running our San Francisco Nonprofit Technology Center for the better part of a year. Anthony sat down to talk about the Tech Center, and how he feels it plays a critical role in advancing our mission.

"The Tech Center in the Mission District of San Francisco is where we offer coworking office space, meeting rooms, and a range of workshops, trainings, and events for nonprofits. We have free 1 Gbps WiFi, strong coffee, and a friendly work environment."

What does he hope activists and nonprofit staff gain from spending time at the Tech Center?

"I hope people leave here inspired from the opportunity to collaborate and innovate with other nonprofits and activists. Part of our mission is to help people working for social change to achieve shared language and understanding around technology and related dynamics, and I feel this is a space where that happens organically."

If you are interested in holding a meeting or coworking at the Tech Center, let us know!

Exploring the viability of an R&D Lab for Human Rights

Beatrice Martini has been working in Berlin as our Human Rights Technology Lead for the last two and a half years. She sends this dispatch and blog post explaining her project exploring the viability of a Human Rights Research and Development Lab.

Over the past decade, Aspiration has engaged with a range of partners and collaborators across the human rights sector on a wide spectrum of technology projects and events.

During that time, we have observed a recurring dynamic. Most human rights technology efforts—whether responding to an incident and mitigating a specific threat, working on technology features and usability, or doing evaluation and risk assessment—tend to focus on short-term horizons and/or be reactive in nature.

This led us to consider how stakeholders in the sector might contemplate more proactive approaches to technology planning and preparation.

One concept that has surfaced is a long-term "Research and Development Lab" (R&D Lab) for Human Rights Technology. We decided to employ this concept as a lens through which to explore how such an enterprise might create new space and opportunities for stakeholders across the field to strengthen digital security capacity and operate more sustainably in their ongoing programmatic work.

The Ford Foundation generously funded this research and the subsequent report. We are deeply grateful to them and to all the interviewees who contributed their knowledge to this research.

You can learn more about the research and read the report on our blog post.

Reporting from the New York NP Tech Skillshare

This summer, we held our first ever New York Nonprofit Technology Skillshare in Greenwich Village. It was Anthony and Evelyn's first time running an Aspiration event, and Assistant Director Josh Black enjoyed his first Aspiration event in his new programmatic role.

Although we have often helped facilitate events for other organizations in New York, it had been nearly 10 years since we had organized our own large-scale NYC event, so we were thrilled with the turnout of radical techies, activists, and social justice organizers who came out to share ideas and hatch schemes. Highlights included sessions discussing tools and techniques for countering surveillance, creating diverse and inclusive tech spaces, and how to make a business continuity plan for a nonprofit.

Thanks to everyone who showed up at the event and made the magic happen, and especially to those who helped with planning, facilitated sessions, shared skills one-on-one, and/or took notes. We hope we will be back to New York soon for another one!

That is all the news we have this time around. We'd love to hear what's new with you! Drop us a line or swing by the Tech Center if you're in the neighborhood.