We're excited to share the plans and prospects that lie ahead for Digital Democracy following the Board's recent meeting in Haiti. The Board has outlined directives for programming in three categories: Direct Implementation, Tool-Building & Local-to-Global Engagement. The plans outlined mark significant growth for Dd. We are eager to share this overview of what lies ahead and invite you to join us in making it all possible!
(1) Direct Implementation: *Digital Literacy, Digital Organizing & Digital Citizenship programs with direct partners, Internationally and Domestically.(2) Tool-Building. To date, Dd has supported partners with tools that exist, and built custom systems to respond to specific needs (such as the Database or Call Center in Haiti).* _Based on our growing expertise on the user needs of marginalized & remote communities, we're going to take a more pro-active approach to tool-building in collaboration with open-source technologists. See our proposal for Remote Access which outlines our vision for adapting existing mapping & data collection tools to be used by our partners fighting injustice in remote areas.
(3) Local to Global Engagement: While Dd remains small, nimble & focused on a few key issues and partners, part of our mission is to share what we're learning with a broader audience. So, we’re excited to work with you and other communities around the globe to build bridges across geographic divides, share the lessons we’ve learned, and empower communities beyond our immediate partners. We will do this with events, writing and speaking on our work. Stay tuned...
Where will we be working? Haiti, Chiapas, New York City & beyond.
>>> Due to the strength and success of the phases of our program, we plan to wind down our work on the ground in Haiti by the end of 2012. For the rest of the year we'll focus on fully transitioning the 572 Call Center & database system to local ownership, mapping national resources for gender-based violence and comprehensively documenting the scope of our work in Haiti and lessons learned.
>>> Digital Organizing in Chiapas. Based on the success of our pilot digital literacy trainings this spring, we are planning to begin phase 2 of our work there.** **We will be returning to the Lacandon Jungle to engage in a longer-term mapping project focused on environmental sustainability and dialogue between indigenous villagers & Mexican authorities.
>>> We are bringing our work home. Building from past projects with the New York City Department of Education and high schoolers in Indianapolis, we are excited to have a green-light from the board to explore possibilities for a domestic Dd program. We'll keep you posted as we meet with the coalition fighting Stop & Frisk in NYC, opportunities working with youth on data literacy in Newark, NJ and partnerships with other marginalized groups in NYC.
>>> New Partnerships: We will continue bringing our process and expertise to support the work of other great organizations. New opportunities will be filtered through the intake process approved by our Board.
Get Involved. Have ideas? Something above resonate with your passions or interests? Want to be a lead investor in this work? Drop us a line at info [at] digital-democracy [dot] org.