By Shanna Lee, Director of Global Volunteers, DataKind
DataKind is conducting a global survey to better understand the Data for Good (D4G) Community. The D4G movement is broadly understood as the application of data science, machine learning and AI approaches to address a range of high-impact social issues (see Varshney and Mojsilovik, 2019 for further review). DataKind provides innovative solutions to mission-driven organizations that don’t have the resources to harness the power of data science, machine learning, and AI, connecting them with highly skilled data scientists who are ready to donate their time and talents to good causes and deploying them in a way to generate high-impact results. We are one of the major global opportunities who offer this type of skilled volunteerism.
To continue to build experiences in the D4G movement, we’re asking you to help us understand what brings you to volunteering, what skills you’ve offered or hope to offer, what’s been most fulfilling about your experience, what motivates you to keep coming back, as well as what challenges you’ve faced along the way. Your survey responses will guide our pro bono strategies in 2021 and beyond. Furthermore, we commit to sharing these results, strategy, and recommendations with you in the months to come – consider this the start of our conversation!
We invite you to take this survey by clicking here. It’ll take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete and will be open until September 18.
Who can take the survey? The D4G movement is global, so we want to hear from you – potential, former, and current volunteers at DataKind or other D4G groups around the world. We’d like to know more about your interests and skills, what motivates you to contribute to impactful projects, and the ways you think the field can engage individuals from diverse backgrounds. Also, we care about your privacy. All responses to this survey will remain confidential. We’d also like to share our appreciation – upon completing the survey, you can opt in to be a part of our DataKind community and receive the opportunity to apply for our volunteer roles before the general public.
We thank the D4G community for their communication and valuable skills toward high-impact social solutions. In addition to completing the survey by September 18, we’d appreciate it if you shared it with your own network. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact community@datakind.org.
We’d also like to acknowledge our amazing DataKind volunteers who helped provide ideas and inspiration for the initial draft of this survey. Thanks, Alicia Tree, Bill Nesnidal, Giulia Hamacher, Manojit Nandi, and Mattia Fumagalli for your creative ideas and support!
