What’s Good in Tech, Issue 6
Accelerator season may be over here at Fast Forward, but that doesn’t mean the tech for good news is slowing down! This month in What’s Good in Tech we’re serving up: Google.org grants for global expansion, the way teens *really* want to learn sex ed, Melinda Gates’ tech philanthropy goals, and more.
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Real Talk App Can Help Answer Your Most Private Questions About Sex and Bodies
Thanks to Real Talk, teens don’t have to rely on the internet for sex ed. By providing relatable stories shared by real teens, Real Talk minimizes the taboo nature of sex ed. Read about their top 10 stories and new app in Teen Vogue.
Helping CommonLit Expand Free Literacy Resources for Teachers
CommonLit is already providing free, high quality literacy curriculum to over 5M students in the U.S. Now, thanks to a $3.5M grant from Google.org, CommonLit is going global.
Bankruptcy is a powerful tool for fighting predatory bills. This app helps you do it for free
Fast Company shares the story of how Rohan Pavuluri and Jonathan Petts built the TurboTax for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. This year Upsolve has helped forgive $8M in debt – but now they want to make sure the 20M Americans who could benefit from the tool have access.
Callisto Year 3 Impact Report
Now more than ever, we need tools like Callisto that empower sexual assault survivors to take action. In the past year, Callisto visitors were 6X more likely to make a report, and 100% would recommend Callisto to a friend in the same situation.
The Calculating Philanthropy of Silicon Valley
Tech philanthropy has surged in the U.S. – with gifts from the leading technologists more than doubling in the past 4 years. Philanthropy Magazine goes long-form, exploring exactly what this might mean for America.
We Vote is Taking the Confusion Out of Voting
The midterm election is 28 days away. Do you know who you’re voting for? We Vote is the first free, open-source, mobile app that aggregates national voter guides into one place. This election, head to the polls prepared.
Meet your best friend at the polls >
Objective Zero Envisions a World With Zero Veteran Suicides
20 veterans die by suicide every day. That’s a rate 2X higher than the non-veteran population. Objective Zero is on a mission to change that – through technology that truly saves lives.
From Silicon Valley to Refugee Camps
There are 25M refugees in the world, and 3B bilinguals who could easily provide them with life-changing translation support. Here’s the story of how technologists Atif Javed and Aziz Alghunaim solved the refugee translation problem with an app.
These Students are Lifting Fellow Peers out of Financial Burden
Remember the struggles of paying rent, buying textbooks, and affording any food besides $1 pizza in college? Yep. Peerlift is changing that, with its micro-scholarship platform, by college students for college students.
Rethinking college scholarships >
Jeff Bezos Announces $2 Billion Philanthropic Effort
We’ve been waiting for this one…Jeff Bezos finally announces his $2B philanthropic effort, which will support homeless families by, “providing shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families.”
This Tech Nonprofit Is Trying to Help Homeless People Get IDs
Meet the Atlanta-based tech nonprofit using wearables and a mobile app to help the homeless obtain government-issued IDs, essential to securing temporary housing.
Melinda Gates Wants Tech Philanthropy to Focus More on Gender Gap
Rebooting Representation, a new report from Pivotal Ventures and McKinsey & Co, states only 5% of corporate tech philanthropy goes towards closing the gender gap.
SF Redirects Surplus Medications to Public Health Clinics
Last week the SF Board of Supervisors approved a Surplus Medication Repository and Distribution Program. Now SIRUM is stepping in to support the initiative.