This week, Code for Boulder and The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County were thrilled to win the inaugural UR Boulder Tech Challenge. The $20,000 seed funding we won will be used toward bringing TRENDS to life in a modern, digital and usable way: TrendsOnline.
The Tech Challenge was part of the first-ever UR Boulder conference, part of Boulder’s inclusion in the 100 Resilient Cities project. The competition was designed to work with nonprofits, government and community groups to improve resilience in Boulder, and to strengthen community engagement. The technical part of the challenge: Come up with an idea for open-source technology that can help improve resilience in our community.
“The projects pitched for the Tech Challenge were such great, innovative ideas. We are truly honored and humbled that Code For Boulder’s TrendsOnline project won,” said Erika Stutzman, TRENDS director at The Community Foundation.
The Community Foundation’s TRENDS report is an indicators project that is now in its 20th year. A key part of the foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life in Boulder County. Tracking and reporting more than 150 indicators about the county helps us quantify and communicate the facts and data about our quality of life. It is a powerful tool, used by nonprofits, businesses and policymakers. The more we know about our community and its opportunities for improvement, the more we can do, together.
We believe this community’s future depends on bridging the racial and economic achievement gap in our schools; addressing inequality; improving our environment; and increasing civic engagement and inclusiveness.
A brigade of coders with the Code for Boulder team have generously — and enthusiastically — been working to bring TRENDS to a more modern format. TrendsOnline will be for everyone who wants it, any time, on the platforms they prefer. Stutzman and Geri-Mitchell Brown, Co-Captain of Code for Boulder, pitched their project to the UR Boulder Tech Challenge amidst impressive competition.
“The judges for the Tech Challenge said the reason that TrendsOnline was selected over the other finalist projects is because it demonstrated the greatest amount community engagement. Indeed, TrendsOnline is a product that is being built by the people – our Code for Boulder volunteers – for the people. We are thrilled to have earned this recognition and excited that the $20,000 will kickstart our development work this spring,” Mitchell-Brown said.
The Community Foundation is so thankful for the partnership with Code for Boulder, and we are grateful to Ushahidi, the organizer of this week’s conference, which was held at the University of Colorado Boulder.
