The amount of data in the world doubles every two years
Brian Gallagher, CEO of United Way Worldwide shares his view on data, tech, and Call for Code
Data tells a story. Whether it’s the stat line of a veteran basketball player whose numbers grow throughout the seasons of play, or a business comparing their year to year results to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their strategy — data informs and enlightens. But, data is only as good as the insights gleaned from it, and the subsequent actions executed upon it. The 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge, encouraged participants to leverage technology to build solutions around key data findings. Climate change and COVID-19 continue to be considered some of the most pressing issues of our time, and problem solvers from around the world were tasked with creating change using the power of data and technology.
With a number of promising solutions that flooded the submission portal this year, the Call for Code team was eager to find a highly qualified judging panel to evaluate these innovations, and decide a winner. A part of this esteemed panel is Brian Gallagher, CEO of United Way Worldwide.
United Way is engaged in 40 countries and territories around the world, focusing on fighting for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community. Today, Gallagher leads a global network that supports the health, education and financial stability of individuals and families in more than 1,800 communities with nearly 3 million volunteers, more than 8 million donors, and $4.8 billion raised every year. Gallagher joined United Way because of his belief that lasting community change at scale takes place when the public, private and non-profit sectors work together.
Gallagher’s deep expertise, paired with his unwavering passion for helping communities around the world made him a great fit to be a judge for the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge. The Call for Code team caught up with Brian to talk about Call for Code, United Way, and more:
What is the most astounding factoid or stat in your space that people should know about?
United Way is a worldwide network committed to solving challenging social problems in communities around the globe. From health to education to job training, United Ways work in 1,800 communities to bring greater opportunity to all people. Since the onset of COVID-19, we’ve raised nearly $1 billion to support individuals and families struggling to make ends meet amid the pandemic and its economic fallout. While that’s an amazing figure, it’s a relative drop in the bucket compared to current global need. That’s why we continue to not only support immediate pandemic response efforts, but also initiatives aimed at helping society come back stronger and more resilient and equitable than before.
What made you want to get involved in Call for Code?
Like United Way, Call for Code brings people together to focus on solving the world’s biggest problems. COVID-19 and climate change affect all of us, but they affect our most vulnerable populations the most. To be part of a community working to solve these issues with technology — especially technology that allows great ideas to be scaled up and accessible to more people — is right up United Way’s alley and something that I’m passionate about.
It’s particularly helpful to see how companies and individuals are developing solutions that are outside of the normal way that United Way operates. Every organization has a dominant way of working and thinking, but at United Way we take pride in seeking out innovative ideas to challenging problems. Call for Code allows me to explore how coders and developers around the world go about tackling tough issues and think about challenges from a different vantage point.
How do you see Tech for Good having the most impact in addressing our most pressing social issues?
Technology can be a great asset for social good, especially as it pertains to data. The amount of data in the world doubles every two years. If we can mine that data for insights, we can augment the intelligence of nonprofits and governments around the world and sharpen our strategies for change.
But technology isn’t a panacea. It will do the most good when users put people’s needs first by focusing on solutions to real problems facing individuals and families. Investing in technology for the sake of doing something new won’t bring sustained results, nor will it ensure that effective tech solutions are distributed equitably. One quarter of U.S. households have inadequate or no internet. When the pandemic first hit and classes started going online, 13% of students in one of America’s largest school districts hadn’t logged in at all weeks into the shift to virtual learning. We have to do better than that to ensure technology can create greater opportunity for all.
What are you most looking forward to as you evaluate Call for Code solutions?
I’m looking for real world application of these solutions. Can they be implemented and scaled up to help the most people possible? The suite of tools and brilliance of the programmers is top notch, but the solutions can’t just be a novel application of technology — it must solve a real problem when put in the user’s hands. There’s a lot at stake and the potential to make a difference is too great. The solutions need to be adoptable for as many people as possible.
How has United Way Worldwide partnered with other organizations, and harnessed the power of technology for social good?
Over the decades, we’ve learned that cross-sector partnerships create the most effective and longest-lasting solutions to community challenges. Today, technology partnerships let us effectively and efficiently create the greatest amount of social good. From our partnership with Salesforce.org to launching Ride United with Lyft to help people get to job interviews and access needed health care, we are partnering and innovative with technology companies like no other time in our history.
Our partnership with IBM is another great example. In 2018, United Way and IBM came together to launch an A.I. chatbot that Hurricane Michael survivors could use to find local community resources available to assist them. Using data from 211, a vital service that connects millions people to help every year, the chatbot informed them of road closures, evacuation zones, and other important dynamic information needed during a natural disaster. It greatly increased our capacity to support people in need of critical information in real-time. We are constantly looking for these kinds of partnerships that allow us to pair our community knowledge with technological expertise. That’s how we help the most people possible and build stronger communities that provide opportunity for everyone to achieve success in life.
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Be sure to attend the Awards Celebration on October 13th to find out the winner of the 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge! Want to make an impact today? Get involved and contribute to an open source project today.
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