Introducing Kana Hammon — YCore
Kana Hammon is the co-founder and Executive Director of YCore, an organization and movement of millennials aimed to catalyze the next generation of social impact. Unlike the other organizations we have profiled, YCore is not a technology company, but we decided to profile YCore because it takes a different approach toward tech for social impact. YCore has a fellowship program for young professionals (mostly in tech) to apply their skills toward projects with nonprofits in the local community.
Can you tell us more about YCore?
YCore is a social impact fellowship for young professionals. We are catalyzing the next generation of social impact by equipping young professionals with the tools to impact their communities — for the rest of their lives. Specifically, young professionals commit 5 hours per week over four months (outside of work!) while working closely with a nonprofit on a team project, gaining exposure to social sector topics and skills and building a community of like-minded people. In the past three years, we’ve reached 100 young professionals in our program, partnered with 15 community-based organizations in the Bay Area and reached over 1000 people at our speaker events.
Tell us how you were inspired to start YCore.
When I graduated from college, I went to work at a shopping loyalty startup called shopkick. I loved my job, but still wanted to support community-based organizations as I had done during my college internships. I had no idea where to start, and felt really stuck. My co-founders felt the same way, and in talking with other young professionals, we realized that we were not alone. We had no idea if it was going to work out, but as we began piloting our program, so many pieces fell into place that showed that we had tapped into a significant unmet need for both young professionals and nonprofits alike. We started to realize that the program had the potential to grow from being a side interest to a scalable organization.
We had no idea if it was going to work out, but as we began piloting our program, so many pieces fell into place that showed that we had tapped into a significant unmet need for both young professionals and nonprofits alike
What has been your proudest moment in the past year?
In just three years, we’ve reached 100 young professionals in our multi-month programs. We’ve exceeded demand through word-of-mouth recruiting in every cohort cycle. We’re starting to see a network effect boosting our work. Not only are individuals excited to join the program, they want their friends and coworkers to be a part of YCore, too. This is a testament to the hunger Millennials feel to have impact and meaning in their lives, but it also shows me that finding ways for people to connect — to nonprofits, to their clients, to issues in their communities, and to each other — as we’ve focused heavily on in our program, is a powerful way to sustain meaningful engagement.
What do you think was the secret sauce of building a strong community?
At first, I thought people just wanted to have metrics-driven impact and build new skills. Instead we’ve learned that, impact happens when people feel connected to issues and people, and feel like they have to tools and knowledge to participate effectively. Young professionals care a lot about their community. Yet, they have so few outlets to learn or do anything about the issues they know are challenging, much less alongside nonprofits, their clients, or other experts who are working to tackle these issues.
For example, we hosted a panel around equity and social justice with the San Francisco Foundation in April. The topic is huge, challenging and not as well-known as, say, education, so I expected attendees to feel uncomfortable or confused. Instead, the event sold out in just two days, and our Fellows requested follow-up workshops where they could engage with the topic on a more personal level.
Where do people usually go after the YCore fellowship?
There is really no one-size-fits-all! My goal is for our Fellows to continue to give time, money and resources to their local community in a way that makes sense for them. One of our alumni told me that one of her biggest learnings was that she did have the time to work on social problems, and it was something that she could always prioritize. Many young professionals have excuses for why now is not a good time, so what’s important is to create structure to help them stay involved. Sometimes, alumni come back to YCore, to help with strategic initiatives, mentor future project teams or by recruiting their friends to a cohort. Others continue to volunteer independently in long-term settings or join junior boards of local nonprofits.
What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever made at YCore?
We never have enough space for everybody. As YCore’s only staff person, I have to constantly prioritize and balance the needs of a people-centric cohort program with opportunities to expand our reach. As a result, we typically have to say no to 50% of applicants. I’ve been thinking about how we might empower our Fellows to mobilize people in their network who may not be able to participate in YCore. Or, how might we help nonprofits learn about our scoping process so they can set-up YCore-style capacity-building projects with their existing volunteers?
There are a lot of understanding gaps between the tech sector and nonprofit sector, and the relationships we build allow for assumptions to be dropped and for some of the confusion to be diffused.
What is the process of scoping out partnerships with nonprofits?
Scope is a really important factor in project success. The biggest tradeoff is always between balancing meaty, interesting challenges with the reality that our Fellows are working after work. We also find that investment from all people, from team members to our point person at the organization, is so crucial to impact. There are so many moving parts!
However, the process itself is straightforward. Project Leads start 2–3 months early with outreach and scoping conversations we nonprofits. We ask a lot of need finding questions: what are your biggest pain points? Which aspect of your strategic plan is most challenging? If you had five people drop out of the sky, what would you ask them to take on? Project leads get to learn a lot about the nonprofit, and the nonprofit gets a chance to think beyond the typical, short-term style of volunteering. We hope that organizations know they can ask for more and really good things can come out of that.
We also look for projects and nonprofits that allow for connection and relationship-building. All projects start with stakeholder interviews with nonprofit staff and clients. It’s so important to get outside of our Silicon Valley bubble, and because our projects are four months long, we can spend more time with people. It’s so unusual to take a tour of homeless family housing, or get a window into the lives of people who live outside of our bubble. There are a lot of understanding gaps between the tech sector and nonprofit sector, and the relationships we build allow for assumptions to be dropped and for some of the confusion to be diffused.
What gets you up every morning?
The challenges that our communities are facing are too big for anyone to wait until they have the right connections, the right resources, the right time commitment or the right knowledge. When I started YCore, I thought I would end up working at one of our partner nonprofits. However, I realized that I had unique access to population (young tech professionals) who cared, but who were not being activated, and who are going to shape philanthropy and private-social sector partnerships in the future. I’m excited to translate for, mobilize and empower people to start making a dent in the problems our communities are facing. And, I’m really excited to see how our Fellows continue their journeys.
The challenges that our communities are facing are too big for anyone to wait until they have the right connections, the right resources, the right time commitment or the right knowledge.
What would you want your 18 year old self to know about tech for social impact?
I wish I understood then that life is a journey. I was so worried that I didn’t have a life plan, but I gained so much from just trying things. Whether interning at a small nonprofit, or teaching myself HTML and CSS to make a new website, or working at a startup, exploring gave me valuable experience that I bring to my current role every single day. Being invested in the mission of places I’ve worked, also motivated me to build new skills to solve problems I saw first-hand. And, in refusing to stay only in the social sector or only in tech, I can translate between two sectors who often seem to speak different languages.
What was the last inspiring book you read?
I love fiction by authors of color. I loved The Underground Railroad, and The Book of Night Women by Marlon James. Fiction is not only an escape, but it is such a valuable perspective on the human experience. In my work, I have to manage a lot of emotions. Reading fiction is always such a good way to focus on the nuances and understand people better, to make more powerful work happen.
How can people get involved with what you’re working on?
We host speaker events regularly on topics at the intersection of tech and social good. We also organize 6-week deep dives on impact-related topics, such as International Development and Impact Investing. You can also support our work by donating!
