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How might we design healthy, inclusive digital spaces that enable individuals and communities to thrive?


Deep Data Detectives (D3) Adventures 😎🏃

by Fonder, CEO, Principal Investigator Luisa Bracamonte

CEO
Nxt Wave Founders, Inc. (NxtWave)
Submission Date
October 23, 2022


OVERVIEW

Nxt Wave Founders (NWF) is a Tampa based non-profit with a global scope that is making data collection a community effort with its flagship initiative called  The Deep Data Detective (D3) Project to address the lack of diversity in climate change using data science education. 

 

“D3 Adventures” is our first pilot engaging 276 diverse underrepresented community stakeholders (teachers, students and parents) that we call "D3s."  They are  interconnected through an equity lens across 23 locations with a historic lack of access to high-quality public spaces to participate in physical immersion-based activities.  We are teaming up with them to gather "baseline data" in spots and community events following principles of data science to create digital content that registers idea-incubation and development of a "Theory of Change (ToC)."  A ToC,  designed to promote social climate change in schools, business and government for social advancement and inclusive opportunity for ALL, requires face-to-face conversations with a diverse set of stakeholders—staff, community members, board members, and nonprofit partners— ideal for the use of data evaluation tools.

 

The focus of this first pilot is Neighborhood Sustainability and Connectivity Through Physical and Digital Spaces.   To ensure the quality of baseline data collection, exploration activities need to be in-person to truly understand the diverse barriers to equity.   D3s are asked to document their D3 Adventure digitally.  The action will help them create safe digital spaces for their communities and  influence behavior change towards sustainability and connectivity—one community at a time.  

 

We talked to our stakeholders and we listened. 

 

The project has everything they want and need -- funding for ideas, sponsorships for exploratory community activity like Field Trips, Events, Surveys, etc., training for community activation, evaluation tools, datasets, data visualizations tools, multimedia production, digital content design and development, demos, and additional support for idea planning and implementation.

 

"D3 Adventures" is intended to run three pilots to validate the D3 Initiative Model: 

- Pilot 1: October - December 2022

- Pilot 2: January - March 2023

- Pilot 3: April - June 2023

 

"D3 Adventures" adds value to The Fair Play Alliance (FPA)'s Case for Digital Thriving by engaging key community stakeholders to take a deeper dive in improving their well-being, happiness and prosperity by activating their neighbors to take coherent action with the objective to truly thrive in times of uncertainty—while exploring all possible paths of equity. 

 

Although we are confident this passion-project brings a fresh approach to the market, the success of the three pilots depends on external factors including funding and local talent. 

 

*Roadmap and marketing are addressed in the Scale, Impact and Money Sections of this proposal.

 

 

OUR PROOF OF CONCEPT AROUND USER DESIRABILITY.

 

 

D3 Persona Map Journey (also available in PDF, attached at the end of the proposal)

 

Our Ecosystem Approach: D3 Adventures is curating and creating training, evaluation tools, digital content and mentorship with coalition partners in alignment with Nxt Wave Founders' Ecosystem Approach.

 

 

Who We Serve

Young people who want to repair past injustices and transform the future together regardless of race and  income.  In addition to coming from economically challenging circumstances, our D3s face other daunting and complex inequalities. More than half are being raised by single parents and many experience learning, mental or physical disabilities and even had to learn English as a second language. D3s are under-represented in K-12, college and professional careers, have few examples of academic persistence and are usually the first in their families to attend college.

 

When educational systems, labor market institutions, and social policy fail to provide the necessary conditions for all young people to thrive as they move into adulthood, millions are consigned to the economic and social margins.  Black youth and youth of other races lack opportunities to learn and practice skills of the future.  To them, the work looks like a bleak place, full of temporary jobs (a “gig” economy), minimum wage labor and a ruling technocracy safely hidden away in their gated communities and their circular living machines, all of which impacts their mental health, well-being and ability to sustain a healthy-living.  They, however, exhibit a burning desire to contribute to society and provide their families with a better quality of life.  We team up with them because their challenges and solutions are best understood by the influencers, leaders and dreamers that are living there.😍😇

 

WHAT IS IT FOR D3s.

 


PURPOSE

"D3 Adventures" - Pilot 1 invites schools lacking science teachers and teachers with limited access to interdisciplinary collaboration like a biology teacher working with an arts teacher to explore all paths to equity in climate change regardless of the medium (arts, music, science, social, etc.). 😍

 

How Success Looks Like

Future Headlines:

  • Teachers: School Solves Inequality in Social Climate Crisis! Data now shows that teachers at ___ High School are giving  ALL Freshmen equal opportunity to graduate into prosperity. Check the documentary.
  • Students: A System To Emulate. Students at ___ Middle School have found ways to sustain and connect the community with a Digital Call To Action to protect our planet.

 

Our Story 

First time I was in the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (GGNPC) 5 years ago in San Francisco, the park ranger guiding me could not lament enough for the lack of young visitors. Fast forward to last Summer, I returned to the site to see what a difference they made! They began offering internships in natural resources, youth education, geographic information systems, and more. Students get technical training and mentorship, and build workplace and leadership skills. Their determination to address equity is giving access to more kids of color and disability status. Seeing the kids in action taking pictures and making videos truly inspired me!  I thought “what if” I could leverage youth’s  passion and excitement with digital devices to team up for data collection and entrepreneurial scouts. 😍

 

Sooner than expected, D3 was born with aspirations to catalyze a positive change for underrepresented voices by applying a theory of change (ToC) to activate communities fostering  physical and digital safe spaces to sustain and connect neighborhoods.🏃  Slightly different from a mission statement or a marketing campaign, a ToC centered on equitable development guides  communities and organizations to close disparities between particular populations—such as people of color, people with low incomes, or people with disabilities—and the general public.😏

 

D3 Initiative' Theory of Change

 

 

PILOT 1

QUESTIONS

Tampa, FL

United States

Underrepresented voices thriving in uncertainty to explore all paths to equity.

 

The Global Innovation Index - 2022 ranks USA # 2 in innovation, yet # 17 in equality and inclusion. 

Our earlier studies suggest that many equity efforts fail because juvenile and adults don't share a vision of what disrupting inequities requires. School and community leaders can fix that by getting involved in accelerating ideation especially for minorities, women, black, people of color and people with disabilities.  Equity is a goal that remains elusive in our schools and communities. We see many U.S. schools that engage in the process of improving their students' academic or behavioral outcomes end up identifying a narrative along racial lines—where data show Black and Brown students sitting at the lower ends of performance.  While the mission in U.S. schools is to ensure all students can access their full potential, our known history invites us to think deeply about the level of systemic marginalization that exists in our schools and communities.

The intended impact of D3 Adventures is to disrupt the marginalization of certain groups within a school and community culture, where juvenile and adults must have an agreed-upon, in-depth understanding of the following:

  • A unified meaning of equity: People's actions generally align with their beliefs. It's vital to establish among everyone a common understanding about the meaning of equity and the impact of inequality in climate change.

  • The imbalance existing in the environment: Significant change starts with awareness. Those within the school and community culture must be knowledgeable of who is currently being marginalized by the school systems or generational traditions. This requires honest conversations that don't shy away from the facts.  This is why "Theory of Change'' development is critical.

  • How systemic marginalization occurs: It's not enough to know where inequities currently show up; D3s must also be able to discover root causes and realize which actions and conditions do—or might—perpetuate inequity.

  • The level of advocacy needed for disruption: Everyone must understand the role they play—young and older, be centered around what it means to be an advocate for equity, and be willing to assume this role (for instance, by learning about personal biases and registering lessons-learned in digital footprint).

Awareness requires interactive evaluation tools (i.e. Surveys, polls, events, conversations with stakeholders, etc) to ensure stakeholder engagement.  Like many of us, they already are experiencing information fatigue and lack equal access to education and training to evaluate systemic issues.  Encouraging participation in activities that resonate with them (films, documentaries, games, art exhibitions, concerts, etc.) will foster the emotional connection to agree on the meaning of equity around unity, neighborhood sustainability and connectivity.👍

 

 

 "D3 Adventures" - Pilot 1 is marketing to schools lacking science teachers and teachers with limited access to interdisciplinary collaboration like a biology teacher working with an arts teacher. 

 

MAKING THE EMOTIONAL CONNECTION TO AGREE ON THE COLLECTIVE MEANING OF EQUITY

When striving to establish a shared way forward for school and community improvement, it's easy to falsely assume everyone involved comprehends the heart of the mission. But achieving equity is complex and goes beyond simply "doing the work"; there must also be an emotional attachment to D3's projects' goals. This attachment comes by way of unity and good sense, which brings a deeper understanding of equity and the "why" behind equity efforts. When individuals feel emotionally tied to any purpose, they make a more substantial commitment to do what it takes; they invest more time in developing the necessary skill or will to achieve the goal.  This pilot's approaches and resources can help schools and communities get on the same path toward equity. 

   

 

  

With partners like World Largest LessonsEsri Nonprofit Program pioneered by ArgGIS, Kite Insights - The Climate School, we will train and support D3s to be intentional in the questions they ask to gather input on what people enjoy about communities— and what barriers make them feel unwelcome by inequality or threatened by climate change.

 

 

 

Last but not least, the preliminary data gathered by D3s will influence policy makers, city leaders and corporations in the design, operations, and programming of economic development embedding equity in communities.  And these inclusive feasibility plans will help decision makers to hold themselves accountable to the community input they directly incorporated into their plans because D3s will create a digital footprint that registers their own exploratory journeys embedding more underrepresented voices.😍  Everything D3 Adventures will serve to influence social behavior change and development of self-agency habits.😇🙈🙉🙊👏👏👏

 

Pilot 1: October - December 2022:

Depending on how much funds we raise, we will select the best D3s projects for the Summit on December 16 & 17.  During the D3 Adventures Summit, at least 2 projects will receive awards to continue with planning and implementation from January throughout December, 2023.

Pilot 2: January - March 2023:

We will repeat the cycle incorporating lessons-learned from Pilot 1.  During the D3 Adventures Summit, at least 2 projects will receive awards to continue with planning and implementation from March throughout December, 2023.

Pilot 3: April - June 2023:

We will repeat the cycle incorporating lessons-learned from Pilot 2. During the D3 Adventures Summit, at least 2 projects will receive awards to continue with planning and implementation from June throughout December, 2023.

Reporting: July - September 2023:

We will work on D3 Adventures Publication and Documentary while we continue raising funds to formally launch The D3 Initiative in 2023-Q4.

Launching: October - December 2023:

Our priorities will be centered around hiring staff, creating The D3 Initiative website and launching affiliates in communities involved. 

 

Track and Measure Social Outcomes including:  
(1) Reduce poverty and livelihood impacts;
(2) Increase access to and affordability of electricity services;
(3) Help democratize the distributional impacts of policies by income, gender and geography;
(4) Minimize impacts on jobs and unemployment;
(5) Level up aspects of social and procedural justice;
(6) Balance impacts on community cohesion and conflict; and
(7) Encourage application of data science education to draw attention 'away' from otherwise obvious patterns in the data, hiding significant patterns that should be noticed.
 

Long-Term Scale and Growth

In alignment with The Fair Play Alliance (FPA)'s Case for Digital Thriving, D3 Adventures Pilots will curate resources for D3s to create safe digital spaces by pairing sustainability and data science education with youth and adults experiences to collectively understand the challenges their communities face and chart our nonprofit's long-term economic mobility pathway forward to impact 1 million young people by 2033  anywhere in the world. 😍👏

****Check our marketing collateral attached at the end of the proposal.

 

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?

1) A passion-team with 16 volunteers that have committed two years of their time and in-kind donations since inception.

2) Valuable insights from our users who support our Logic Model, and both, short- term and long-term impact.

3) Lack of significant competition.

 

  

 

  

With the passion and dedication of our Founder and 12 volunteers, the first D3 Pilot’s theme is Greenways and Blueways and will run from November 2 to December 17, 2022 across the following locations*:

Field Trips
Jason Hole, Wyoming
Woodfin Greenway & Blueway, North Carolina
South Platte River Trail, Colorado
Boston Harbor Waterfront, Massachusetts
Mississippi Delta, Memphis
Chicago Navy’s Pier, Illinois
Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland
Venice’s Muscle Beach and Malibu’s surf, Los Angeles,California
Buffalo’s Series Canal Harbor, New York
Clotilda, Mobile, Alabama

Participating Communities
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
New Orleans, Louisiana
Kansas City, Kansas
New Bedford, MA
Yonkers, New York
San Diego, CA
Lawrence & Haverhill, MA
Cincinnati, Ohio
Richmond, Virginia
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Denver, Colorado
Pawtucket & Central Falls, Rhode Island
Richmond, California
*Locations are subject to change based on weather conditions and teachers and students’ availability.

D3 Adventures is to grow CLIMATE CHANGE proficiency in vulnerable youth to cultivate education, career and entrepreneurial success by:
- Serving K-12 students and youth (12 to 24 years old) in low-income, minority neighborhoods in 15 locations; and
- Targeting schools that lack science teachers, or adequate support for green education in the classroom.
 
D3 Adventures will use evidence-based practices identified by the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health.  Our  activities will develop long-term, a pipeline of students to transition from middle school to high schools to early-career, understanding the importance and relevance of fighting climate change to create the Inclusive Future we all want to see. D3s will have the interest necessary to attempt and succeed in a world that is more digitally driven by automation and technology.

 

  • U.S. parents and teachers of middle-to-high schools’ students. They need resources and tools fed by data to guide youth and adults to make better decisions about their economic development, community, unity, workforce development and entrepreneurship opportunities. 

  • Teenagers into online games and coding clubs will gain and apply coding and gaming skills to solve their community’s challenges that they care deeply about.

  • Entrepreneurs working on climate change technologies need new markets to entry. 

  • Researchers working on open-source data collection, analysis and visualization need platforms to foster collaboration. 

  • Angel Investors and Philanthropists  need innovative pathways to increase the pipeline for seed ventures.  Performing D3s will have support to develop MVPs and prototypes with potential to scale and grow.

  • Our Non-Profit Volunteers want to stay committed to the D3 Initiative and support D3s in areas of sustainability, data science, project management, multi-media production, web development and software development.  Our volunteers come from a broad-range of domains hosted by HCBUs, Community Colleges, Tribal Colleges, Hispanic Colleges and Democracy Lab.

With the support of the Designing For Thriving Challenge’s award, we will be able to invest in staff to support operations for D3 Adventures-Pilot 2 (January- March, 2023).

Hiring a project leader, a project coordinator and a fundraising specialist will help us build capacity locally.   We invite you to check our estimated budget here. 

 

Considering that D3 Adventures is intended for repeat use (3 consecutive pilots, 2022 -2023), stretching every single dollar of this generous award, will help us afford operational activities like automation, innovation, marketing, and legal and financial services.

We are confident that our ecosystem approach to scale will reduce operational cost and help expand our mission globally allowing us to focus on partnerships, coalitions, process improvement and impact measures. 

The pandemic taught us to do more with less😪—and "just like that"—we find ourselves launching the first D3 Adventures Pilot involving 23 communities. 😌  Our efforts to-date, makes us confident about a successful proof of concept specifically around user desirability and usability.

 

WE ARE WELL POSITIONED TO MOVE FORWARD

 

 

As Founder & CEO of Nxt Wave Founders, a nonprofit startup since 2020, Carmen ("Luisa") Bracamonte, an immigrant and first time generation to go to college in her family, toggles between transforming youth economic mobility roads, the academia as a Graduate Entrepreneurship Facilitator and Leadership Coach, and a researcher piloting the effectiveness of The Fundable Entrepreneur Method©, a proprietary interactive series of graphical spike-mindfulness approach to complement multiple start-up approaches.   

 

With the Deep Data Detectives (D3) Project, Luisa weaves her educator experience at University of Tampa since 2006 with her centered-model approach to amplify access to individuals with disabilities and minorities.  A graduate of AWS CTO Fellowship and part of the leading team at The AWS Women CTO initiative, Luisa uses her data analytics experience in WellCare, to see disability community gaps firsthand and the consequences of ‘producers’ and ‘consumers’ of disability and healthcare data not always aligning.   Charting an interdisciplinary background including software development, finance and marketing from Azimuth Wealth Management, Chase Manhattan Bank, Crown International, State Farm and Cadbury Schweppes, Luisa is inspired to democratize access to a more inclusive economic mobility pathway by providing everyone, everywhere, with options. She is self-taught in UX Human-Centered Design.   Luisa loves strolling the beautiful beaches of Clearwater and St. Petersburg, and advancing her passion for the Arts as a global healing medium while advocating for climate change and data science education.  Connect with her at LinkedIn.

 

We are a group of volunteers pouring our hearts and souls in everything we do hoping to build a better future for ALL. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NWF was honored to receive The Education (Re)Open 2021 Challenge Award in 2021. 👏 We were earnestly grateful for the recognition of our work with the Co-Creation Nation Project as one the Competition’s Top Successful Ideas.  Almost 2 years ago, we found ourselves adapting and pivoting to weather the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Like many of you, we never, never, never give up because it’s not over unless you want it to be, and a true example of this is the #OpenIdeoCommunity that does not cease to carry us on aligned-mission. 😍👍 

 

Starting with a small community of 10 parents and 5 teachers at the Indian High School in Los Angeles, a $1,000 award helped us create virtual events to promote online resources that connected parents and students with social entrepreneurs, social workers, community organizers and physicians working at the intersection of education and Covid-19 vaccinations.  In using a leg up from this challenge, the D3 Adventures Pilot seems a more ambitious endeavor, but for us it is just an initiative so much needed in the times we are living.👍

  • Access to tailored mentorship and expertise to set up data infrastructure to create an analytics and visualizations dashboard to understand engagement and activity of users (teachers and students) based on specific direct and indirect social impact metrics collected through multiple D3 immersions. 

  • Access to multimedia professionals willing to mentor our D3s.
  • Access to others with similar impact goals,  development or design support and systems thinking curricula, tools, and experts to explore patterns and locations to find potential under-represented users (we call the Lost Einsteins) engaged/interested in Carbon Management activity (with potential to remove, capture, convert or store CO2).

  • Access to prospective investors and Implementation Partners to scout, fund and help launch moonshot projects, educational content, technology innovations, and social interventions from idea to MVP to prototype and better find the best and most diverse applicants for our program, reduce costs,  better serve students inclusively, and showcase D3's impact for communities, organizations, philanthropy, venture angels and our networks.

  • Access to In-Kind donations of electronics, meeting space, food, green transportation and digital technologies.
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  October 23, 2022

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Challenge Journey

Proposal Submission
Completed
2. Review
Completed
Proposal Refinement
Completed
4. Final Review
Completed
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Dec 6, 2022
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Comments
13
Fonder, CEO, Principal Investigator Luisa Bracamonte

@Jeffrey Burrell Thank you for your unwavering dedication and passion for the DDT Challenge.  We appreciated your kind words and team spirit.  You are a one of a kind motivating coach, and we enjoyed meeting you and listening to your sound advise.

Fonder, CEO, Principal Investigator Luisa Bracamonte

@Matt Hovde Thank you for your guidance.  Our deep gratitude goes to @Matt Hovde and the @OpenIdeo Teams for your ongoing support in making us better with your valuable resources and webinars. 

Fonder, CEO, Principal Investigator Luisa Bracamonte

Thank you @andreas yanikian for your engagement and valuable tips during our coaching session yesterday.  We enjoyed the conversation😃👌

Fonder, CEO, Principal Investigator Luisa Bracamonte

We serve young people who want to repair past injustices and transform the future together.

 

In addition to coming from economically challenging circumstances, our D3s face other daunting and complex inequalities. More than half are being raised by single parents and many experience learning, mental or physical disabilities; had to learn English as a second language and acculturate to a new country.  

 

D3s are under-represented in higher education and professional careers, have few examples of academic persistence and are hoping to be the first in their family to attend college.  They, however, exhibit a burning desire to contribute to society and help their families achieve safer and healthier lives.