We're spreading the word that we can help people access data, and we got two recent requests that could use some extra hands.
One is for investigating the results of calls for service from the Detroit Police Department, to help local advocates develop policy for the upcoming city budget negotiations. We'll need help with data collection and analysis.
The other is for data related to juvenile justice in five majority-Black counties in Southeast Arkansas to help evaluate the equity of the systems there. We're gearing up for a records requests push—if you can use a web browser, you can help!
Both of these projects are on short timelines, and we want to help them get the data they need. If you can lend a hand, reply to this email!
We frequently field data requests from the community, and we've released an accompanying form for volunteers. If you have skills to share, please fill it out! We'll contact you if a request looks like a good fit, and you can spend some time sharing your expertise and making a positive impact. Or, if you know a data nerd with a heart of gold, you can send them our way.
This matchmaking work is necessary because of demographics: people with data skills are more often people of privilege, while organizers working to make a positive impact on our criminal legal system are more often from marginalized groups. Plus, full-time technical skills are expensive, so advocacy groups are less likely to have in-house data expertise in general. By helping volunteers find impactful projects, we're helping redistribute valuable skills to organizations in need.
Over 99% of our funding for 2022 was dependent on the approval and generosity of a handful of people at The Heinz Endowments, our main funding source. This is normal for young organizations who receive a grant, but we'd like to show that we're a sustainable project with public support. In fact, so would The Heinz Endowments.
So, we're setting an ambitious goal: we'd like to 10x the number of individual donations we get this year, and hit $15,000. If you think this work is important, you can donate here.
That's all for now. As always, you can reply with questions or comments. Thanks for reading!