Innovation is just as essential to nonprofits as it is to private companies, but all too often, mission-driven organizations lack access to cutting-edge technological solutions.
Now, BNY Mellon and the BNY Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania have partnered with The Forbes Funds to link regional nonprofits with private-sector innovators to create breakthroughs that advance critical social missions.
“Too often our nonprofit partners don’t have access to the same innovation that drives improved outcomes in nearly every other industry,” explains James McDonald, president of the BNY Mellon Foundation. “Through this program, we want to level the playing field and build a new platform for private sector innovation that can have measurable social impact.”
The $1 million program gets underway by working with regional nonprofits, university researchers and other stakeholders to define common challenges that could benefit from technological innovation.
“Such needs may include issues of logistics, data-use, mobile communication, automation, access to services, remote monitoring, decentralized and distributed customer bases, and plenty more,” says Rebecca Young from The Forbes Funds.
Once those challenge areas are announced in January, the program will put out a call to entrepreneurs, innovators, technologists, students and startups, and start creating the solutions.
“Anyone, from a current student to a well-established firm, is eligible to participate,” explains Young.
Top submissions will be pitched to a panel of judges and, by mid-year, winning concepts will be advanced through a process incorporating funding, product development and business incubation partnerships for design, prototyping and deployment to nonprofits in Pittsburgh and beyond.
“Entrepreneurs in our community are already solving these challenges and designing a new future for every industry imaginable,” adds Young. “We believe that we can help them see the nonprofit sector…as a market that is ripe for that same level of disruptive innovation.”
Source: Rebecca Young, The Forbes Funds
Writer: Elise Vider