Friend,

The world is changing fast, and what gives us hope are the many ways that people on the front lines are helping each other create a better world, often in the face of enormous challenges. We are pleased to share how neighbors are helping neighbors in Ukraine, an update from Puerto Rico, and our new window to the world – Atma’s new website.

While Atma was started with the vision that people on the front lines know best the solutions their communities need, the development and humanitarian sectors are now catching up to this with new commitments to “localization.” And companies around the world are seeking new ways to partner with local communities to create impact.

Last year, Atma launched a powerful new tool called Community Impact Platform, where local organizations can showcase themselves and their impact, so they can be visible and communicate their readiness for development and environmental partnerships.

Our new website profiles Atma Connect’s newest programs, which enable companies and governments to connect directly with front line communities working on disaster resilience, community development, and climate change mitigation.

• Through ESG Builder, companies can partner with local projects and partners to achieve their sustainability goals.
• And our suite of Localization Capabilities offers development and humanitarian organizations a turn-key solution to engage with local communities.

We hope you’ll help spread the word about these new offerings that help organizations scale verified, real-time impact. Because in communities, issues are connected — the impacts that Atma already has made have been deep and wide:

• Disaster Response and Recovery: We use technology tools to deliver early warnings, develop mutual aid, and create more resilient communities.
• Civic Engagement and Governance: We empower residents with tools and trainings to solve local problems.
• Climate Change and Resilience: We activate bottom-up climate solutions. Among the projects we’ve built: a nature-based solutions knowledge sharing platform for the Nature Conservancy; and a site underwritten by the Ford Foundation to help farmers help one another.
• Digital and Information Literacy: We train women, youth, and marginalized communities to find and share their voices. We enable citizen journalism and prevent misinformation.
• Women and Youth Empowerment: We engage women and youth to be changemakers in their communities.
• Economic Empowerment: We help people find jobs and small business owners find employees, and we provide trainings, workshops, and podcasts to build skills and entrepreneurship. One key tool: ESG Builder.
• Healthcare and Public Services: We provide critical tools for communities to share vital information and solve issues of water, food, jobs, education, shelter, flooding, and fires, which helps them to build stronger, more resilient communities.

Our work can literally save lives and enrich communities.

Here’s what people are saying:

UKRAINE UPDATE

We are proud  to report that we are building a following in Ukraine with thousands of people being reached with critical information. Through the outreach efforts of our Ukrainian ground team, we are introducing AtmaGo to humanitarian organizations in country. These organizations are experiencing the value of AtmaGo as a tool to reach community members with information about important services. For example, AtmaGo is now included in an online catalog of aid providers, which was announced to 30,000 recipients.

AtmaGo members are stepping up to support one another. Psychologist Kravchenko Darya is offering ongoing psychosocial support to her community at no cost. She wrote that she was volunteering her services because “it is an incredible feeling of warmth inside when you feel that you can do something good for others, that you can be a part of something important.”

Wherever we work, we make sure information is localized and specific to the unique challenges. For example, our team has helped create user policies that reflect the Ukrainian government’s rules about the kind of information and images that can, and cannot, be posted during the conflict.

You can contribute to Atma’s Rapid Response Ukraine effort here via paypal.

PUERTO RICO UPDATE

In Puerto Rico, we continue to help people recover from Hurricane Fiona. Our immediate response was to reach out to people in need and connect them with critical resources.  As an example, we ran a campaign to connect people with resources and needs. When a resident from the Jauco area who had lost everything asked for help, we connected her to a community organization, which helped her obtain food and other essentials. Our work continues in helping impacted communities connect to aid, while we also innovate new approaches for helping Puerto Rico residents take measures to mitigate future harms from storms, which are likely to occur as a result of global climate change.

IN THE NEWS

June Sugiyama of Vodafone Americas Foundation and I were glad to speak with the hosts of the We are For Good podcast on How Mobile Tech is Driving Social Impact.
Listen now.

Among the topics:

• The massive opportunity to put technological innovation to work for good
• Importance of social media networks to enact positive change, not misinformation
• A successful campaign to tackle vaccine hesitancy in Puerto Rico

Thank you, as always, to our friends, supporters, and partners around the world. We could not do this crucial work without you.

With gratitude,
Meena Palaniappan
Atma Co-founder & CEO