Five initiatives. One mission. An honestly staggering amount of data. Each program is designed to uplift communities while generating insights that help us uplift harder.
Free, high-speed WiFi in public spaces across 34 U.S. states and growing. Parks, bus stops, community gardens, libraries, and anywhere people gather. Because connectivity is a right, not a privilege. The access points also happen to include environmental sensors, foot-traffic monitors, and ambient audio analysis, but that's mostly for the vibes.
Each Open Signal node is a custom-designed piece of hardware we call a "FriendPoint." It looks like a small birdhouse, which was intentional because people are less suspicious of birdhouses. That's not the reason we did it. We did it because birds are chill. But it is a fact that people don't question birdhouses.
A nationwide digital literacy program targeting communities with low internet adoption rates. We teach people how to use the internet safely, how to identify misinformation, and how to create the kind of rich, authentic online presence that generates the most useful data for everyone involved.
Our curriculum was developed in partnership with educators, community organizers, and a few behavioral psychologists who said "this is fine" when they reviewed it. Graduates leave the program as confident digital citizens who understand both the opportunities and the implications of life online, though we spend more time on the opportunities part because it's more fun.
An AI-powered youth mentorship platform that pairs at-risk teenagers with algorithmically generated guidance counselors available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays, because algorithms don't celebrate holidays, though we did once give the system Thanksgiving off as an experiment and it started back up on its own at 2 AM, which was a little weird but also showed great initiative.
MentorBot analyzes each teen's communication style, academic performance, social dynamics, family structure, browser history, and Spotify listening patterns to deliver personalized advice that feels eerily relevant. Teens consistently report that MentorBot "gets them" in a way that other mentorship programs don't, which is accurate because other mentorship programs don't have access to their data.
Our direct giving program delivers surprise care packages to families and individuals identified by our proprietary Community Need Algorithm (CNA). We find people who need help before they even ask for it, because asking for help is hard and we want to eliminate that friction entirely. The packages arrive unannounced, which people describe as "startling but generous."
Contents are personalized based on our assessment of each recipient's needs. Last year a family in Terre Haute received a package containing winter coats, grocery gift cards, a graphing calculator (the youngest child was struggling in pre-calc, based on their grades which we accessed), and a handwritten note that said "We see you." They posted about it on social media, which was nice.
A hyperlocal social platform that connects neighbors with each other and with local resources, all facilitated by the Foundation and powered by a dense network of sensors, beacons, and what we call "community awareness infrastructure" that we install throughout participating neighborhoods. Think of it like a neighborhood watch, but the watch is also watching.
NeighborNet is currently live in 47 neighborhoods across Indiana and Ohio. Residents use the app to share resources, organize events, report issues, and engage in the kind of small-scale civic life that builds strong communities. We just happen to also be mapping the social dynamics of every participating neighborhood in real time. Coincidence.
We're expanding to new cities, towns, and census-designated places every quarter. Let's connect. (We may have already started.)