Data4Change was established in 2014 by two female co-founders as an LGBT-led organisation. They support a global network of more than 70 civil society organisations (CSOs) and 200 creatives across 90 countries. They identify in-country and in-region talent to work as coaches on their projects, building their capacity through pairings with industry experts and mentoring from our core team.

Initially incubated by the UK-based nonprofit Small Media Foundation, Data4Change was created to address a number of insights they learned during a large-scale needs assessment of CSOs in the MENA region as well as of data visualisation and data storytelling professionals (data scientists,data journalists, information designers, graphic designers, dataartists and technologists) globally. The needs assessment showed that data visualisation and data storytelling professionals had the appetite and capacity to work on data-driven projects for social good but didn’t know where to start. They were apprehensive to work on regions or topics they lacked contextual knowledge and experience in and they lacked connections to CSOs who collect data on those topics. The needs assessment found that CSOs working on human rights fell into two groups. The first group had some qualitative and quantitative data, but were not communicating it effectively. The second group had no data experience, but were hungry to work with data as they recognised its power and potential. Both groups lacked the skills, resources,and confidence to use data effectively in their advocacy strategies.To address these findings, Data4Change was set up, a creative, agile, and scalable solution. They designed a prototype for a data and design sprint format to match data and storytelling professionals with CSOs and tested the first iteration in London in 2014 over a three-day in-person event. They were hooked!

Since then they have iterated upon and expanded the model to become a five-day, in-person sprint. They have e hosted eight in-person sprints so far (London 2014, Beirut 2015, Beirut 2016,Kampala 2017, Beirut 2018, Amman 2018, Nairobi 2019, and Tallinn 2019). In 2020 they couldn’t host an in-person sprint due to Covid-19, so they have spent 2020 adapting the model to an online format.

LGBTQI organisations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have limited opportunity to speak. When they do, it’s vital they have the tools and resources they need to communicate effectively. As part of DataWise  eight LGBTQI organisations are selected from existing and trusted partners in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to empower grassroots organisations working at the intersection of LGBTQI, women’s and young people’s rights to use data, design, and storytelling to build and strengthen community, inspire action, and hold power to account.

After participating in DataWise, organisations will: collect and use data to inform and
implement innovative advocacy strategies; transfer newly acquired data skills to their own communities using D4C toolkits and resources; and communicate insights from original data and
research online and offline to hyperlocal, regional, and global audiences.

The eight selected organisations are split into two cohorts of four. Each cohort will complete a full set of activities that fall under three streams: “collect”, “coach”, and “communicate”.

Collect

Eight LGBTQI organisations collaborate with D4C data coaches to identify relevant existing data (“data maps”) and missing data (“data gaps”). Coaches work with each organisation to co-create an innovative, ethical and secure data collection strategy that generates original data about LGBTQI  rights.

Coach

Up to 16 LGBTQI leaders (two per organisation) participate in D4C’s immersive and interactive
three-month Data Skills Fellowship. They acquire a foundational understanding of the data workflow (collect, clean, understand, communicate) and apply these skills to create and publish a dataproject of their own. They participate in virtual “link and learn” events to share knowledge with their cohorts and they lead in person Data Skills Bootcamps to transfer knowledge to their
communities. They confidently and actively use data insights to create and implement new 12-month data advocacy strategies for their organisations and create up to two data-driven advocacy outputs each.

Communicate

LGBTQI organisations share data insights with diverse audiences from hyperlocal (e.g. their own communities, families) to global (e.g. diplomats, rapporteurs, funders). With D4C data, design & storytelling coaches, each organisation co-creates a series of online and offline communications as part of a data-driven ‘dispatch’, and contributes to a multi-stakeholder, cross-regional and cross-theme data-driven advocacy campaign that speaks to a global audience. They participate in virtual meetings with international stakeholders, presenting original data on LGBTQI rights and reporting on their countries’ human rights records.