Amplify4Good is an organization taking a different approach to solving the problems many underserved communities face.
The co-founder of the Atlanta-based nonprofit, Joey Womack, believes, “Our communities already have all the resources in them to make the change we want to see happen.”
The mission of the organization is to amplify the efforts of service organizations and entrepreneurs by making them better equipped to foster positive change in underserved communities.
With an emphasis on rapid innovation, Amplify4Good asserts the fastest ways to affect change is to start with organizations that are already working on issues underserved communities face around education, economic development, health and wellness, safety, and social justice.
Passionate about this approach and ardent about lending helping hands to nonprofit organizations who need it most, Womack says, “If we can help them to solve some of their biggest problems and hurdles, they then can go on to help other people.”
Womack, along with co-founder Justin Dawkins officially launched Amplify4Good in August of 2014. Although technically still in its infancy, Womack tells me the the work has been underway since late 2007.
As an entrepreneur looking to secure funding for a
social media platform he was developing, Womack stumbled upon information he thought many of his other entrepreneur friends could use. He started an email list and eventually a Facebook group for information sharing, called Sf35. He felt a call to do more with this group of individuals he had brought together. Womack eventually received a call to help diversify Atlanta’s tech and startup week events, and from that charge, an event called Goodie Hack was created.[Related: Entrepreneurs Summit: 3 Entrepreneurs Dedicated to Advancing Education]
The response from Goodie Hack, which was only meant to be a one-time event, was so overwhelmingly positive that the demand for it increased. In fact, there were requests for Goodie Hacks all over the nation. This pushed Womack, Dawkins and their team to officially establish Amplify4Good as an organization and to think more broadly about how to create change effectively for one billion people.
The organization has its own ecosystem of community-based resources, products and programs for leaders, entrepreneurs and startup founders as well, creating pipelines for collaboration. Perhaps some of its most valuable content for these individuals is shared through Goodie Nation, a curated e-newsletter of the best local events for minority entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders. In line with this, the organization is in partnership with Black Enterprise
, hosting the Pre-Entrepreneurs’ Summit Mixer event, just days leading up to the highly anticipated 2015 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit in Atlanta.Find out more about the organization’s efforts on the next page …
Founder’s Therapy is another resource that provides solace for entrepreneurs facing their own challenges.
Womack believes the current ecosystem for change in our communities is incredibly inefficient, and he asserts the biggest reasons for that are lack of awareness and ego among those looking to effect change.
“I think that the goal of nonprofits should be to put themselves out of business,” he says. It’s a subversive way to think, and the idea of organizations “cannibalizing themselves” is a difficult one to swallow. Such a disruptive mentality is not without its challenges. For one, Womack says that egos come in when individuals or organizations looking to create change are more focused on being credited with crafting the solution, rather than collaborating. He also asserts that part of the problem is some nonprofits act like for-profits, with a disproportionate focus on raising money.
Then there’s the problem of awareness.
“You can often have individuals working on the same problem and maybe sometimes in the same area of the city and they have no idea that each other exists. So, our thing is if we can get people to collaborate in some way, shape or form we can then amplify those efforts so that one plus one doesn’t just equal two; it equals four or five.”
Similarly, he finds that there’s even a lack of awareness between organizations doing the work and companies and foundations looking to fund those efforts. He says, “In many cases, we find that the people doing the work either: don’t know the funders exist and they have this money available or the other way around – where funders don’t know who some of the best organizations are. If we can create better awareness around who’s already out there doing this work, we think that’s a huge step.”
The vision for Amplify4Good’s efforts is to build a huge database with an ecosystem of resources, mapping needs and creating recommendations for collaboration.
The organization is working to amplify its own efforts and raising awareness around their work by doing what they do best —equipping other social impact organizations. Through events like Goodie Innovation for CARE USA, Amplify4Good hosted a hackathon to help the humanitarian agency, whose mission is to deliver emergency relief and long-term international development projects, make steps toward solving their biggest problems.
Womack says he hopes the mixer will drive awareness for the Entrepreneurs Summit among young, upstart entrepreneurs in Atlanta. He also hopes to facilitate discussion among entrepreneurs in the Atlanta ecosystem to highlight recommendations for resources and organizations people can use to propel their businesses and their causes forward. Finally, he hopes new entrepreneurs will be able to take that information and know exactly where to go to seek out things like mentorship and funding.
Learn more about Amplify4Good’s efforts by visiting their Website, and connecting with them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Courtney Herring is the founder of The Champ Media Agency and a digital strategist dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and organizations create effective content strategy to nurture inspired and engaged online communities. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.