Caravan Studios, a division of TechSoup Global, focuses on developing technology tools to assist communities in addressing local problems through a collaborative design process. They have created apps like Range for meal location during summer school closures, SafeNight for emergency hotel placements for domestic violence victims, and 4Bells for volunteer coordination in rescue situations. Additionally, the 'Made at the Library' project aims to enhance engagement with open government services in Brazilian municipal libraries by developing innovative tools and resources over a two-year period, supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

1. Contact:
Marnie
Webb,
webb@caravanstudios.org
About
Caravan
Studios
Caravan
Studios
is
the
newest
division
of
TechSoup
Global,
a
501(c)(3)
nonprofit
organization.
For
over
25
years,
TechSoup
Global
has
leveraged
technology
to
build
NGO
capacity
towards
solving
social
problems
in
local
communities
and
fostering
global
social
change.
Caravan
Studios
works
with
communities
to
develop
tools
that
help
them
organize,
access,
and
use
local
resources
to
address
pressing
problems.
The
team
at
Caravan
Studios
works
with
local
subject
matter
experts
to:
1. Generate
opportunities
for
technology
to
be
helpful
in
specific
issue
areas.
2. Design
responses,
from
community
members,
to
those
opportunities.
3. Select
the
designs
that
will
have
the
biggest
impact.
4. Build
the
resulting
technology.
5. Use
the
tools
within
the
community
to
create
change.
This
design
method
has
produced:
• Range
a
mobile
app
that
displays
the
nearest
place
for
a
youth
to
get
a
free
meal.
In
working
with
the
hunger
community
in
the
US,
the
team
learned
about
an
enormous
problem:
US
schools
shut
down
in
the
summer
time
and
the
youth
who
depended
on
federally-­‐funded
free
lunch
programs
no
longer
know
where
to
go.
Range
helps
by
making
it
exceptionally
easy
for
people
like
librarians,
street
outreach
workers,
police
officers,
individuals
who
work
at
faith
based
organizations,
and
others
to
share
the
location
of
a
nearby
meal
site.
• SafeNight
provides
a
mechanism
for
people
working
at
domestic
violence
shelters
to
alert
individual
donors
to
fund
emergency,
on-­‐demand
hotel
placements
when
there
is
no
appropriate
space
in
a
shelter.
The
mobile
app
gives
the
donor
an
easy
and
secure
way
to
pay
for
the
hotel
room
without
revealing
the
identity
or
location
of
the
person
who
needs
support
or
the
person
who
is
providing
funding.
• 4Bells
provides
a
lightweight
way
for
organizers
to
take
advantage
of
the
willing
hands
of
people
who
want
to
help.
Designed
for
use
in
rescue
situations,
4Bells
helps
makes
sure
that
the
person
with
the
right
set
of
skills
shows
up
at
the
right
place.
For
More
See:
• Caravan
Studios:
http://www.caravanstudios.org
• Range:
http://www.RangeApp.org
• SafeNight:
http://www.SafeNightApp.org
• 4Bells:
http://www.4Bells.org

2. Contact:
Marnie
Webb,
webb@caravanstudios.org
About
Made
at
the
Library
This
project,
called
Made
at
the
Library,
will
support
two
municipal
Brazilian
libraries
in
a
concerted
effort
to
increase
engagement
with
and
use
of
open
government
services,
resources,
and
datasets.
The
project
will
use
a
community-­‐
centered
design
methodology
and
will
develop
new
collaborations,
resources,
and
technology
tools
over
the
two
years
of
the
grant.
With
the
goal
of
fostering
collaboration
and
further
innovation
in
public
access
to
open
government
data
through
municipal
libraries
in
Brazil,
we
also
will
share
the
methodology
and
resulting
case
studies
broadly
through
a
variety
of
publications
and
convenings
with
appropriate
communities.
The
approach
comprises
four
distinct
phases:
1. Laying
the
Groundwork:
Landscape
analysis
and
engagement
with
key
stakeholders.
2. Bolstering
Local
Capacities:
Skills-­‐building
trainings
for
libraries
in
selected
municipal
systems.
3. Building
Innovative
Tools
and
Resources:
Development
and
dissemination
of
mobile
apps,
resource
map,
and
methodology
for
engagement.
4. Sharing
Knowledge
and
Learnings:
Dissemination
of
tools
and
resources
within
the
library
and
open
government
communities
in
Brazil
and
Lusophone
Africa.
The
results
of
this
activity?
At
least
three
mobile
tools
that
better
connect
a
library’s
specific
constituency
to
relevant
open
government
services,
resources,
and
datasets;
a
guidebook
for
other
Brazilian
libraries
who
wish
to
do
similar
work;
and
a
clear
way
for
making
the
library
a
platform
for
knowledge-­‐sharing
and
engagement
in
the
community.
This
work
is
funded
by
a
two-­‐year
grant
from
the
Bill
&
Melinda
Gates
Foundation.
The
work
will
be
done
in
strong
collaboration
with
local
librarians,
library
leaders,
open
government
activists,
and
relevant
government
leaders.
It
will
build
on
the
foundation
work
that
has
happened
in
Brazil—at
the
government
and
the
community
level—around
open
government
initiatives.
The
results
of
the
work
will
be
shared
with
other
Lusophone
countries
and
translated
as
appropriate
for
other
communities.