Thanks to our pal Danielle Hart of New Leaf Digital for this guest article on the Causathon for Haiti coming up!  

If you’re looking to take your geeky skills to the next level and really put them to work for an awesome case, this looks like it’s the perfect event to make that happen!

Come on out this Wednesday to Real Estate Row to the Causathon for Haiti – Build for a Cause where two nonprofits, New Leaf Digital and Birmingham-based nonprofit Creative Exchanges Initiative, are partnering up for a fundraiser and an innovation challenge.

What sets this Causathon apart?

One word: IMPACT! The goal of the event is to start a movement of promoting healthy systemic change via technology to help make sure the right resources are allocated in the right places so not to kill the local economy. CEI approached NLD specifically to harness Huntsville brainpower to create a cutting edge app.

“Relationships come first. We work on grassroots capacity building in a community to reach a tipping point of transformation quickly. So in everything we do, from goats to media, agriculture to art, we work to democratize power and create civic infrastructure,” said Creative Exchanges Initiatives CEO Catherine Parrill.  “We are excited for Huntsville talent to make our dream a reality in bringing this vision to life.”

The innovation challenge is to create app concepts for an economically self-supporting “hub” where people and orgs in Haiti, the U.S., Canada and elsewhere can access ideas, information, and resources that will spread aid healthy systemic change and sustainable development throughout Haiti.

The call for participants is open to innovators of any age or background with interest in helping his movement. While no tech skills are required, we need designers, engineers, subject matter experts on Haiti, and creative thinkers to make this happen. Come with a team or come solo and you’ll be connected immediately.

Stoked to help?

Join us on Wednesday, July 19, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Real Estate Row at 1806 University Drive NW in Huntsville. Entry is free. Food and drinks will be provided. There will be cash prizes for the winners. If you want to learn more on CEI’s initiatives yet can’t compete, please drop by from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The secondary goal of this event is to raise funds that will go directly into getting the app developed and promoted while continuing the work started on July 19^th to ultimately help fund CEI’s lead work in continual creation and extension of best practices models. You can donate in person or via the CEI’s GoFundMe page.

The event is being led by New Leaf Digital’s Director of Innovation Services Matt Brooks, creator of 4 Hours to Product – a monthly design competition comprised of teams of innovators from different professional backgrounds who collaborate, from idea to prototype, to create impactful new technological products through rapid brainstorming and development, in only four hours.

PRIMARY SPONSOR:      Huntsville STEAM Works

ABOUT NEW LEAF DIGITAL:  New Leaf Digital seeks to foster innovation growth in Huntsville as a modern STEAM hub that embraces startup culture and leverages a broad and diverse community of entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and businesses. More info is available at https://www.newleafdigital.org.

ABOUT CREATIVE INITATIVES EXCHANGE:  At Creative Exchanges Initiative (CEI), authentic engagement and cross-cultural collaboration are foundational to all that we do. We are committed to democratizing power and to overcoming the constraints of inequality whether we’re working to alleviate poverty, facilitating cultural exchanges and trainings, or bringing the arts to under-served populations. We address community, institutional, and interpersonal change in each of our initiatives. More info is available at http://www.ceihaiti.org.