When we set out to build HeroBridge in 2018, the world was a different place. This is the story of how we built a civic tech so novel that it even caught the attention of MIT Media Labs
HeroBridge's roots go back to India where in 2009 we used a simple SMS platform to reveal unseen factors that influenced job satisfaction. We discovered it's all about community and how civic technology could be used to strengthen access to resources and greatly improve the lived experience of groups and communities.
In 2018 we took this know-how and began building a frontier media technology that could connect marginalized communities to existing local mentorship and real world supportive services and resources in Los Angeles . We had no idea what the future had in store for all of us, as our technology was suddenly called into action during the darkest months of the COVID pandemic lockdown and provided a critical 24/7 life line of relationship and care for Stepping Forward LA's mentored foster youth .
This experience defined us. We verifiably "augmented the reality" of LA's marginalized.
By 2022, Hero Bridge had grown into a full service enterprise media and resource management platform, accessible through smartphone apps and designed to serve communities of all kinds.
These vibrant communities enjoy enhanced access to relationship, life enriching resources and wrap around services curated to the goals and special needs of their community groups and individuals.
We also proudly train our community managers directly from the communities served, resulting in truly informed content and connection. With a limitless number of bespoke groups and access to thousands of on-demand life-readying media resources, communities can unleash their superpowers & greatly improve outcomes.
Evidence of Impact
Because HeroBridge was originally built as a Corporate Social Responsibility tool, the measurement of reportable and verifiable impact was always part of its value proposition. After all ESG data collection is a multi billion dollar industry.
Unlike many other platforms that offer little or no control over your data, HeroBridge channels all its features through white label apps, that feature client controlled KPI data collection that evidences impact on a single platform. For example, our ability to geolocate resource access to a community's needs, "augments the reality" of each member and the community. The results can be astounding:
Community Augmented Reality
Most of us take it for granted that the Uber ride to work or Postmates chicken parm we ordered will show up, on demand. We pay no mind to how we seamlessly stay in touch with friends and family using Zoom, Instagram, WhatsAp and Family Locator. Technology "augments" our reality, making connection to resources and relationships frictionless.
By contrast for example, the reality of a young person leaving the foster care system, a recently discharged vet, or even a young bipoc student or professional can be an uncertain, lonely and scary place, often devoid of healthy supportive relationships, direction and ready access to resources. If you could seamlessly 'augment' their reality through connection to a nurturing community wouldn't you?
We did.
What makes HeroBridge unique is its ability to frictionlessly organize and connect ANY real world community to its resources and use immersive media features to organically encourage access to supportive services, geolocated resources, life enriching activities, goal setting programs and most importantly help seeking relationship.
Now imagine you're a financial supporter of a HeroBridge community. How valuable and exciting would it be to receive daily, weekly or monthly news re the specific impact your support has made? Closed-loop, data-backed storytelling that could shape your decisionmaking and change your expectations of giving - forever.
Our Next Frontier
Our 'pinch me' moment came when HeroBridge's groundbreaking tech caught the attention of MIT Media Labs, Affective Computing Group. Soon after, on November 5, 2022 HeroBridge and MIT signed a long term AI/AR/ML development collaboration to take community mentorship and learning to a whole new level.
This groundbreaking use of data will serve donors - so they can learn, become informed and guided regarding the efficacy of their philanthropic spending on target issues, and become more connected, empirical, intelligent and predictive about the impact of their support. In short - data informed solutions to society's biggest problems through compassion, kinship and community.
We Need One More Thing: You
For 2024 we need your help to build the next phase of HeroBridge's Community Supportive Community, (CSC) Technology. A revolutionary intelligence platform that connects you the donor to our communities and assures their sustainability and efficacy into perpetuity. In 2024 we intend to realize our goal of giving our technology away for free- forever- to the nonprofit communities who need them, while delivering to donors verified data of impact and open accountability. Win-win.
What would large family offices, corporations, foundations and DAFs pay to become part of a new community of philanthropic impact? One that treats every donor like a stakeholder - in control of how and when each donation is utilized. The ability to receive immersive stories and data reports that support their Impact Return on Investment.
Or imagine a DAF that incorporates HeroBridge's technology to provide members detailed tracking of resource efficiency and efficacy, backed by machine learning on what works - as a means of improving outcomes that can be offered to other organizations so they can become more effective in their missions. In short...
We intend to change giving forever...and for the better.
We invite you to come become part of a brand new, frictionless relationship between donor community and supported community,