Category: Nonprofit

Many organizations invest in infrastructure for future needs but may overlook needed technical training and cloud modernization skills for people within the organization. The AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (AWS CAF) provides guidance outlined in six different perspectives for an organization’s cloud transformation journey. One of these perspectives, People perspective: culture and change, addresses how to develop capabilities for the growth of people within an organization. Learn how developing key capabilities within the People perspective of the AWS CAF can support long-term mission success.

The 2023 IMAGINE: Nonprofit conference brought together hundreds of nonprofit leaders, technologists, and innovators to learn and share how AWS Cloud technology can drive a positive impact for people and the planet. Chelsea Clinton, author, advocate, and vice chair of the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, spoke with Francessca Vasquez, AWS vice president of technology and customer solutions, about their passions for data and leadership during a fireside chat. Plus, AWS announced new initiatives to support nonprofits with funding and more. Discover some of the top moments from IMAGINE: Nonprofit.

In 2022, Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI) Global Hackathon, part of a new collaboration with the International Research Centre in Artificial Intelligence, under the auspices of UNESCO. Participants were asked to use their creativity, intelligence, and technical skills to build sustainability solutions using data from ASDI on any AWS Cloud services to build solutions that support one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the United Nations (UN). We connected with Jeff McWhirter, the first place winner, to learn more about his winning project, the Repository for Archiving and MAnaging Diverse Data (RAMADDA).

Today at the IMAGINE: Nonprofit conference, AWS launched the 2023 AWS IMAGINE Grant cycle. Each year, the grant program provides a holistic package of resources, including unrestricted funding, to nonprofit organizations pursuing cloud technology projects for mission impact. Through the IMAGINE Grant, AWS discovers nonprofits that are bringing high-impact technology projects to life. New this year, nonprofits applying for the Momentum to Modernize award may now receive up to $50,000 in funding towards their foundational cloud projects. Learn how to apply now.

Today, AWS announced the addition of new nonprofit solutions in the AWS Solutions Library and AWS Marketplace. These solutions are tailored to the unique requirements of credit unions and nonprofit research organizations. They range from architectural guidance to ready-to-deploy solutions, and also include offerings developed by AWS Partners. Learn the solution categories that collect these new solutions into important mission areas, as well as some of the specific solutions that can help credit unions or research organizations get started with AWS.

Amazon Lightsail for Research is a new service that makes it simple to incorporate cloud computing resources into your work without cloud experience. With Lightsail for Research, you can shift large and/or time-consuming analysis from your laptop onto powerful cloud resources, run multiple analyses simultaneously, and continue computations even when your laptop is off or being used for other activities. In this blog post, learn how to use Lightsail for Research with a simple but common use case.

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida. At the request of standby organizations Help.NGO and Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC), the AWS Disaster Preparedness and Response team assisted with response operations across a variety of functions in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

As part of the Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI), AWS invited Seán Lynch, the founder of OpenLitterMap, to share how AWS technologies and open data are helping to solve global challenges like biodiversity loss and plastic pollution with citizen science. Solutions like OpenLitterMap help unlock the potential that a global abundance of technology has for the collection and dissemination of pertinent data that is an instrumental part of positive social change.

Registration is now open for the IMAGINE: Nonprofit conference presented by AWS. On Tuesday, March 14 at the Capital Turnaround in Washington, DC, this no-cost, in-person event brings together the nonprofit community to learn and engage around how innovation in the cloud can drive positive change for people and the planet. With visionary leadership sessions, access to technical experts, networking opportunities, and more, the IMAGINE: Nonprofit conference provides an educational and collaborative experience focused on how to lead in a changing world, future-proof your organization, and scale impact.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the number one cause of death for student athletes and the leading cause of death on school campuses. The nonprofit Who We Play For (WWPF) advocates for SCA prevention through advocacy, automated external defibrillator (AED) placement, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training, and heart screenings, which include low-cost electrocardiogram (ECG) screenings from physicians that are experts in pediatric ECG interpretation. To scale their efforts, WWPF collaborated with AWS to build a ML solution to help extend the chance to get screened for SCA to every young person, potentially saving many lives each year.