Imagine: A Better World – A Global Nonprofit Conference Recap

Register for the 2019 IMAGINE: A Better World, A Global Nonprofit Conference here.

To further the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, we presented Imagine: A Better World – a global nonprofit conference where over 270 nonprofit leaders from around the globe convened at the Amazon Meeting Center in Seattle for a unique and collaborative learning experience.

There were three high-level conference themes:

1. Overcoming global challenges through technology
2. Increasing scale and reach through effective marketing and fundraising
3. Powering mission and marketing efforts through Amazon’s social good community

AWS hosted the Smart Technology and the Sustainable Development Goals track, where attendees learned best practices and engaged in interactive dialogues around technology’s role in ensuring everyone has the opportunity to live a life of dignity on a healthy planet.

AWS, American Heart Association, AARP Foundation, and Global Citizen took the stage and delivered keynotes that outlined their vision, work, and possibilities for the future in a world that can be changed.

Track sessions included:

• What Really Matters: The Ocean, Data, and New Insights – Ocean Conservancy: Andreas Merkl, President, Ocean Conservancy, discussed the intricate and potentially catastrophic effects climate change is having on our world’s oceans and underwater ecosystems. He highlighted what the data is saying and what happens next.
• Culture & Capacity Building: Technology Skills Development and the Developing World – Digital Divide Data: Frank Heitmann, President, Digital Divide Data, talked about their Cloud Academy providing AWS training to young Kenyans and helping them put their new skills to work on a project at the National Museums of Kenya to preserve their country’s and the world’s human and technology evolutionary history.
• Technology-Driven Problem Solving: Improving Farm Resilience & Emergency Decision Making – World Vision International: Ed Anderson, Global Chief Information Officer, World Vision International, talked about their Early Warning Actions/Farmer Information System that is being used to help Mali farmers make informed decisions about crop types in demand, planting, disease and pest management, harvesting and more, showing what data can do in action to improve people’s livelihood and quality of life.
• The Social Progress Challenge – Social Progress Imperative: Michael Green, Chief Executive Officer, Social Progress Imperative, shared how they are mapping data to social and environmental indicators to measure the three dimensions of social progress: basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity. Hear how the United States did on their social progress score card.
• From Bytes to Classrooms: How Technology and Data are Transforming Brazil’s Public Education – Qedu: Cesar Wedemann, Chief Executive Officer, QEdu, discussed using data to improve Brazil’s education system by providing national leaders and policy makers actionable information, as well as providing schools with new assessment and testing tools that are improving student engagement and results.
• Cyber Considerations for Nonprofits: Understanding the Vulnerabilities within your Cyber Assets and How to Protect Them – C5 Capital-led Panel: Panelists from C5 Capital, SAP National Security Services, International Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and AWS discussed why nonprofits should consider how cybersecurity issues apply to them and how they can ensure they are protected.
• The Voice of Data & Gender Equality – Gates Foundation: Saara Romu, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, talked about the voice of data and gender equality, the challenges and data gap, and what strides have been made in understanding the global landscape of inequality.
• Getting to Zero: Finding Cures with Zeros & Ones – Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center: Dirk Peterson, Scientific Computing Director, Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center, discussed how cloud computing is advancing their research capabilities and how advanced machine learning, natural language processing, and image analysis are providing new avenues for cancer predication and classification.

Amazon.com hosted concurrent sessions where Amazon specialists and nonprofit thought leaders shared learnings and best practices in social media, digital presence, and community engagement. Networking events closed out each day where all participants collaborated with one another and had the opportunity to engage with the various teams across Amazon dedicated to driving impact in the social sector. These included AWS Open Data, AmazonSmile, Amazon Media Group, AWS Cloud Credits for Research, We Power Tech, Amazon Business, Amazon Pay, Amazon Web Services, AWS Educate, and Merch by Amazon.

Learn more about how AWS can help your organization.