Category: Blogs
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Where Technology Meets Community: Spotlight on Rhiannon O’Donnell
Written by Isabella Jaramillo A New Beginning in Gainesville As a college freshman [in 2021], Rhiannon, like many others, felt a desire to explore, grow, and prove something to herself. New to the Gainesville community, she wanted to make a difference, inspired by her father. She shared that volunteering transformed her father’s life after his…
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Exploring Marine Debris Data in Florida for a Healthier Ocean
Analysis by Chloe Bai As a Florida Community Innovation (FCI) student fellow, I have been supported to explore my longstanding interest in ocean health and data analysis. The work presented here analyzes citizen-collected data from the Marine Debris Tracker (MDT) project, with a focus on Florida’s coasts. Using insights from this data, I explore patterns…
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FCI Handbook
Florida Community Innovation (FCI) started in 2020 with a simple but powerful goal: use tech, research, and outreach to help Florida communities thrive. At FCI, we offer our skills to organizations doing the hard work on the ground and stay committed to building with, not for, the communities we serve. That’s why we pay students—especially…
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Building Effective Volunteer Communities: Lessons from Code for Philly
Creating a space for volunteers and college students to thrive, especially in a remote environment, is no easy feat. When we (Caroline and Juliana from Florida Community Innovation, a social good tech nonprofit) had the chance to chat with Kat Jost from Code for Philly (Philadelphia’s largest civic tech volunteer organization), we knew we were…
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Startup Weekend Orlando: A Launchpad for New Ventures
Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Startup Weekend Orlando (SWORL), an event that brought together aspiring entrepreneurs, mentors, and industry experts for an intensive learning experience. I attended with Joel Samuel (Left) and Marco Fernandex (Right) from the University of Florida, and the weekend walked us through the foundational steps of launching a…
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Innovating for Impact: Insights from FCI’s Rally Accelerator Experience
The Florida Resource Map (FRM) team at Florida Community Innovation (FCI) recently had the privilege of attending a Rally Accelerator Workshop in Orlando, Florida. Rich Nguyen, Joel Samuel, and Nick Tayag — all undergraduates at the University of Florida — of the FRM team learned skills such as refining a pitch, problem-solving, and keeping FCI…
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FCI’s Mission to Enhance LGBTQ+ Resource Access: A Congressional Briefing Spotlight
Florida Community Innovation (FCI) connects Florida’s citizens with trusted information and resources to navigate challenging times. We do this by empowering young innovators to build scalable social services technology, do research, and engage in community service for their own communities, with over 50 students and volunteers of all ages supported by FCI. FCI has partnered…
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Engaging with Educational Institutions for Civic Tech Research and Development
Creating opportunities for civic technologists in training is a crucial part of Florida Community Innovation (FCI)’s mission. We’re often asked by our nonprofit partners: what advice would you give to other organizations looking to engage with educational institutions on civic tech efforts in a sustainable way? This guide is an overview of FCI’s advice on…
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Tech can Help my Home of Miami
Giving Tuesday is huge for nonprofits and is coming up fast. With Give Miami Day today (run by the very awesome Miami Foundation), we have a fantastic opportunity to get ahead of the curve with fundraising! We’re Loving Give Miami Day Members of our team are in Miami Day right now celebrating and raising money to support…
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Things you need to know about domestic violence and language barriers
At FCI, while we develop projects like the Florida Community Resource Map, we strive to think and write critically about issues that the Map could help address. The newest version of the Map will include domestic violence resources, and we’re hoping to expand our Spanish-language offerings. Accordingly, one of our students and one of our board…
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Our Gainesville Data Walk
Florida Community Innovation (FCI) is a nonprofit based in Florida that empowers young innovators to build social services technologies for their communities and engage in public service projects. FCI’s projects include the Florida Community Resource Map – which will match Floridians in need to food banks, job resources, and more – as well as a…
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Bridging the resource gap in Central Florida
Driving through the Orlando metropolitan area, you can see a plethora of storefronts belonging to social services organizations. Across the nation, resources like these exist to help anyone that might need their care. These pillars of our communities are evidence that in an often unforgiving world, compassionate support exists. The tireless work of these organizations…
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Studying Abroad Without Breaking the Bank: Advice from Erika and Aimee Clesi
On November 9, 2022, students from Florida Community Innovation interviewed Aimee and Erika Clesi, recent Gator grads and identical twins, about how they were able to study abroad multiple times while enrolled at the University of Florida (without breaking the bank!). Erika is now a journalist working in Florida and Aimee is a Rhodes Scholar…
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Harmonizing Hope: MADWOMAN and Max Bleiweis Lead the Way in Uplifting Gainesville’s Music Community
If I could describe the Gainesville music scene in one word, it would be “uplifting.” After experiencing how local music lovers in Gainesville uplift local artists through my involvement in Swamp Records, I decided to explore how these artists uplift each other. Musicians like the soul-funk band members of MADWOMAN and bassist Max Bleiweis stand…