“Blog Post” - Blockchain and a personalized donation experience – making sure your donation is going to the right hands

Because the next big thing will be a lot of small things.

This post is part of the Toptal Scholarships Contest

Summary

§  One of the main reasons that people do not donate is that, once the money is out of your pocket, it can basically go anywhere;

§  With blockchain technology, you are able to track if your donation has reached the person in need;

§  The platform would be for donation of items only, all new and related to keeping the refugee healthy, purchased at supermarkets, shops or pharmacies;

§  Each refugee has a file that is validated by a trusted organization

§  It is very difficult for each organization to provide exactly what the refugee needs since we are dealing with a very high number of people. With this initiative, each person in need gets exactly the item that is urgent, avoiding waste and optimizing distribution;

§  100% safe for refugees – they select the pick-up points (supermarket, pharmacy, shop) and the information can only be seen by them.

§  Refugees are able to provide proof of need to NGO’s regarding expensive items if necessary (devices to measure diabetes, monitoring blood pressure, etc.);

Introduction

When I first moved to London back in 2013, to this tiny little student's dorm room with blue walls next to a beautiful hill, I was not the only one having a major change in my life. Rising numbers of refugees were arriving in the EU as well, fleeing from war and looking for a safe place where they could settle. However, what most of them found over there was nothing but sleeping rough or in tents, sometimes in the middle of the woods. The so-called Refugee Crisis started to flood every newspaper with dreadful news. But that's not exactly what this post is about.

The thing is that slowly the issue has lost space in the media, and now in 2019 most people seem to believe that the crisis is coming to an end just because it's not broadcasted anymore. However, according to the communication agency "Agencia Brasil", there are currently 1.1 million people in such situation in Brazil, coming predominantly from Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti. 

Let me give you some more context.

I do not remember the first time I worked as a volunteer. What I do remember is that when I was 12, I used to skip school class to play chess at a care home next door. At the age of 15, I started to collect clothes so the local church could distribute to the homeless. By the time I was 20, I was already helping at a Latin American NGO that constructs transitional housing and implements social inclusion programs. And of course, when the refugee crisis reached its peak, I subscribed as a front-line volunteer, acting in Calais and Dunkirk. If there is one thing I can say as an experienced volunteer is that donations ARE NEEDED as much as they are scarce.

Problem Statement – The As-Is Scenario

A lot of people were deeply moved by the crisis back in 2014, and the volume of volunteers would be so high that I was not even needed 100% of the time in the front line. In summer, tourists would come all the way from other continents to help deliver clothes, food and bring first aid to the refugees.

Unfortunately, this has changed quite a bit. 

     

Talking about my experience in France, by the end of 2018 it was already a struggle to find volunteers. When I returned from a project in Asia, the organization I was part of had gone from 20+ waiting list to (luckily) 2 half-empty cars per month. There are still today (March 2019) around 500-800 undocumented refugees sleeping in tents only in Calais/ Dunkirk (France) according to the manager of the NGO Gent4Refugees. A lot of them had their asylum request refused and sit there waiting for the time to pass. I'm talking about students of engineer, chefs, language teachers; you can find all profiles among them. While waiting in conditions of poverty and lack of basic-needs accessories, sickness, stress, constant fear and sadness of being separated from their families, most refugees start showing signs of depression, trauma and other mental health illnesses.

Another recurrent problem is the lack of organization – what my solution wants to bring to the next level – regarding distribution of items. In order to devote more time to serious injuries during first aid, the distribution of basic products such as soap, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, etc. is random. Sometimes we see products being left behind because it was not needed, or someone back in the line does not get an item that she/he needed more than others.

This got me thinking: how can I, an engineer/ UI/UX designer/ strategy consultant, bring value to this situation? 

I’m now going to take you on my ideation journey J enjoy the ride

Automation & Centralization

Brainstorm part 1: I can optimize a lot of the volunteer work. That’s how it started. One thing I did notice is how the organizations are decentralized: only if there was a safe platform where they can all coordinate who is going to bring what, and when! It would avoid that day when too many volunteers came to serve food and there was a lot of left overs... or that week when nobody showed up and, well, nobody showed up... 

Time in a limbo

I wonder if at this point you are asking yourself if refugees have access to the internet. Don't be surprised when I say they do! In fact, in Europe there are event initiatives like "phone credit for refugees", providing them with SIM cards, data and credits to call their families, communicate among each other and pass their time. A small number of NGOs communicate with them through Facebook to bring items that are in urgent need in this way. In Brazil the devices tend to be less sophisticated and is a bit more difficult to get credits, but yes, refugees are connected!

Your Vision to Change the World – The To-Be Scenario

The world is a very, very big place, and this is precisely the reason why I’m starting small.

Through this platform, refugees are able to sign in, be verified by an NGO, and post what is the item they need urgently. After you decided which item you want to donate, the refugee indicates where he would like to pick it up (this information will not be visible) and you will get updates on the status of your donation. In the case of a very expensive request, such as a device to monitor diabetes or blood pressure, the end-user will get an approval from one of the NGOs stating that the material is necessary. The idea is that the process is as transparent as possible, only sensitive information is not provided, and you will be able to see exactly where your donation is making a difference.

My plan is to quick off the project in two local initiatives in Brazil and France – the countries I am more often at because of my job. After facing the first challenges, gathering the first feedbacks and building a solid network, I intend to scale up the project to other locations.

Coming back to the vision of changing the world, this project shall revolutionize the donation experience. Fast forward to the future, several iterations and brainstorms resulted in a trusted platform that can reach anyone, anywhere, and you as a donator will be 100% sure that your money was used to help someone in need. This does not only restrict the platform to refugees: in a further stage, homeless or people living in poverty, students in need, people struggling with medical conditions, a single mother that cannot pay the bills… all profiles in need will be able to ask for health-related items, all secured and tracked by blockchain technology. The safety that blockchain provides will also protect the identity of the users.

How you Believe you can Accomplish your Goals

First of all, what is my goal, right? I’ll make it obvious: Helping whoever is in need of basic material to guarantee dignity.

During the first quarter of 2019, my idea was selected to participate on the Healthcare Innovation Bootcamp of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, together with Harvard University! (Can you believe that? I almost didn’t). During the MIT Bootcamp, which acts similar as an incubator, the idea will come to life and be deployed!

Timeline – Short Term

The MIT Bootcamp will happen in June 2019, and the project should go live almost immediately. On a short term, I’m right on track towards my goal. There is just one little problem…

Financial Need: What would you do with the $10,000 from the Scholarship?

The total price of the MIT Bootcamp is $8,000, and it lasts for 10 days. This means that if I stay at a hotel with rates of 80$ per day and spend an average of 30$ per day with breakfast, lunch and dinner, I have 900$ left to purchase a ticket from Rio de Janeiro to Boston. I already have a visa to the USA since I was in MIT in 2017 (another long story I can tell you later). The value of the scholarship could not fit my purpose more perfectly – it is exactly the amount I needed.

“You were selected from an outstanding pool of applicants based on the selection criteria: capacity for calculated risk, open and critical thinking, initiative with follow­through, and focus on community. MIT’s mission is to educate students in science and technology to best prepare them to solve the world’s greatest challenges.”

Although I have been working for 7 months now (since I graduated from my Masters in summer 2018) I still have a relatively low salary and heavy debts to quit - I contribute on a regular basis with my family’s income. The initial idea was to ask for sponsorship at work, but I was compelled to look for an alternative. After thorough research on the internet, I realized that the Toptal scholarship is my only chance of going to MIT – no other initiatives would be able to support me on time.

Long Term

Once the platform successfully kicks off, it is a lot easier to get sponsorship in order to continue. The costs for keeping it running are not as high as deploying, and partnerships can be made with service providers (supermarkets and pharmacies) or brands. I would be happy to discuss the business model over the call.

The support and mentorship you need to accomplish your goals

The guaranteed support given by MIT will only last until the Bootcamp is going on. After that, my team will carry on the initiative ourselves. I would like to take the opportunity of a one-year-long mentorship of Toptal  to take the user interface and experience of this initiative to the next level: mentorship from an experienced designer that can help me make an extremely user-friendly interface and spot flaws that only someone with a trained eye could do.

As an example, the profile of Andy Fox would be ideal since he is not only a senior product designer, but also has experience as a startup advisor and online business.

About Me (Academic and Professional Accomplishments)

I arrived in Belgium in August 2016, by myself and with 200€ in my account, in order to follow a master course in engineering that I had been recently invited to attend. It was during a period of crisis in Brazil and a lot of things were uncertain. I could not rely on my parents moneywise, so the solution was simple yet quite demanding: I’d follow courses from 8 am to 5 pm, rush to Dutch classes between 7 and 9 pm, and by 10 pm I’d already be at the bar, serving to pay for my expenses. Some nights I’d easily go on until 6 am, and then straight to class. I believe that leaving everything behind, managing my schedule and being able to keep up with the rush for so long is by far the most notable accomplishment I have.

Since 6 months ago I started working on my first job, as an UI/UX designer and digital strategist, with clients from Banking & Insurance to Chemicals and Life Sciences industry. The workload is rather heavy - especially for a 26-year-old beginner: I am on a different country every week, see my family very little, take a lot of long flights… but in such a short time I have already met the vice president and the CIO of IBM, interviewed the CDO of Allianz, spoke on the phone with the CEO of ABInBev and even got a neural style picture with the CEO of KBC while discussing deep learning in an event for CXO’s  (the last who was also elected Manager of the Year 2018 by Harvard Business Review). The exposure I’ve got in 200 days of work is unmeasurable.

As a small intermezzo: I already knew that there was a lack of women’s representation in leading positions, but I did not know how huge this gap was!! (Double exclamation point). In order to inspire young graduates, my team started a series of internal initiatives focused on female students from middle school to university level, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. While working with youngsters, I came to realize how important it is to show that there is also space for women in the consulting world.

Recently I have been shortlisted as a Next Generation Women Leader 2019 by McKinsey & Company and in total have already received more than 10 honors and awards, including the Jane M Klausman Women in Business and IBM Manager Choice Award. I also graduated summa cum laude my dual degree in Machinery and Robotics in Japan and had the highest grade of my class for my master thesis.

Finally, I am absolutely in love with Toptal’s paragraph that says "We’re committed to empowering the next generation of female CEOs, founders, and world leaders who want to change the world. We’d like to give you what you need to get there." My ultimate goal is to, one day, be the one helping you carry your legacy by empowering the young girls of today to become the leaders of tomorrow.

 Karen P.

Fortaleza, 31/03/2019

The Toptal Scholarships Contest (also called the Toptal Scholarships, herein the “Scholarships Program”) is administered and managed by Toptal, LLC (“Toptal”), with an address of 548 Market Street, #36879, San Francisco, California 94104, USA.