CREATE
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2020 Grants Challenge

S.T.E.A.M. Collective

Idea by Hacker Fund

The S.T.E.A.M. Collective is a collaboration between Hacker Fund and Road to Artdom. Together, we will empower technologists and artists living in Los Angeles County to harness their creativity and build technology and creative arts organizations that educate the disadvantaged, inspire the community, protect the environment. We will provide up to 50 innovators with fiscal sponsorship, capacity-building services, and mentorship so they can prototype, launch, and hire Angelenos.

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In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?

County of Los Angeles

In what stage of innovation is this project?

Expand existing program

Please list the organizations collaborating on this proposal.

Road to Artdom

If you are submitting a collaborative proposal, please describe the specific role of partner organizations in the project.

Road to Artdom will be providing staff personnel and art supplies to support this program.

What is the need you’re responding to?

After serving technologists and artists working in the nonprofit sector for a collective ten years, we have learned that innovators want to focus on building and creating, not the paperwork nightmare that is oftentimes associated with launching and running a nonprofit organizations. We are addressing this administrative need by joining forces to reduce the overhead expenses preventing diverse engineers, designers, data scientists, and artists from serving the community effectively.

Why is this project important to the work of your organization?​

Both Hacker Fund and Road to Artdom are effective fiscal sponsors that have a track record of serving technologists and artists in LA County, respectively. Hacker Fund has helped launch Hack for LA programs, Artificial Intelligence LA, and the Compton Innovation Center, while Road to Artdom has helped launch Comedy Gives Back. This S.T.E.A.M. Collective is important to the work of both of our organizations because it represents a merger of two conductors of nonprofit incubation in Los Angeles county into one efficient engine of social entrepreneurship.

Approximately how many people will be impacted by this proposal?​

Direct Impact: 50

Indirect Impact: 5,000

Please describe the broader impact of your proposal.

The S.T.E.A.M. Collective will serve 10-20 project teams that will consist of 2-5 members each. Once each project launches, it will have the capacity to recruit over 500 Angelenos to the cause, either as volunteers of full-time/part-time staff. In doing so, the S.T.E.A.M. Collective will procure the employment for Angelenos in creative and tech industries and will launch art installations, exhibitions, and arts establishment.

Please explain how you will define and measure success for your project.

We will measure success with the following metrics:

- Number of prototypes

- Number of projects/installations launched

- Number of volunteers recruited

- Funding raised per project

- Job created per project per industry (tech & creative)

- Angelenos hired per project

We have an online dashboard that our cohort members will use to report their metrics during and after the program so that we can track their progress and impact.

We envision 10 new social impact projects created and work opportunities for 5000+ Angelenos who seek to enter the tech and creative industries.

Which of the CREATE metrics will your submission impact?​

Arts establishments, instillations, and exhibitions

Employment in the tech industries

Employment in the creative industries

Are there any other LA2050 goal categories that your proposal will impact?​

LA is the best place to LEARN

Which of LA2050’s resources will be of the most value to you?​

Host public events or gatherings

Communications support

Capacity, including staff