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Press Releases

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

CONTACT:

Sahana Jayaraman | (480) 209-3945 

CommunityConnect Labs Launches New Public Charge Assistance Solution

REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA – February 26, 2020 – In order to provide clear and useful information for the public about the new Public Charge rules that went into effect this week, CommunityConnect Labs (CCL), launched a new product, Public Charge Assistance. CCL is a non-profit organization offering government and public service providers customer service technology solutions to connect with their target audience. CCL’s Public Charge Assistance solution empowers organizations to easily clarify an individual’s eligibility for benefits and educate them on the new rules with speed, veracity, and scale.

The new Public Charge rule alters the list of government programs that will label enrollees as a “public charge.” These changes are expected to cause many qualified recipients to drop their use of programs ranging from going for check-ups at their doctor’s to enrolling their kids in afterschool programs out of fear of risking their immigration status. As such, service providers and government agencies anticipate high call volumes from the public inquiring about changes.

“Our goal is to reduce confusion about Public Charge,” said Perla Ni, CEO and founder of CCL. “Public Charge Assistance helps people get answers quickly and empowers organizations to provide exceptional customer service without overburdening their staff.”

The Public Charge Assistance solution has proven to improve customer experience with 24/7 automated response services. The technology is easily accessible and can be used via webchat or SMS in multiple user languages, including English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

We want users to feel confident when accessing public benefits,” said Hope Nakamura, directing attorney at Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. “CCL’s Public Charge Assistance allows individuals to learn whether their status affects their ability to access benefits, so they can continue getting the help their families need.

HOW IT WORKS

The Public Charge Assistance solution allows customers to use text or webchat to start the conversational screening process. They are then prompted to answer a few questions. All submitted answers are then used to calculate an individual’s eligibility for various programs. People who have additional questions can get info about local, pro-bono legal services.

In addition to the Public Charge Assistance, CCL recently released a suite of Census Outreach solutions. These solutions help governments reach their target audience and provide help desk support. CCL is currently supporting the State of Minnesota, Commonwealth of Virginia, State of Illinois and other local, state and federal entities committed to ensure a complete and accurate 2020 Census.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, November 7, 2019 ‍

CommunityConnect Labs Launches Community Motivator SMS Solution to Encourage 2020 Census Participation with Inaugural Partners in California and Hawaii

REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA – November 7, 2019 — CommunityConnect Labs (CCL), a California-based nonprofit that develops high-quality, affordable mobile text messaging solutions that enable state and local governments and other service providers to reach their target audience through accessible and scalable technology, successfully launched its Community Motivator solution with partner organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii with the aim of increasing 2020 Census participation. The Community Motivator solution invites residents to create and share custom pledge cards committing to participate in the 2020 Census, and opts them in to receive mobile messaging reminders and follow-up communications as the critical once-a-decade count approaches.

In California and Hawaii, United Way Bay Area and the Hawai’i Community Foundation have begun engaging their audience using the Community Motivator.

  • United Way Bay Area is using the Community Motivator as part of a Bay Area-wide, opt-in texting campaign to encourage census participation in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Solano Counties. The campaign will be offered in 12 languages starting in mid-November.
  • Hawai’i Community Foundation’s statewide campaign to help get Hawaii residents counted has already introduced the Community Motivator solution in coordination with partners including the Hawai’i Executive Conference and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.

“Target audiences need encouragement, reminders, and other follow-up communications to motivate participation in the Census,” said CommunityConnect Labs founder and CEO Perla Ni. “This is true in every Census year, and it will be a particular challenge in 2020, as the protracted public legal wrangling over the Administration’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to add a citizenship question to the once-a-decade count heightened some communities’ wariness about participating in the critical count.”

The Community Motivator solution is designed to address the challenge Ni describes, allowing states, counties and regional entities, including nonprofit community partners, to build opt-in lists and automatically follow up with text reminders and nudges in 2020. The Community Motivator allows organizations focused on Census outreach to scale and amplify their efforts in a meaningful way.

“The Community Motivator is helping us take a scalable approach to reaching a broader audience in the Bay Area,” said Stephanie Kim, United Way Bay Area’s Senior Director of Census 2020. “It builds upon the important in-person interactions and allows us to follow up with coordinated and consistent messages that reach individuals where they are, in the language they prefer, and using a tool they’re familiar with. We’re hoping to get as many people as possible signed up so that come March 2020, they’ll all receive reminders from Bay Area Counts 2020 to get counted.”

“A lot is at stake for the state of Hawaii and we believe the Community Motivator will help us to reach and engage individuals across our islands, including those who live in remote areas, who are often less likely to participate,” said Robbie Kane, Director of Programs – Omidyar Initiatives at Hawai’i Community Foundation. “The Community Motivator will be a powerful amplification tool for our partner organizations, who are working to help us reach and encourage participation throughout Hawaii.”

Individuals can pledge to be counted via text and in turn receive a personalized digital pledge card. The digital pledge card is customizable by organization and personalizable by the individual respondents taking the pledge. The card can then be shared on social media to encourage friends and family to be counted. Individuals who opt in will then receive nudges and reminders in their selected language in the lead up to the 2020 Census. To demo the Community Motivator experience, text “CENSUS” to 987987.

Redwood City, California-based CommunityConnect Labs is a leader and innovator in the public interest technology space, founded to address the difficulties local governments and human services providers face connecting with their target audience. CommunityConnect Labs empowers clients with technology and expertise created through user-focused design and proven methods. CommunityConnect Labs roster of clients has included Los Angeles, Contra Costa, and San Mateo counties.

CommunityConnect Labs offers a suite of mobile messaging solutions and training resources to help states, counties, cities, and nonprofits prepare for the 2020 count, and to achieve a complete and accurate count of the population. The CCL team has developed census solutions in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and has received grant awards to support census solution development from funders including Microsoft, Twilio and Amazon. Local governments, nonprofits and funders will play a critical role in ensuring a fair and accurate count of populations that may be less likely to participate in the 2020 Census. CCL has worked in 9 geographies with city and county governments on the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) phase of the Census. CommunityConnect Labs is a member of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Opportunity Project.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, July 17, 2019

CONTACT:

(New Media Ventures) Madison Donzis | (210) 488-6220

(CommunityConnect Labs) Perla Ni | (415) 902-2659 | [email protected]

CommunityConnect Labs Receives Grant from Progressive Angel Investor for Work to Engage Hard to Count Communities in 2020 Census

New Media Ventures Names CommunityConnect Labs as 2019 Recipient, Seed Fund’s Investments Aim to Drive Innovation, Spark Civic Engagement and Create Societal Change

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — New Media Ventures, a seed fund and angel network investing in entrepreneurs and activists working at the intersection of progressive politics, movement building, narrative change, and civic engagement, has announced it has invested in CommunityConnect Labs’ suite of tools that enable government and service providers to use mobile messaging to connect with target audiences around the 2020 Census, naming the organization as one of its 2019 recipients.

CommunityConnect Labs, which was founded by Perla Ni, is the leading provider of mobile messaging tools for local government agencies and service providers to count target audiences in the Census, or to connect them with the services they may need such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), utilities assistance, and workforce development opportunities.

“CommunityConnect Labs is dedicated to helping government and nonprofit service providers engage with a broader range of community members,” said Perla Ni, Founder and CEO of CommunityConnect Labs. “This support from New Media Ventures will fund development and scaling of our Census Communications Suite of tools designed to coordinate, amplify and track progress of outreach efforts. It will help more people get counted and receive the fair representation, funding, and services they are entitled to. By supporting our suite of Census Solutions, NMV is leading the path forward on innovative data and technology to empower local communities.”

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT COMMUNITYCONNECT LABS’ CENSUS WORK HERE:

https://www.censusoutreach.org/

New Media Ventures received more than 500 applications from mission-driven startups seeking funding this year, up 50% from 2018 and a massive increase over the 100 applications received in 2016. Of the 500 applications, New Media Ventures has announced 17 recipients. In total, New Media Ventures will invest $1.5 million in organizations focused on innovation, civic participation, and public engagement — their largest round of funding ever. 2019 recipients included Upsolve, the Sunrise Movement, AvalancheStrategies, Prism, Wonder Media Network, New/Mode, Survey 160, CommunityConnect Labs, a collaboration between the Center for Technology and Civic Life and Vote.org, PeoplesHub, Contest Every Race, Gather Voices, the Movement for BlackLives, Pulso, Swing Left / Flippable, and the Luz Collective.

“At New Media Ventures, we see investment as a mechanism for meaningful impact, and work to redirect capital towards entrepreneurs and innovators addressing key societal challenges,” said Julie Menter, Managing Director of New Media Ventures. “We look beyond expected opportunities to find the most innovative and effective approaches to creating lasting results. After reviewing hundreds of applications, we can confidently say that we’re seeing groundbreaking innovation across the social innovation landscape, and we are inspired by the leaders stepping up to tackle today’s most pressing challenges.”

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NEW MEDIA VENTURES’ 2019 INVESTMENTS HERE:

https://www.newmediaventures.org/investments/announcements/2019

Founded in 2010, New Media Ventures has mobilized more than $50M in direct funding to more than 70 startups. Past recipients include Pantsuit Nation, Blavity, SumOfUs, ActBlue Civics, Indivisible, Mijente, MobilizeAmerica, Attentive.ly and Upworthy.

New Media Ventures (NMV) invests in entrepreneurs and innovators addressing pressing civic challenges. They have supported more than 70 companies and organizations working to drive civic innovation and public participation. By changing where capital is invested, NMV works to support more equitable access to opportunities and resources. NMV is currently supporting the State of Minnesota, Commonwealth of Virginia, State of Illinois and other local, state and federal entities committed to ensuring a complete and accurate 2020 Census.

Webinars

3/30/2018 "120 Day Deadline: How Local Governments Can Conduct Community-Based Address Canvassing to Ensure Low-Income People Are Counted"