Just Matters

Here's how mapping technology are helping Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities in Brazil prove that they are the best #Guardiansoftheforest

In Indonesia, the convergence of policy and technology is improving the lives of millions of people.

Many in philanthropy are investing in opportunities to help build the Public Interest Tech field. Here are some of the opportunities available right now.

Follow a sci-fi fan’s journey into the field of public interest technology.

The Ford and Sloan foundations have come together to support a new wave of research exploring the economics, sustainability, and maintenance of digital infrastructure.

We’re spreading the word about Public Interest Tech, an exciting field that’s eager for fresh ideas and skills.

10 pressing tech issues and trends that exist at the nexus of technology and social justice.

The Ford Foundation’s tech fellows work at the intersection of social justice and technology. Each of them is embedded within one of our program areas, lending their expertise on a particular set of issues along with their ability to understand and solve problems through a tech lens.

The Ford Foundation’s tech fellows work at the intersection of social justice and technology. Each of them is embedded within one of our program areas, lending their expertise on a particular set of issues along with their ability to understand and solve problems through a tech lens.

The Ford Foundation’s tech fellows work at the intersection of social justice and technology. Each of them is embedded within one of our program areas, lending their expertise on a particular set of issues along with their ability to understand and solve problems through a tech lens.

Todo comenzó con un grupo de chat entre amigos en WhatsApp, quienes buscábamos la manera de ayudar a los afectados por el terremoto.

The Ford Foundation’s tech fellows work at the intersection of social justice and technology. Each of them is embedded within one of our program areas, lending their expertise on a particular set of issues along with their ability to understand and solve problems through a tech lens.

The Ford Foundation’s tech fellows work at the intersection of social justice and technology. Each of them is embedded within one of our program areas, lending their expertise on a particular set of issues along with their ability to understand and solve problems through a tech lens.

The Ford Foundation’s tech fellows work at the intersection of social justice and technology. Each of them is embedded within one of our program areas, lending their expertise on a particular set of issues along with their ability to understand and solve problems through a tech lens.

The Ford Foundation’s tech fellows work at the intersection of social justice and technology. Each of them is embedded within one of our program areas, lending their expertise on a particular set of issues along with their ability to understand and solve problems through a tech lens.

It all started with a WhatsApp group chat between friends looking for ways to help those affected by the quake.

The Internet is increasingly automated, sometimes by programs that have ill intentions toward social justice organizations. Learn what you and your organization should be aware of if you use the Internet. 

In their new book, Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future, MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito and journalist and MIT visiting scholar Jeff Howe lay out new “rules” for surviving and advancing in this age of rapid technological change.

Consumer Reports launches open-source consumer privacy effort called the Digital Standard, supported by the Ford Foundation.

The Ford Foundation is looking for technologists to join our grant-making teams and help them advance social justice and challenge inequality.

Each week, nearly one-third of the US population visits a Walmart store. As is the case with nearly half of all Americans, many of these shoppers have $400 or less in savings. In fact, one in six Americans says he or she is unprepared for a financial emergency, and only half feel financially secure. A third say they have no savings at all, according to a recent Pew survey.

10 pressing tech issues that exist at the nexus of technology and social justice.

Data scientist Cathy O’Neil shows in her revealing book, Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality, that math and mathematical algorithms are not as neutral and unbiased as we think they are.

Alberto Cerda Silva speaks with David Kaye, the United Nations special rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion, about how the Internet is changing the right to free speech, press, and expression.

A new report released by Upturn examines how philanthropy can harness data at scale , what risks big data pose to foundations, and how to address these risks.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, discusses why he created the web, why access to the Internet is a human right, and what it really means for the Internet to be open “for everyone" following a screening of Foreveryone.net, a documentary by Jessica Yu about his great invention. 

Evan Mawarire's Facebook video lamenting the worsening economic crisis and political repression in Zimbabwe sparked an online revolution, #ThisFlag. Mawarire urged Zimbabweans to reclaim their aspirations and reminded them that the power to change the status quo is in the hands of citizens. 

Big data drives much of our daily lives, but without proper oversight, the use of data by government agencies can exacerbate existing inequality and harm communities. 

Access to the Internet is critical for freedom of expression in modern societies and for enjoying cultural, social, and economic rights. Government's role in protecting this human right includes not blocking free speech, but also providing the disenfranchised with a voice.

The second class of Ford-Mozilla Open Web Fellows aims to support the next generation of public interest technologists who leverage their technology-related expertise to serve the public good.

Strong net neutrality rules in the US ensure that we will continue to have access to a free and open Internet—one that will remain an engine of free expression, economic growth, and innovation.

Google’s ban eliminates a major way for payday lenders to entice consumers, but industry and government leaders need to address the underlying reasons why people turn to payday loans in the first place.

 A Q&A with Internet freedom advocate Rebecca MacKinnon

The Ford Foundation is looking for technologists to join our grant making teams and help them advance social justice and challenge inequality.

Studies show big data can lead to racial bias, algorithms develop prejudices.

Digital technologies present critical challenges to equity, opportunity, and security—activists and advocates must make technology a cornerstone of their work.

FCC votes to cap the rates and fees that companies charge for phone service in prisons and jails.

"Radio listening groups" and digital resource centers throughout rural Kenya empower women.

JustFilms director, Cara Mertes, shares how CITIZENFOUR is an example of how filmmaking can be an act of justice.

On February 11, the presidents of the Open Society Foundations and the Knight, MacArthur, Mozilla, and Ford foundations came together with leading figures from government, philanthropy, business, and the tech world to launch a major new partnership, explore shared principles, and get ambitious about the next generation of innovation for social change and progress.

Program officer Barbara Raab recaps the the successes of the event Cracking the Code: Success for Women Digital News Entrepreneurs.

All voices should be heard, that's why in partnership with Mozilla, Ford launched the Ford-Mozilla Open Web Fellows Program.

Learn how and why Ford used crowdsourcing to help frame its new website.

For many of us, the Internet is inextricable from almost every moment of our lives—connecting us to work, family, friends and a wealth of ideas. But many still lack that crucial connection and the opportunities that come with it.