Recap 2023
with Atma Connect
Let’s see what you were a part of this year!
Message from Our Founder
Dear friends,
The challenges ahead that we collectively face convince us more than ever that the world needs more ways to unleash the agency of people in under-represented and under-served communities.
That has always been Atma Connect’s mission, and I believe it is growing more important every day. I am animated by the idea of a “Plentiverse,” a new infrastructure for society and economy that lets everyone be a changemaker, so we can co-create a more connected and resilient future.
2023 was a year of significant growth for Atma Connect. Scroll down for the highlights!
Thanks to the Board of Directors for its unfailing wisdom and guidance, and especially to the Atma team for its energy, integrity, and commitment. A big round of applause to our valued donors who help us to keep this work going. And a special call out to the communities we are privileged to engage with, and the partner organizations who work with us to promote the kind of impact that shapes the world we want.
We can’t wait to show you what our small team can achieve in 2024!
Sincerely,
Meena
Celebrating contributions throughout the year
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Expand Our Footprint in Puerto Rico
One of our goals was to expand our activities in Puerto Rico, where Atma has been active for several years building community networks. We are excited to announce that Atma has been awarded a two year grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to raise community awareness of water contamination stemming from failing septic systems on the island.
Atma’s work will involve using a traveling circus show to educate a wide range of community members. It will also involve providing options for water testing and analysis for residents.
Highlighted Story
Work with community leaders and residents to improve water quality and health in Puerto Rico via an innovative new project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The project, Grassroots Leadership, Education, and a Safe Water Quality Network in Puerto Rico, will be undertaken through the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Cooperative Agreement (EJCPS) program.
Partner with U.S. Communities toward Environmental Justice
Atma has long been a catalyst for enabling community members in Indonesia to take action on environmental projects, such as beach clean ups and mangrove planting. We are proud to announce that Atma is now going to be able to help community based environmental justice organizations across the U.S. to find federal grants and expand their impact.
Atma was chosen as the technology provider for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center, a five year role that calls for introducing systems that will help hundreds of small environmental justice initiatives.
Highlighted Story
Atma Wins National Award to Connect & Empower Grassroots-led Environmental Justice
Establishing infrastructure and support for locally led change across the United States in underserved populations. The work to remove barriers and improve accessibility for communities is part of the EPA’s recently announced program, Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, has selected 17 centers that will receive $177 million to help underserved communities across the country.
Deepen Our Disaster Resilience Work
Atma has been instrumental in promoting mutual-aid in disaster events in Indonesia and Puerto Rico, and strengthening community resilience through community-based disaster alerts and citizen journalism trainings. With its neighbors-helping- neighbors social media platform, AtmaGo, Atma has provided a community-positive communications tool for 12 million in Indonesia, placing Atma on the map as an innovator in the disaster response field and earning from Reuters the commendation that AtmaGo is the ‘Facebook for Disasters.’
As a result of its groundbreaking work, Atma was recently awarded by the Internet Society Foundation a two-year project to build a resilient internet capability to ensure internet access to disaster-prone communities in Indonesia. In this project, Atma will work with at-risk communities to integrate disaster-hardened systems into their emergency capabilities.
Highlighted Story
Connected Communities: Internet-Based Initiative Enhances Resilience and Disaster Preparedness
Collaborating with PMI Sukabumi (Indonesia Sukabumi Red Cross), we are actively engaged in the implementation of an internet-based program aimed at fortifying community resilience and disaster preparedness in Sukabumi, Indonesia. This initiative entails the provision of internet access in areas prone to disasters and leveraging online platforms to enhance the community’s ability to respond effectively. According to reports from Republika, Kesatu, and Antaranews, these efforts are anticipated to empower the community, enabling them to confront disasters more effectively. The ultimate goal is to foster a resilient and interconnected community, equipped to respond promptly and efficiently to emergency situations.
Women and Economic Empowerment
Atma initiated a program in the city and regency of Serang to energize locally-led change by empowering women entrepreneurs. The effort is funded by the Internet Society Foundation. The 24 month program is called Digital Transformation for the Development of Women’s Small Businesses.
The work kicked off with a “Training of Trainers” event in October 2023 for six female mentors of small businesses who will support 240 female small business owners, including mothers, farmers, and farm laborers. Alfan Kasdar, Atma’s field director explains, “Our main goal is to help women implement opportunities to expand their businesses, increase sales, and maintain more structured financial records.” The training covers many aspects of entrepreneurship.
Serang was selected as a location due to its low level of digital literacy, despite being only about 80 kilometers from the national capital of Jakarta.
Highlighted Story
Atma Connect to Work with Women Entrepreneurs via SCILLS Grant
“We’re glad to partner for the first time with the Internet Society Foundation and we share a vision of working towards, as the ISF says, ‘an open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet for everyone,’ “ said Aisyah Gunung, Atma Connect’s Head of Product.
“Our training and facilitation will support women entrepreneurs in Indonesia to use the internet and digital tools to grow their businesses, increase economic independence, and create sustainable income sources for themselves and their families,” said Meena Palaniappan, CEO, Atma Connect.
Enabling Bottom-up Climate Action
Atma set out to broaden its circle of partners. It now calls Fundación Pachamama a partner, an Ecuador based NGO that works on protecting the Amazon with indigenous communities. Together we are planning to launch a platform in the Amazon to support Indigenous-led forest protection projects with a pay-for-results platform. Pachamama Alliance, based in the U.S., is also a new partner. Pachamama Alliance brought Atma onboard to develop learning and sharing tools for its worldwide climate action network.
Atma is also exploring joint activities with Ashoka, the largest network of social entrepreneurs, to launch an initiative that engages Faith-based organizations in coordinated carbon-reduction efforts.
Highlights
Work and Impact Highlights
CSO Capacity Building For USAID
As the final task in a three-year project, Atma Connect built and socialized a platform called Simpul Madani to promote capacity building and technical assistance for Civil Society Organizations across Indonesia (simpulmadani.atmago.com).
Previously, Atma implemented digital literacy, citizen journalism, and storytelling for social impact trainings and workshops for 32 Civil Society Organizations (CSO) across Indonesia and created a dedicated Covid-19 (covid19.atmago.com) platform with critical information, free telecounseling, and peer-to-peer behavior change content that reached over 4.5 million people.
Promoting Mutual Aid In Ukraine
Atma entered Ukraine several months after war broke out with Russia. With funding from private donors, Atma focused on helping internally displaced people find housing, financial assistance, psychological services, and job retraining. In 2023, Atma’s content campaign reached 180,000 viewers.
Atma also partnered with Daily Ukraine, a voluntary mutual-aid initiative by 16 Ukrainian college students displaced to various countries. In 11 months, it brought more than 2 million UAH to Ukrainians in need ($55,000 USD). More than 280 collections were published in the channel. Daily Ukraine Founder told Atma, “Thank you very much for trusting and supporting us. Our communication and interactions have always been positive drivers. I incredibly appreciate your contribution and desire to help Ukraine.”
Puerto Rico - Food security
Over 80% of food on the island of Puerto Rico is imported. Food is very expensive and often not fresh, especially fruits and vegetables. This has resulted in almost 40% of adults being obese, and an unusually large percentage of people suffer from diet related illnesses like diabetes. Atma partnered with Love Titos to inspire a different approach to food, one that is healthier and provides greater food security.
In a project called De La Tierra a Tu Mesa (from the land to your plate), Atma hosted community dinners where people learned about and experienced locally grown food. Using food grown in community or personal gardens in Puerto Rico, Atma served over 450 dinners and conducted educational programs to inspire locals to grow their own healthy food.
Thought Leadership on Disaster Response at ASEAN
Atma Connect, honored to address the ASEAN Strategic Policy Dialogue on Disaster Management, emphasized the pivotal role of technology in disaster management and risk governance. Our insights revolved around the crucial need to unite people through technology, fostering social cohesion, collaboration, and collective actions to strengthen disaster and climate resilience. Rooted in human-centered design and supported by digital literacy programs, our approach addresses the gap in technology adoption, promoting community engagement.
Emphasizing transparency, we advocated for data transparency to enhance resource allocation efficiency. The paramount importance of building trust before a crisis was underscored, demonstrated by our users’ proactive response during disasters, surpassing mainstream social media networks. These collective insights highlight the transformative power of technology in building resilient communities and facilitating effective disaster management.
We Now Have 275 Communities in AtmaGo!
AtmaGo Community is a space for communities to meet each other, share local insights, have discussions, and create positive changes in their communities.
The Discussions and Type of Communities in AtmaGo
Environment
Sociocultural
Public Service
Women and Children
Health
Socioeconomic
Disaster
Civic Participation
Education
How we have helped communities throughout the year
Our Reach and Impact by Numbers
3,273,064
Total of AtmaGo users in 2023
5,669,259
Total of views to pages in AtmaGo
3 Countries
Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Ukraine
13,896,270
Total of AtmaGo users all time up through 2023
38.12%
AtmaGo users are between 18-24
27.82%
34.07%
AtmaGo users age are between 35-65+
Disaster Alert
958,387
Views to disaster alerts on AtmaGo
35
Flood alerts shared by AtmaGo
975
Earthquake alerts shared by AtmaGo
15
Tornado alerts shared by AtmaGo
Community Posts
3,473,991
Views to post details on AtmaGo
6,542
Total of Community News posted on AtmaGo
2,179,575
Views to Community News on AtmaGo
6,583
Total of Job opportunities posted on AtmaGo
1,220,349
Views to Job opportunities on AtmaGo
Platforms Highlights
We strive to continuously deliver better solutions for the community and that is why we are excited to announce expanded capabilities of our disaster alert system and more tools and resources for community organizations to amplify their capacity for positive change.
Released Throughout 2023
Elevating CSO Empowerment
Alert System Evolution on AtmaGo
The film “Everything, Everywhere, All-At-Once” won the 2023 Best Picture Academy Award. Atma instituted its own version with a comprehensive disaster screen on AtmaGo that displays in one place the disaster incidents taking place in Indonesia (covering flood, earthquake, and tornados). It also features a historical lookup.