e-NABLE has funds; you have projects

Two-liner: We have money for e-NABLE projects. Help us use it!

Visit the e-NABLE Half-Bakery to help define funding goals and project ideas.

Introduction

Thanks to fundraising efforts by Bob Rieger and e-NABLEs Strategic Planning Committee, the Enable Fund recently received a donation of $15,000 from the Howard and Abby Milstein. With additional thanks Ed Greig of Deloitte Consulting in London and ENABLEatDell, we recently received another donation of $20,000 from Dell USA LP. These funds, plus money remaining from past contributions, will bring the EnableFund bank account back to where it was (roughly) after YouTube/Google.org's initial donation of $50,000.

Needless to say, this is great news. But with great news comes great responsibility.

We are inviting new funding proposals. e-NABLE is limited these days, not by money, but by the need for well-thought out plans and projects that will advance e-NABLE's goals. A critical resource is committed collaborators who will do the necessary work for a reasonable fee.

Background

As you know, The Enable Fund is controlled by proposals, feedback and votes by e-NABLE volunteers who use E-nablio, our Loomio-based decision making platform.

In two years, The Enable Fund has provided support for ...

• Jen Owen, who was working full time on EnablingTheFuture.org
• e-NABLE Web Central development, overseen by 3D Universe
• The Enable Newsletter, previously edited by Sarah Paynter and now managed by Ben Rubin.
• A mission to help establish an e-NABLE-competent assistive technology makerspace in Nigeria (They delivered an arm on their own, just this week!)
• Graduate student Chang Liu's consulting on matters related to prosthetics.
• Travel support for speakers at conferences.
• Additional proposals have been funded and a comparable number voted down, through thoughtful and respectful discussion (You can explore E-nablio decisions here.)

I've noticed some patterns in this activity:

• The community wants the EnableFund to support projects that benefit the e-NABLE movement as a whole (not just individuals or chapters) and that help us get more of our innovations and services to those who need them.
• Funded projects should not undercut or devalue the work of our volunteers: we should support activities and projects that volunteers are unlikely, unwilling, or unable to do on a purely volunteer basis.
• Larger projects should be funded "in installments" based on attainment of pre-defined benchmarks or deliverables.
• There is a new suggestion from SPC member Everton Lins, now under discussion in an E-nablio, that funding proposal should be required/encouraged to be sponsored by chapters for increased accountability. Please weigh in!
• Finally, we have seen that ideas and proposals put forward in E-nablio get discussed and approved only when they are cross-posted e-NABLE's busier social media platforms on Facebook such as the R&D Collaborations group, the and Chapter Leaders group, and the Community Bulletin Board group. (It is the proposer's responsibility to do this marketing, but I'm happy to help.)

But we need YOU!

These patterns may well evolve as e-NABLE evolves, and as people put forth new ideas and proposals. Which is why I'm writing.

If you even have even half an idea to put forward, please don't be shy!

You might have an idea you want help refining. Reach out and ask for assistance! (You might email an SPC member directly, or post a query into one of our discussion groups.)

You might have an idea for a project for which you would like someone else to take responsibility. Share the idea!

You might know someone who could make an important contribution to e-NABLE, if only they had financial support. Encourage them to step up!

You might be able to help someone else's half-idea become a reality, either by helping to refine the proposal or by being willing to accept the funding and do the work. Respond helpfully when ideas are put forward!

Some half-baked ideas

Here are some additional half-baked ideas that might become funded projects if we could identify people who were willing and able to execute (and get paid!). (Think you can put it over the top? Contact Jon Schull, or submit a full proposal to Loomio.)

1. A six-week internship, Sept 1-Oct 15, in Rwanda. A Belgian organization called Humanitarian Prosthetists and Orthotists has developed some innovative low-resource prosthetics and techniques. They will be opening a new facility this Fall in Rwanda, and would welcome an intern with e-NABLE experience, ability to learn, contribute, and disseminate innovations. If you know (or are) a good candidate let us know!
2. A simple and reliable system for capturing arm scans in the field.
3. A portable and robust 3D-printer that could be taken into the field. In a suitcase, perhaps.
4. Someone who could mass-produce inexpensive terminal devices or sockets (from e-NABLE designs perhaps?) that would be way cheaper than existing solutions but still substantially better than nothing"
5. A data analyst or librarian who could help us conduct follow-up interviews, organize data, extract best practices, and disseminate them.
6. Someone to organize a regional e-NABLE conference outside of North America.
7. An Media Manager, Data Analyst/ Grant Writer to help us estimate impacts by organizing and thousands of online and media reports, identifying and disseminating opportunities and best practices, and guiding further grants to and from the EnableFund..
8. Your ad here. (and in the e-NABLE Half-Bakery)

I've created an experimental tool for supporting, suggesting and commenting on ideas you want the community to consider. These are not votes on proposals.

These are votes to ENCOURAGE people to CREATE proposals.

Here's it works.

• You have 4 dots to spend.
• You can invest them in ideas you like.
• You can add your own ideas.
• You can reallocate your dots as new ideas become available.
• At the end, we have lots of ideas and lots of clues about what the community wants.

If you see a promising idea for which you would be willing to accept responsibility, we'll help you turn it into a funding proposal. If the proposal is funded, you get money to help make the world a better place.

We need you to help take e-NABLE forward!