Community IT Innovators. Established 1993. Serving social mission organizations with integrated technology services you can trust.

Community IT Innovators will be donating 10 hours of strategy consulting to PowerMundo, the winning team in the William James Foundation’s Socially Responsible Business Plan competition. On Friday, March 20, the William James Foundation hosted a finalist competition and awards ceremony, where the top three finalists competed. The final three teams each selected from a pool of prizes in order of finish.  We are happy to be one of the top choices of the top finisher, and one of more than 20 socially responsible businesses helping the foundation grow the next generation of social entrepreneurs.  We are excited to work with PowerMundo to provide technology and online strategy consulting to help them reach more communities.

PowerMundo grabbed the crowd’s attention and impressed the judges with their business plan to market and distribute affordable, sustainable gadgets to bring solar-powered light, radio communications, and other modern conveniences to poor communities in Peru, with the products distributed and sold by members of the communities they serve.  The business will make available clean technologies to replace kerosene lamps and indoor cooking fires, improving the quality of life for people in developing areas and reducing pollution. They will work with micro-finance institutions to create economic opportunities for individuals interested in selling the goods. Michael Callahan, principal, did a great job of telling their story, personalizing their business idea with the story of Maria, a vendor in a community in Peru where they tested their business plan, and showing a variety of the solar-powered lights and other tools that they make available.

Two other finalists, Black Oak Venture Capitalists, who plan to conserve agricultural land as a financial investment opportunity, and First Earth, who plan to support indigenous communities and sustainable agriculture, presented their plans as well. Seeing the finalists, panel discussions on social entrepreneurship, and talking with other socially responsible business leaders made for an inspiring and enjoyable occasion.

This recent post on the DCist blog, a great blog for local DC news and infotainment, offers an up-close look at long-time CITI client, the Patricia M. Sitar Center for the Arts. The Sitar Center offers very low-cost art classes to youth in the community, providing a safe place for youth to learn and spend time in the Adams Morgan/Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights neighborhood, which “has seen an increase in youth violence in recent months.”

The blog post also mentions that, like many social mission organizations seeking to increase awareness and their base of support, the Center is increasingly using facebook and other social networking sites.  CITI provides network infrastructure support to the Sitar Center.